DENVER — It was bound to happen. Two teams, one championship. Emotions are running high. It was only a matter of time for the trash talk to begin.

We are not sure which team, the Broncos or the New England Patriots, fired off the first insult, but Broncos defensive lineman Antonio Smith kept the fire burning when asked if Tom Brady is a crybaby.

“Every time he got sacked he looks to the referee and say, did you see him hit me? Was that supposed to happen? He hit me a little too hard, please put a fifteen yard penalty on him,” Smith told The Gazette of Colorado Springs.

As entertaining trash talk is for fans and sportswriters, the question is why do players do it?

“To get a mental edge. That’s the whole key,” said Dr. Rick Perea, sports performance psychologist.

Any way to get in the opponents head, to get him off his game, is beneficial. And now, with multimedia, trash talk has piled up.

“It really changed the way trash talking is perceived, and really ingested and digested,” Perea said.

Trash talk has been on the football field for years. But now, thanks to social media, we all get to watch, and listen, from the sideline.