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I’m not going to lie, this whole thing bothered me. We can try to compartmentalize things, and act like these aren’t humans we are covering, but for me that is hard to do.
There is a story that has gone viral on the internet. NJ.com wrote a long article about Christian Hackenberg’s spring practices. To make a point about his accuracy, the reporter wrote, “Hackenberg hit reporters with passes twice.”
This story is being referenced all over the internet with people poking fun at Hackenberg.
It’s sad how much play this story is getting with websites and message boards all over the internet that are destroying the kid.
And this anecdote is much ado about nothing.
This story is a perfect example of why so many coaches don’t want reporters at spring practices. This is a time for teaching, learning and growing. It’s not a time for stats and style points.
These incompletions happened to be on the sideline the media was standing. These two incompletions mean absolute nothing. Nothing. On one of the plays, a wide receiver didn’t run the route properly.
Does Hackenberg need to improve his accuracy? Absolutely. So do Deshaun Watson, Jared Goff and Blake Bortles. A lot of young quarterbacks do.
Are the two passes that went out of bounds and hit reporters, according to NJ.com, illustrative of his accuracy problem. I’m not sure. There are going to be incompletions in spring practices. Perhaps this anecdote is a bit hyperbolic and people are blowing it out of proportion.
The Jets have a new offense, a lot of new receivers; Jets quarterbacks and receivers are still working on getting on the same page. A lot of factors go into spring practice incompletions.
Perhaps Mike Maccagnan should have thought twice about bringing Hackenberg into this market, especially to the Jets.
The media here is ferocious, especially the Jets’ media.
Maybe Hackenberg, who entered the NFL after a couple of rough years at Penn State where he didn’t have a lot of help, would have been better off in a small media market, where he could take his time and learn without media jackals constantly attacking him.
To me, the stir this “story” caused is pathetic.
I was on two radio shows in the last couple of days, and on both shows I was asked about Hackenberg hitting reporters with passes.
This is what is considered news these days.
Honestly, Hackenberg is a good guy, a hard-working player trying to improve. He’s just 22-years-old, and he’s constantly subjected to this low-brow crap.
Like last year when the sky was falling because he didn’t play. The Jets did the right thing not playing him last year, but they got killed for it by know-it-all’s in the press.
The Jets better come up with a better strategy to deal with the press.
They are eating Hackenberg, and honestly the whole organization, in general, for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
If I were the Jets, I’d keep Hackenberg away from the press as much as possible.
Leave the guy alone.
Hitting reporters with passes.
Spare me.
June 9, 2017
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