Leave Colon alone

Jets guard Willie Colon said nothing wrong. However in this “gotcha” era we live in, I guess he did say something wrong.

I saw this headline on a website – “Jets G Willie Colon critical of QB Geno Smith.”

Other websites had similar headlines.

I really don’t think what he said was that big of a deal.

“Geno’s career right now is extremely turbulent,” Colon said “He was never ready to be the starting quarterback of the New York Jets. … He was thrown into the fire, and he was forced to cook. Everybody knows in this league, to be a quarterback, which is the number one position on the field, it’s a maturation process you have to go through.”

To me, this statement is 100 percent accurate, and not a shot at Geno as much as the Jets’ former brass that threw the youngster to the wolves.

I’m not second-guessing. You all know I’ve been saying this all along. Smith came out of college-spread offense that didn’t translate to the NFL. He was the kind of prospect that should have been handled like Bryce Petty, who barring a major surprise, is going to sit for a couple of years.

Why the Jets’ former regime hitched their wagons to a college-spread QB who wasn’t ready to play, you will have to ask them.

So yes, it’s been “turbulent.” Who can argue with that? He was “thrown to the fire and forced do cook.” Who can argue with that? He was “never ready to be the starting quarterback of the New York Jets.” Who can argue with that?
Colon is spot-on, and even if you are Smith, it’s hard to argue with these points.

To me, Smith was a little bit of victim here.

I don’t blame him for his struggles. I blame the powers-that-be.

“We bought a Porsche. We’ve given him the keys. He can’t crash it,” Colon said. “Bottom line, he can’t crash it. We need him to be on top of his game.”

Nothing wrong with that.

The Jets are loaded. Their roster is stacked. Smith is now in his third year, and his trial-by-fire should help him to a certain degree this year. Also what should help him is a Chan Gailey-system that is simpler and more quarterback-friendly.

So once again, what is so terrible about what Colon said?

But yet, you have some reporters peppering Todd Bowles with question after question about Colon’s comments. Like, “Oh the humanity – did you hear what Colon said?”

This is the “gotcha” world we live in.

Everything is seemingly a scandal.

Anything to get hits on websites – trump up the words, and try to get more hits.

Colon won the “Good Guy” award last year from the Jets’ press for his cooperation.

So why are you trying to destroy the guy, get him in trouble?

I’m not saying you need to hold back from certain criticism because he’s cooperative with the press. There is no question he needs to cut back on penalties. Go after him over that. No problem.

But when a guy is as cooperative as Colon, why destroy him over words that really weren’t particularly vitriolic?

June 4, 2015

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