Content available exclusively for subscribers
Some people consider the Jets’ scene a “media circus.” In Part Two of “Things need to change,” we look at how the Jets might be enablers . . .
One of the things that needs to change if the Jets want to get out of their current abyss is how they handle the media.
To call last year a “media circus,” might be an understatement, with Tim Tebow in the center ring, However, he’s gone, so let’s move past that.
There is a problem from last year that has continued into the year, even with Tebow gone – THERE IS ALMOST NEVER A PRICE TO PAY FOR CROSSING THE LINE!
And when that is the dynamic, the media is really going to push the envelope and destroy you, and treat you like they wouldn’t dare treat other teams.
Manish Mehta had a banner year in 2012, springing so many leaks in the locker room, front office and coaching staff, the Jets took a major PR hit, because people thought the organization lacked institutional control.
Gary Myers made a Watergate comparison when talking about Mehta’s work last year, and honestly, while that might be a reach, I understand where he was coming from.
Mehta blew the lid off the place, with his sources, which reportedly included Mike Pettine and Antonio Cromartie
I’ve never seen leaks of this magnitude in my close to 20 years covering the team.
But even after what happened last year, Mehta continues to get great treatment.
Mehta got Rex Ryan one-on-one at the owner’s meeting, and got a sit-down with Marty Mornhinweg recently. The Morhinweg interview blew up on the Jets, with Mehta getting national attention for a story claiming the Mornhinweg would like the QB competition to wrap up by mid-June.
How does make any sense? You have Geno Smith, a major project, coming out of a funky college offense (which inflated his stats) and Mark Sanchez, coming off two bad seasons. So you are going to rush the decision and make it after veteran mini-camp? That is idiotic.
But you know what, maybe the Jets deserve what they got with the Mehta story, giving the writer a special sit-down with Mornhinweg.
However, the Jets have Mornhinweg on what seems like a World Tour, appearing all over the place. Is Letterman next?
The guy just got here. He has the herculean task of turning around one of the NFL’s worst offenses with a foggy quarterback situation. He’s installing a new playbook, trying to teach it to 80 players. He doesn’t have a lot of time.
The amount of interviews Mornhinweg is doing is a case of putting the cart before the horse. He needs to focus on the offense, and the myriad interviews, can happen down the road.
This is a case of messed up priorities. Mornhinweg was brought in to turn around the offense, not work for the marketing department trying to promote the product.
It seems like the Jets are trying to promote the product through Morhinweg by setting up all these interviews, and it seems like Marty is ready, willing and able. Perhaps he sees being an offensive coordinator in New York , the media capital of the world, as a chance to become a head coach again.
Morhinweg actually did the Jets’ chant at the end of a recent ESPN Radio interview. Marty, come back to us.
But you know what, he can do 100’s of interviews, but if this offense stinks, the media stuff isn’t going to help Mornhinweg or the team.
Let’s get back to the Jets rewarding bad behavior.
Recently, Adam Schein wrote, “Mark Sanchez is akin to Freddy or Jason in the horror flicks: You try to kill him off, but he keeps coming back to torment even more,” wrote Schein in a recent column of the league’s website. “Sanchez suddenly has that George Costanza feel to him: I don’t think he could get fired if he tried, even if he drove around the Jets‘ complex in Florham Park, N.J., dragging the Super Bowl III trophy behind his the car or dripped mustard on a vintage Joe Namath jersey.”
That was written on NFL.com, THE LEAGUE’S WEBSITE. How does the league’s own website allow that kind of vitriol about a player on a member club? None of the other league websites, MLB.com. NBA.com and NHL.com, would allow this. I can assure you of that.
NFL.com constantly destroys the Jets, smears their image. It’s like a hobby for them. Did you know that Jason Smith, of NFL.com (and NFL Network), actually said the Jets’ QB competition is “rigged.” Powerful allegation.
Jets President Neil Glat used to work for the league, so why is he allowing this? That website is really hurting the Jets, one of 32 clubs that has a stake in it.
And let’s not forget something else about Schein, he works on SNY, THE OFFICIAL CABLE CHANNEL OF THE JETS.
Can you imagine if somebody from the YES Network said, “Joba Chamberlain is akin to Freddy or Jason in the horror flicks: You try to kill him off, but he keeps coming back to torment even more.”
How would that fly in the Yankee offices? Heads would roll, and you know it.
The Jets just sit there like punching bags, take this crap, and reward people with special interviews or guests for their shows.
All of you parents out there, think about what happens when you reward bad behavior with your kids? It leads to more bad behavior.
But you know, aside from the Jets’ image being destroyed by the press, there is an even bigger problem here.
If you let people get away with saying things about your players, especially individuals on your flagship television channel, or the league’s website, the players will think, “Hey Jets management, you don’t have my back.”
I remember towards the end of Brian Schottenheimer’s time with the Jets, an analyst of SNY, said twice, “Schotty ruined Christmas.”
Brian is a good guy, a great family man, a cancer survivor. You can dislike him as an offensive coordinator (though he looks like Bill Walsh compared to what we saw last year), but for somebody on the Jets TV partner to say, “He ruined Christmas,” is way over the line.
There is no question the Jets are a circus when it comes to the organization and the media.
And in so many ways, they are enabling the people stepping over the line, by constantly rewarding bad behavior.
Until they do something about this, the circus will never leave town.
Somebody, high up in the organization, needs to take the bull by the horns, and say the famous line from the movie, “Network,” – “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore.”
May 24, 2013
Premium will return by 9:30 pm on Sunday.