Tee Higgins’ mom has not held back from expressing her feelings over her son’s ranking in the NFL’s Top 100 poll for 2025.
The Cincinnati Bengals wide-receiver was listed at No. 77 as he made his debut on the NFL’s coveted list, as voted by the players.
Despite this, Higgins’ mom, Camilla Stewart, felt aggrieved by this ranking and directly hit out at the NFL in an X-rated post on social media platform X.
Though it has since been deleted, the tweet read: “Bull**** @NFL y’all ready to put him at 77. He’s so much higher than that #opinionsarelikeas****es #THFF.”
Stewart took to X again to explain why she had removed her post citing that she received too much backlash to respond to.
“I had to go and delete my post bcus I couldn’t respond to all the haters and boy did I want to, lmao and there was a lot…y’all crack me up,” Stewart wrote.
Bengals fans alike took to this particular post to offer their support, whilst also agreeing with Stewart’s initial sentiments.
“Lol everyone who has watched this team knew it was too low! We’ll fight the fight,” one fan wrote.
“Let the haters talk Mama Tee. We all know how special Tee is!” another fan responded.
Another fan believed that because he isn’t the most outgoing player in the league, nor does he regularly make the headlines, that he has flown under the radar in the rankings list as a result.
“Tee is all class, on and off the field,” the supporter said. “He’s a quiet, more introspective guy and this has a negative effect on rankings like this. I’m thrilled he’s on our team!”
“Don’t worry we in the trenches for your boy. There isn’t 77 dudes better,” a fourth fan replied.
“If he would’ve went to a different team and not stayed here they would’ve put him at like 25,” another user wrote.
After playing under the Bengals’ franchise tag in the 2024 season, Higgins was set to hit free agency back in March.
Ahead of free agency looming, the 26-year-old expressed his desire to stay in Cincinnati to keep all the “core pieces” and “build something in Cincy.”
“Yeah, of course, we all want to keep the core pieces what it is, even with Mike Gesicki. That’s a core piece as well. So obviously, we want to build something here in Cincy,” Higgins said via FOX19’s Joe Danneman back in February.
“But you know, it’s not in my hands right now. So I gotta do what I need to do, and if that’s to go to another team, that’s what happens.”
Cincinnati heard his plea as they inked Higgins to a four-year, $115 million deal to keep him in the Queen City and catching footballs from quarterback Joe Burrow.
They also went all in on extending Ja’Marr Chase, signing the four-time Pro Bowler to a four-year, $161 million contract, making him one of the highest paid non-QBs in the NFL.
With tight end Gesicki also being signed to an extension, the Bengals have locked down their receiving corps for the long-term.
With much of the attention on the Bengals centered around Burrow and Chase, Higgins’ on-field performances have perhaps been somewhat understated.
Since entering the league, the former Clemson receiver has racked up five seasons where he has gone over 900 yards, including back-to-back 1000-yard seasons in 2021 and 2022.
Despite dealing with some niggling injuries, which saw him make just 12 appearances (nine starts), the 2024 season was one of Higgins’ best of his career.
He tallied 911 yards off of 73 receptions (109 targets) and scored a career-high 10 touchdowns, double the number of touchdowns he had in 2023.
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Although the Bengals ranked first in the NFL for total passing yards with 4,918 and touchdowns with 43, Burrow and co were largely let down by their defense, which allowed 30 touchdowns – the fourth-most in the NFL.
As a result, they were involved in many close games, with 11 of their 17 outings being won or lost by a one-score game.
Though they finished the season above .500 with a 9-8 record, they were unable to get out of the AFC North and into a wildcard spot.
With division rivals the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers looking stacked on both sides of the ball, it will be a monumental task for the Bengals to try and edge out both of them for a postseason berth.
But with Higgins and Chase now committed long-term, Burrow has more than enough weapons to score many touchdowns.
In turn, this could see Higgins climb up the rankings for the 2026 NFL Top 100 List, though that remains to be seen.
