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This was worse than I realized . . .
On May 25, the NFL suspended Jets cornerback Brandin Echols for one game, the Jets’ season opener on Monday, September 11, against the Buffalo Bills.
I didn’t follow the story that closely and thought it was for just speeding.
But it was far from just speeding.
“New York Jets’ cornerback Brandin Echols was accepted in a diversionary program to avoid assault by auto charges in a high-speed crash in Florham Park in 2022 that partially paralyzed another man,” wrote Lori Comstock for the Morristown Daily Record.
Daily Record headline on Comstock’s story – “‘Incomprehensible speed’: Paralyzed victim spoke of crash that gets NY Jets cornerback PTI.”
“Echols was admitted into the pretrial intervention (PTI) program for three years by state Superior Court Judge Noah Franzblau, in Morris County, during a tense Feb. 28 hearing that, in a rare move, allowed the injured driver to speak to the April 22, 2022 two-vehicle crash that he called a ‘near-fatal real life nightmare,'” wrote Comstock.
According to the Daily Record, in January, the Florham Park Police charged Echols with a fourth-degree crime and issued him several summonses for reckless driving, speeding, unsafe lane change, improper passing and failure to wear a seatbelt. According to the police, he was driving 84 MPH on a road with a 50 MPH speed limit.
This incident happened on Columbia Turnpike, near the Morristown Airport. After crash, the driver of a 2018 BMW X5, Stephen Gilberg, was found in his car, which was on it’s roof, in a marsh right off Columbia Turnpike.
According to the Daily Record, “Gilberg was rushed to Morristown Medical Center with a spinal cord injury that resulted in no feeling or movement in both hands and his right leg that required spinal surgery, police said. He also suffered broken ribs.”
So clearly this was a lot worse than just a run-of-the-mill speeding ticket.
Nobody has asked Robert Saleh about this in a press conference. This Jets beat is a different bird right now.
Hopefully, Mr. Gilberg will be okay. What a harrowing experience for that man.
This is another example of how the Jets’ culture is a work in progress.
Mekhi Becton tweeting, “I am a left tackle.” Becton blaming coaches in Newsday for his knee injury. Elijah Moore telling an assistant coach to “go F himself.” Yes, he was traded, but was he vetted properly in the draft? A first-round QB on Page Six too much. And this horrific car accident involving a Jets player speeding.
Looking, I’m not looking to cast stones. I’m far from perfect, but perhaps Rex Hogan needs to tweak the vetting process for college prospects a tad. Not a lot, just a tad.
Look, don’t get me wrong, they have added a lot of guys who get high marks for character like Alijah Vera-Tucker, Garrett Wilson and Sauce Gardner. There are plenty more I could list.
But after reading the details of what happened to that man who Echols crashed into speeding – wow.
June 2, 2023
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