Jets? Kendall Not Afraid to Talk One for the Team By KAREN CROUSE Published: January 4, 2007 HEMPSTEAD, N.Y., Jan. 3 ? Pete Kendall strolled out of the training room Monday clutching a three-week-old U.S. News & World Report magazine. Kendall, the avuncular veteran on the Jets? offensive line, is considered a sort of Tony Snow in sweats; he has a wry sense of humor and will speak for his tight-lipped bosses and his skittish peers. So, naturally, he was surrounded by reporters as soon as he arrived at his locker. With unfailing politeness, the 33-year-old Kendall answered every question pertaining to the Jets? game Sunday afternoon in New England. Because it was Monday afternoon, he kept stealing glances at the nearest clock. Five and a half days a week, Kendall, a left guard, works with the rookies on the line, teaching center Nick Mangold and left tackle D?Brickashaw Ferguson the tricks of the trade. Mangold, who has started all 16 games and missed only one snap this season, said that Kendall has been a prince of a mentor. ?I can?t say enough about what Pete has done for me,? Mangold said. Ferguson, who had a solid regular season, also praised Kendall. ?I can ask him for help on anything,? he said. Kendall?s tutorials wind down Monday afternoon and resume on Wednesday morning. Tuesdays are reserved for his children, which is why almost every Monday since September he has commuted seven hours round trip from Long Island to Weymouth, Mass., where his wife, Michelle, lives with the couple?s three children ? Peter, 8, Madison, 7, and Andrew, 5. He is always watching the clock on getaway day, but Kendall is too much of a professional to execute a false start. The first Monday of the postseason was typical for Kendall, who stuck around until the last wave of reporters had receded, knowing that every extra minute he spent in the locker room could add 10 minutes to his drive because of traffic. If Kendall was lucky, he would still arrive home in time to tuck his children into bed. ?It?s hard not being able at least to tuck them in every night and tell them I love them,? said Kendall, who has numerous pictures of his children lining his locker. ?We try to make the most of it. Really, when you look at the big picture, it?s not a bad picture. It just involves a little sacrifice.? Kendall never intended to be a one-day-a-week father for a good chunk of the year. When he was signed by the Jets in 2004 after he was let go by Arizona, Kendall?s plan was for his family to live with him on Long Island. Twice last season they nearly purchased a home in the area, only to have the deals fall through. They were prepared to try again this season. But during the off-season, the Jets released their 35-year-old center, Kevin Mawae, and asked Kendall, their next oldest lineman, to restructure his contract. At that point, he felt his N.F.L. career might be nearing an end. ?I just said, you know, who am I kidding?? Kendall said. ?I?m probably a serious injury away from a coat and tie. My wife and I talked about it and it didn?t make a lot of sense to pack the kids up. We just felt like for their development, the most practical and pragmatic thing was to allow them to start to put down some roots.? Kendall?s New England roots run as deep as a maple tree?s. He was born in Weymouth and was named the New England high school player of the year as a senior at Archbishop Williams High School. He turned down a chance to play football at Notre Dame to attend Boston College, saying Wednesday that staying close to home was a major factor in his decision. Growing up, he was a huge fan of all the Boston-area sports teams, including the Patriots. ?There were some years the Patriots didn?t give you very many reasons to cheer,? Kendall said. ?But I do remember getting caught up in the ?85 season and the run to the Super Bowl there against the Chicago Bears.? After earning all-Big East honors in his junior and senior seasons, Kendall was drafted in the first round by Seattle in 1996. He started 11 games as a rookie and every game the next four seasons. He signed with the Cardinals as an unrestricted free agent in 2001 and played three seasons in Tempe, Ariz. Kendall missed only one start in his first two seasons with the Jets. This season, he missed two starts, including the home opener against New England in Week 2, after he injured his calf in the season opener at Tennessee. The weeks that he was rehabilitating, Kendall could not go home to visit his family. That was tough. This week will be easy, even if most of his five dozen friends and relatives clamoring for game tickets are Patriots fans. ?We?re through the hardest part now,? Kendall said. He was talking about his family situation, but he could have been referring to this season, when Eric Mangini, a hard-nosed apprentice of Bill Belichick, was hired as coach and the Jets fought their way into the playoffs. In the beginning, when few players would talk about Mangini for fear of incurring his wrath, Kendall was his usual self. ?When a new coach comes in,? he said in September, ?either you buy in or you get shipped out.? Kendall encouraged his teammates to buy in, and this week they are collecting their reward. EXTRA POINTS After referring to the Patriots as ?the other place? for most of the season, Eric Mangini, who came to the Jets after spending six years as an assistant in New England, abruptly changed his speech pattern Wednesday. Ten minutes into his news briefing, in response to a question about Bill Belichick, Mangini began, ?When I was at New England. ...? His response drew titters from his audience. When asked to elaborate, Mangini smiled and said, ?We all evolve and change.?
