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New Jets running back had a quote that made news.
Frank Gore was asked why he signed with the Jets?
“I got an opportunity to get back with a good friend and a guy I respect, and I’m happy that he wanted me to be on his team,” Gore told the NFL Network.
“Good friend?”
Should a player be a “good friend” with the head coach?
It’s probably not the best dynamic.
Maybe after you are done playing for the coach, it’s okay to be friends, but when you’re playing under a coach, it’s probably not the best idea.
And if players in the locker room think a certain player is friends with the coach, their boss, that can create a trust issue in the locker room.
If a teammate is friends with the coach, might you be concerned what you say, or how you act in the locker room, around him?
Would you be concerned that the coach is going to ask his “friend” what he thinks of this player or that player?
Now, in fairness, Gase never used the word “friend.”
Though he has not talked to the mainstream media since the signing.
The last time he talked to the mainstream media was when he appeared on Rich Cimini’s podcast and said, “Hopefully, we can gets some of the younger back to where we can make a good one-two punch to where we can really excel instead of feeling like it’s just on [Le’Veon Bell] all the time.”
Look, from all accounts Gore is a excellent person and teammate, and perhaps it was just bad word choice saying, “good friend.”
But imagine a Green Bay Packers player saying, “I’m good friends with Vince Lombardi.”
Or a New England Patriots player saying, “I’m good friends with Bill Belichick.”
It just doesn’t work.
Gore has had quite the career with stops in San Francisco, Indianapolis, Miami and Buffalo.
I read something one of the Jet social media sites that caught my attention.
“Gore has signed with the Jets and brings with him a bunch of crazy NFL numbers, records and distinctions,” they posted.
It all honesty, yes he’s had a great career, but he’s not bringing any of his excellent numbers from the past to Florham Park.
And as they often say on commercials for investment firms: “Past performance doesn’t guarantee future results.”
Perhaps Gore has lost nothing and will shine this year. We shall see.
But you talk about a running back with “crazy NFL numbers, records and distinctions” that is usually a runner with a lot of mileage.
There are only so many hits in a running back’s body.
If you are Jets running backs like Lamical Perine, Josh Adams and Kenneth Dixon, do you want to mentored by Gore, or would you rather have the carries he’s going to be taking from you by being on the team.
Or if you are promising young runner Jalin Moore, who was released yesterday . . .
May 7, 2020
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