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Today was an important day for the New York Jets.
Nick Mangold retired a Jet today.
He was a high Jets draft pick who was with Jets from pillar to post.
To use a terrible cliché, he “bleeds Jets green.”
I think one small part of a good football culture is having a strong alumni base of players that feel like that team is part of their soul, their being.
The Jets have been too much of a bus station over the years, with guys coming and going.
Perhaps this is due to all the regime changes – when you have new general managers and coaches every few years, often high draft picks are sent packing by new decision-makers with a different vision, and who show favor to the players they picked.
Do you know that Mangold is the first player to ever sign a one-day contract to retire as a Jet? That is a little shocking considering how long this franchise has been around.
Recently, Matt Forte signed a one-day contract to retire as a Chicago Bear.
He was with the Jets the last two years. But was he ever truly with the Jets? His body was here, but his heart was in Chicago.
Forte is illustrative of a program that has been rife with individual contractors over the years, and not true Jets.
I’d see Forte in the locker room a lot, and it always felt there was something missing. I felt like he was like a fish out of water in Florham Park.
The Jets’ culture needs more Nick Mangold’s moving forward, guys who are drafted by the Jets, have excellent Jets careers, and retire Jets.
There is a former Jet who represents the team a lot at local charity events, which is always good. Charity is important. He is at more events representing the Jets than any other former player. He played for the Jets for two seasons. He’s a great guy, but I consider him more of a Kansas City Chief than New York Jet.
There are players at Jets alumni events I never even heard of.
For the Jets’ culture, they need guys like Jamal Adams and Leonard Williams to be with the team from beginning to end, have great careers, and retire as Jets.
“Today we are here to celebrate the career of one of the great all-time Jets,” said Christopher Johnson. “I remember when we drafted [Mangold] with the 29th overall pick in 2006. We knew he was smart, we knew he was tough, and we knew he would give us everything he had on the field. What we did not know was how much he would embrace our organization and this community.”
So today was a powerful moment for the Jets’ franchise.
A great Jets player, who loved being a Jet and retired a Jet. Being a Jet is in his blood.
The Jets need more of this moving forward, and less hired guns and missionaries.
This will be good for their football culture.
April 24, 2018
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