Read all the online articles today and there was one common thread: Whining and complaining about the Jets not getting Leinart. AND...... Not really because of his football ability. But because they wanted a face of the New York Jets. Someone to sell Jerseys. I think that is really LAME. They wanted the next Broadway Joe in Hollywood Matt someone they could write almost exclusively about. Cry me a river, beat writers. I have no sympathy. Well I would rather win and I think the Jets made HUGE strides towards that. One of the things I thought yesterday is that there are only 1 or 2 elite OL prospects each year. Obviously they are not all Pace or Ogden but still, that means in every five year stretch of time, only 1/3 of ALL the teams in the NFL have one of these prospects. The Jets got 2 in the same draft. We went from having the worst OL to maybe having the best in a couple years. Love Clemems. He seems like the QB who fell through the cracks. Most of the scouting reports and draft grades were not really accurate. It seems like the draft community as a whole forgot about him after he broke his ankle. Jaws was slobbering over himself and agreeing with Hodge that Clemens may be the best QB in the draft. I am really excited about him. Loved the rest of the draft. All hard working, dedicated multiple position players who have greatt leadership and character. That will change the complexion of this team. Maybe the Jets have their face now and the beat writers don't even know it. Maybe its just a reflection of the everday working man of New York. And that cannot be a bad thing.
Watching Clemens' highlights he reminds me of 2 Drews. One being Drew Brees and the other Drew Stanton, QB of my Michigan State Spartans. Clemens looks like he has excellent pocket awareness and mobility to go along with an NFL caliber arm.
Thats because Leinart would have given the headlines to write about. There isn't much media hype over Oline men.
Picking Leinart would have made NY sports writers jobs MUCH easier for the next few years, now what they will do is criticize the pick until enough casual fans buy into it and then they can write about how the FO screws up, until we win more games than the Cardinals. Have these shitty writers stopped to realize that about 5 teams with weak QB situations passed on noodle arm Matt? In a perfect world, Leinart would start his first game against the Jets and "Anthony SMEAGOL, My Precious" will lay him out on the first play from scrimmage! Yes, I have "Berman-ized him."
Who's the face of the Patriots? I guess you can say Tom Brady, but certainly he doesn't act like it. The Patriots have a workman-like mentality, and that's what we want to have too. If our QB produces, we will have maybe a sort of face, but he shouldn't be coming in as a face before he produces.
I was lukewarm to Leinart until he shot his mouth off repeatedly. He continues even as we speak, his latest remark being something like, "If a team doesn't like my off-field behavior, that's too bad," an obvious reference to those who passed him by. I don't know about the other teams, but this guy just doesn't fit the mold of what Tangini is trying to build here and it's something Leinart never quite got. I really think he didn't take Mangini and Tannenbaum seriously when they spoke of character and intangibles. Instead, Leinart envisioned himself the next "Broadway Matt" and the next partying "face" of the NY Jets. If this is the kind of franchise "face" the NY Sportswriters were looking for, they're a bigger bunch of asses than I thought previously. Bigger maybe even than Matt Leinart.
Outstanding post Johnny. Even although we made a serious play for Leinhart I think we may have picked up a real gem in Clemmens. Our draft showed real maturity on the the front office addressing our needs and giving us a real chance to compete this year. I was screaming at the TV Saturday for us to sell our draft for Reggie but in the clear light of day this was the correct route for us to take to ensure a stable base for the future. Go Mangini!
I know! And I HATE that shit! They were all bitchin' about not getting Leinart or Bush. They don't care about building a winner. All they want is something to write about!
