Tuesday Ramblings - Enough Revis Already!

Before getting to Darelle Revis, a Public Service Announcement: Don’t get Jose Offerman mad. Seriously, what is wrong with this guy? A few years back he charged the mound and tried to swing a bat at the pitcher. Then last week he was arguing a call and he took a swing at the umpire. Although after watching the video, I stopped being amazed by him taking a swing and was more amazed that I think he missed. He was nose-to-nose with the umpire, threw a haymaker and somehow missed. Yet the ump went down anyway. Just a very strange and sureal scene.

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The worst part about the Jets still being alive in the playoffs? The insufferable New York media needing to overhype and overreact to everything. The latest seems to have been picked up by the national media as well – Darrelle Revis. If I didn’t know better, I would think that the guy could walk across the Hudson when he comes from the Jets practice facility into Manhattan. If the stories about him are true, we should probably send him to Haiti and we’ll have all the devastation and death taken care and he’ll still be back in time for the AFC Championship.

Listen, the guy is a great cover corner. But let’s not get carried away. His interception against San Diego was luck – the ball fell into his lap after bouncing off of Vincent Jackson’s leg. And Vincent Jackson still had over 100 yards. Revis is a good shut down corner, but he is not yet to the level of Deion Sanders. And he does not have the overall disruptive ability of Charles Woodson – which is why it was a slam dunk that Woodson deserved the Defensive Player of the Year Award. Yet, because Revis plays in the biggest market, has the loudest coach, and has a voice in the weenie from Mike & Mike In the Morning, the casual fan thinks Revis was robbed.

Revis is one-dimensional in that all he does is cover. Yes, that is the primary job of a cornerback. But that is like focusing purely on the chest of Christina Hendricks – and missing the fact that she is as pale as a ghost and not really that cute overall. Yes, her most endearing quality is enough to cause you to focus on it – just like Revis’s cover ability. Yet, Revis does not tackle, only 47 solo tackles and 7 assists, and had 6 interceptions, taking one back for a touchdown. Woodson had 63 unassisted tackles and 18 assists, 4 forced fumbles, 9 interceptions and took 3 back to the house. Deion Sanders returned punts and played offense in addition to being a shut down corner.

Yes, Revis is a solid cornerback, and he’s young, so he will likely get better. But let’s hold on with the comparing him to Lawrence Taylor as the best defensive player in NY (how quickly you forget Strahan setting the single season sack record), or Deion Sanders as the greatest corner of all time. And getting an endorsement from Peter King is not exactly doing anything to help Revis’s case. I mean, well, I’ll just let Steve Czaban make my point for me right here. King is basically faker than the new Heidi Montag after her 400th plastic surgery procedure. What is wrong with that girl? I mean, honestly – she looks like a doll right now and she doesn’t look like a human. It’s just a shame she has such low self esteem and is now addicted to plastic surgery? Anyway, totally got sidetracked………

Coaching Past the Expiration Date

I am no fan of Florida State football and definitely not a fan of Bobby Bowden, but the current situation is a complete mess and cannot end well for either side. I mean, we’re talking “Britney Spears marrying that Jason Alexander in Vegas” or “the Atlanta Falcons hiring Bobby Petrino” or “letting Rex Ryan and Andy Reid into an all-you-can-eat buffet” type of disasters.

There is no doubt in my mind that the time has come, well it actually came more than a few years ago, for Bobby to hang it up. His teams have slipped noticeably since 2001, and are now a far cry from the 90s, when Florida State was guaranteed to be in the top 10 and the tomahawk chop was always in a top bowl game. Unfortunately, Bobby’s enormous ego has gotten the best of him, and continues to hang around trying to make sure he tops the other past-his-time old foggie – Joe Paterno – for the all-time wins record. But for that tool from the Board of Trustees to come out with a statement about what Bobby will do was also a stupid move. The guy built FSU into a top-tier program, and even though he has now rode it down to mediocrity, he deserves to go out by being celebrated with class. And if that turd of a trustee really cared about FSU football, he would understand that causing controversy is going to do nothing but hurt the school’s image and destroy recruiting, which guarantees a longer time before the program is relevant.

Bowden started coaching FSU in 1976, and had them in back-to-back Orange Bowls in 1979 and 1980. He then did not lose more than 2 games in a season between 1987 and 2000. Unfortunately, since then, he has lost at least 3 games every season, including 7-6 records in 2007 & 2008. The only positive thing to come out of FSU in the past 9 years has been that fan girl – Jen Sterger.

Speaking of Joe Pa, what are the odds that he retires before he dies? I know it’s a morbid thought, but that crazy old dude is never going to leave. I understand the concept that he has “earned the right” to step down when he wants to, but doesn’t he have any trusted advisors that can give him a sense of reality? He is completely a figure-head, and is not really doing any coaching or recruiting for the team. The only value he is bringing is pity (like when he broke his leg on the sideline) and unintentional comedy (like when a reporter asked him if he wanted the field named after him and he responded with “I don’t think much about being dead.”).

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I think the Braylon Edwards trade has a chance to be a great one for the Jets & for Edwards himself. However I think the Jets should take some precautions to enhance the likelihood of success. Edwards has always been accused of being easily distracted and not focused on being a football player, rather choosing to pay attention to being a star. And obviously, moving to New York could be throwing gasoline on that fire. So I think the Jets should force him to live in New Jersey and ban him from coming into the city. Living in Jersey, he’ll be forced to focus on football, because unless he’s going to be distracted by white cars with dark tinted windows and big rims, big-haired women or cement-gelled hair on dudes, he will have nothing but football to focus on.

The guy is a big-time football talent – a big WR with the speed to get downfield and go up over DBs. He provides a great security blanket for Mark Sanchez, and in the new disciplined environment of Rex Ryan, Edwards could thrive. We’ll see how it actually plays out, but I think the Jets got one last kick of Eric Mangini.

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One final note…..on Deion Sanders, arguably the best player to ever come out of Florida State. What is this guy doing? He has ties to Michael Crabtree’s agent, and is at the heart of the 49ers tampering charges against the Jets. And he was the reason Dez White (one of the best WR in college) of Oklahoma State just lost his eligibility to play college football. Oh, and Deion is employed by the NFL Network, so he’s an employee of the league. Deion, what are you doing? I know you think you’re a businessman, trying a reality TV show, rapping and selling a hot dog cooker……but maybe you should just stick to talking about football in a studio and stay away from college players.

(The quality of the video is terrible, but it seems to be the only one out there).