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I tweeted this before . . .
“Sam Darnold has been very busy off-the-field the last few weeks doing long Q-and-A’s with beat writers and penning a letter to Jets fans. A lot on his plate.”
A lot of Jets fans “liked” this tweet.
But anybody that knows me well, probably picked up a hint of sarcasm in this tweet.
I was born and raised in New York, now live in New Jersey, sarcasm is in my DNA.
Before I continue, I want to make it clear, I’m not ripping Darnold. He has nothing to do with these actions which are putting “the cart before the horse.”
He’s just doing what he’s told.
A fan responded to my tweet, “Comes with the territory. He’s the face of the franchise. The kid’s handling it like a pro.”
How can you be considered the “face of the franchise” before you’re an established NFL player?
Now I do think Darnold has the the potential to be the “face of the franchise,” but is he there already before proving himself? Not really.
Also, as far as this “comes with the territory,” I don’t get that either.
His “territory” right now should be 100 percent about football and developing his skill set.
He should not involved in marketing right now.
That is putting the cart before the horse.
Those long Q-and-A’s the Jets set up him to do last week, where he told the world about himself, coming off two bad losses, is a case of misplaced priorities.
And then the letter this week he wrote to fans, “You may not always see it, but I hate losing more than I like winning. Deep down, winning is everything to me. I’m not going to show too much emotion, but that’s the way my competitive nature is. It’s that fiery passion I have for the game or my competitiveness in general. Whether it’s a board game or a football game on a Sunday, it’s the same for me.”
Great. Get back in the film room and start taking notes.
As Elvis Presley once said, “A little less conversation, a little more action.”
And not his fault. Some forces are clearing pushing him to do this stuff to help the team’s marketing department, perhaps boost ticket sales.
He needs to focus on becoming a great quarterback 100 percent of the time, and not be a carnival barker, trying to help the team’s business operation.
Can you imagine a rookie, playing for Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick or Vince Lombardi, doing this stuff before they’ve proven anything?
Get your priorities in order. The first order of business for the kid is to be 100 percent focused on reading defenses (stop bird-dogging the first read), footwork, the deep ball, taking notes in meeting and so forth.
And once again, for clarity, none of this is his fault.
This is just wrong, man.
He’s a 21-year-old quarterback trying to learn the whys and wherefores of playing quarterback in the NFL.
He’s not P.T. Barnum.
October 5, 2018
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