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The C.J. story is a cautionary tale, and perhaps demonstrates the lack of an ideal plan or ideal communication.
Johnson recently claimed, during an NFL.com interview, that he was promised more playing time by the Jets when he signed with them last spring.
And one Jets beat writer claims he checked into it, and backed up this claim.
“Did some checking into Chris Johnson’s claim that he was misled by the Jets about his role, and it turns out he’s right,” wrote ESPN’s Rich Cimini. “I’m told that Idzik and Rex Ryan promised him more playing time than he received, but that was at the time of his signing.”
Really?
Why would they do something that ill-advised?
Football is the ultimate team sport. You do whatever you have to do to win. The whole is greater than the sum of it’s parts in football.
You don’t go around worrying about how many touches players on offense are going to get.
This story stinks to high heaven.
First of all, it doesn’t make Johnson look like a team player.
It makes him look like a guy who is most concerned with his touches and his legacy.
Secondly, if Rex Ryan or John Idzik made certain promises, they acted in a way that flies in the face of a winning mindset.
Remember when Mike Tice was the coach of the Minnesota Vikings, and he instituted the “Randy Rule,” one season? This assured Randy Moss of a great deal of the touches in the receiving game.
It was a crazy idea, and it didn’t work, and the team didn’t win.
Do you think Bill Belichick or Mike McCarthy or Mike Tomlin or Pete Carroll are going around promising offensive players a certain amount of action?
My guess is this story comes from Johnson’s agent, Joel Segal, always very willing to help out the media.
Do you trust everything Segal says?
This is a guy who was decertified several years ago by the NFLPA for breaking agent rules.
He got his license back a few years later, but if he’s the one chirping about Johnson being promised a bigger role, are you taking that to the bank?
I’m not.
Perhaps Rex did promise something bigger, but if that is the case, it was probably due to his desire to be loved by his players. But Rex always makes grandiose predictions and statements. We all know that. Most of them mean very little.
Why would John Idzik make that kind of promise when Chris Ivory and Bilal Powell were coming off good seasons? The Ivory trade was one of Idzik’s moves. You really think he was prepared to diminish Ivory’s role after a terrific initial first campaign in green? That is highly unlikely.
But you know what, who gives a rat’s butt.
This is so counterproductive to winning.
And championship programs don’t get involved in nonsense like this.
Team players never complain about their role.
And quite honestly, while Johnson is a very talented runner, he hasn’t won much over the years at East Carolina, Tennessee and the Jets.
This story is a teachable moment for the Jets moving forward.
Stay away from players who complain about their touches.
It’s bad karma for the clubhouse.
February 24, 2015
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