Somebody needs to talk some sense into Chad Pennington and right quick. After yesterday's 37-14 thrashing of the Seahwaks in the Meadowlands, Pennington read a terse statement for the press, and then refused to do anymore interviews. Here' the way the New York Post's Steve Serby saw it:
"Here's the way it's going to be: The difference today was that we executed, and for the first time in a long time offensively we set the tempo running the ball (229 yards) and passing the ball. We were able to get into a rhythm and we just kept it flowing, and the biggest thing we tried to concentrate on throughout the game as an offense was to not let up, not even breathe, don't let those guys breathe. Just keep going, keep pressing forward, keep mixing it up, both run and pass. And answer the play of our defense with our own good play by putting up some good points, and we were able to accomplish that both running and passing."Great win for us, and now we're excited about the future of our season. Kind of put the (9-7) ghosts of 2000 behind us, and got our 10th win, and went ahead and put that to bed, and we're excited about the last two games of the season now to build some momentum to the playoffs, and . . . actions speak louder than words. There's not a lot that needs to be said; there wasn't a lot that was said between players this week. It was just the look in their eyes, the look in my eyes, that, hey, we know what we have to do, we don't need to really talk about it. We know what we have to do on the field, it doesn't matter what you do off the field, what you say off the field. It matters how you perform on the field. And as veterans, we were able to step up and make some things happen, and it was a great win for us.
"That's my statement, and I'm sticking to it. Thank you."
Apparently, Pennington was a little miffed that a number of writers had questioned his arm strength in the aftermath of New York's 17-6 loss last weekend to Pittsburgh. Of course, New York has a notoriously tough press corps, so what in the world did this kid expect? Which led Newsday's Shaun Powell (the most underrated columnist in New York) to write:
After years of receiving nothing but butt-kissing raves about his quarterbacking, Pennington was in a snit over a few questions last week about his arm strength and ability to come through in the clutch. Evidently believing he's above any criticism, even the slightest, Pennington delivered a three-minute "statement" after the Seattle game, then left without taking questions.Well, who cares? There's nothing to say until this coming Sunday against the Patriots, anyway.
As I'm sure some of you might recall, the last New York sports figure who decided to rely on a statement was former Mets phenom Gregg Jefferies -- a decision that led to the young player being run out of town. Granted, Pennington has done more for the Jets than Jefferies ever did for the Mets, but Chad, this way lies madness! For God's sake, loosen up!
As far as the Pennington statement- I understand how he
I take it as Chad asserting himself as a leader more than anything. And if he continues to foster foes in inkland, he ain’t much of a leader to follow.
So he stooped to their level, no big deal unless it becomes routine.
All I know is, when it’s a conflict between the New York media and a player, I’ll pretty much always go with the player.
Just heard clips from Pennington from this morning on WFAN in NY. He said that he was just playing, and having a little fun. Since athletes are “inconvenienced sometimes,” he thought it would be interesting to “do the same” to the reporters.
What.Ever.
This is what happens when people say “the media” as a blanket statement. I hate being held responsible for the least responsible in the profession.
Of course, it could also be that Chad has a weak arm and a thin skin. The latter seems more likely than the former.
Paul hacket suck get rid of him and whats up with this coseveative playing 27 seconds left and we don’t even try to score when rams scored with 60 seconds left on one play lets go jets get agressive . third and 3 fuck kicking field goal get the first and score seven .