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The Jets and Geno Smith must be ecstatic about how the “Flight-Gate,” turned out, with an apology from Virgin Atlantic. Let’s break this down . . .
First of all, here are the statements issued by Geno and the airline yesterday.
Statement from Virgin America
“After a full review of the incident, we believe it was the result of a misunderstanding that regrettably escalated unnecessarily. We’ve apologized to Mr. Smith for his experience, which could have been better– and we’d welcome him back onboard any time. As an airline that prides itself on our guest service, we take incidents such as this one very seriously.”
Statement from New York Jets QB Geno Smith
“I really appreciate that Virgin America took this seriously, looked into this matter and followed up with me. I look forward to flying their airline again soon.”
My first thought was – it’s great to have one of the most powerful people in show business as your agent – Jay-Z.
I’m sure he made some calls, perhaps even having a chat with Richard Branson, the chairmen of Virgin Airlines.
Jay-Z is very plugged in, a move-and-shaker. He makes things happen.
There is way around it – Smith’s camp did a marvelous job of creating a positive conclusion to a story that could have really hurt the quarterback’s image.
But if you think for one second Geno is 100 percent innocent here, I have some land in the Mohave Desert to sell you.
Where there is smoke there is fire.
“The incident occurred around 2:30 p.m., the source said, when LAX Port Authority cops got a call to respond to an incident at Gate 37A. A Virgin America supervisor had already escorted Smith from the gate and both were at their kiosk because the flight had already departed. The supervisor told the cops that the captain didn’t want Smith on the flight.” – Seth Walder, New York Daily News.
“[Smith] was on the plane. The crew didn’t push off [take-off] because he was on the phone. So, the captain ordered him off the plane. Virgin America wouldn’t rebook him,” an airport source told the New York Post. “When a flight attendant tells you to get off the phone, you get off the phone.”
Not only was Smith asked to leave the plane, he had a heated dispute with officials from Virgin Atlantic in the terminal.
“We were waiting for our flight at LAX to Vegas and were put on standby on Virgin American just like Geno,” a witness told the “Deadspin” website. “We were told to get seat assignment at 2:40. Apparently Geno was not on board with that. My friend walked over to discuss seat assignment and Geno was saying to airline ticket agents, ‘F— that, this is bull—-t. Why the f— do I have to wait until 2:40.’ He would not let it go. He continued to curse and be loud for about five minutes. Police were called. They talked for a few minutes and then three officers escorted him out of the terminal.”
The bottom line is Jay-Z’s camp, and the Jets, did a nice job of putting this fire out.
And it’s time for move forward.
But Smith also needs to take some accountability here.
As the quarterback of an NFL team, he can’t put yourself himself in that position.
And like I said the other day, after observing him this season, I think, like so many people in his generation (including some of my relatives), I think has a little bit of cell phone obsession.
Which perhaps led to this incident, and the Jets can only hope doesn’t take away from his football preparation.
To be a successful NFL quarterback, you need to be the hardest worker in the building, and that should leave you precious little time to fiddle around on your cell phone.
January 24, 2014
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