National Felon League

So much has been made over the past few weeks of now Ex-Patriots TE Aaron Hernandez, recently its boiled over. In what appeared to be a media hype train with helicopters and car chases taking a page from OJ and a white bronco, Hernandez was arraigned on 1st degree murder and weapons charges today.

Now there is a bigger story here for football fans, this was the 29th arrest since the Superbowl, meaning roughly 1% of NFL players were arrested this off-season. A number I'm sure Roger Goodell shutters to think about. The popularity of the league has sky rocketed over other sports in the past decade, and the spotlight focused on players and franchises is higher than ever. Yet that hasn't prevented NFL players from dragging themselves and their teams through the mud time after time. Crimes ranging from domestic abuse and dwi's to weapons and murder, this isn't an NHL player drunk at a bachelor party or Josh Hamilton at a bar these are serious illegal activities. The product on the field is better than ever yet the image and role models were presenting to our kids and all sports fans are unacceptable. While this isn't the first time an NFL player has been the focus of a homicide case, cue Ray Lewis and Donte Stallworth, it is at a time where the league is at a new height of popularity. The Patriots knew Hernandez had lifestyle issues as did every NFL team, which is why 1st round talent fell down to the 4th round of the 2010 draft. Hernandez was on his first year of a contract that would of seen him make around 40 million dollars, including a 12 million dollar signing bonus, big money for a tight end with lifestyle issues. The NFL pays out over 3 Billion in salaries to players, and as fans of the sport who buy over priced merchandise and jacked up ticket prices are supporting the system. Who are we giving our money too? Think about that the next time you buy a jersey or go to game and spend $300 on tickets and pretzel.

Here we go again..

After months of trade talks and a guarantee from GM John Idzik to CB Darelle Revis that he would remain a Jet, it's finally happened. The Tampa Bay Bucs have traded the 13th pick in the 2013 draft and their 4th round pick in the 2014 draft in return for the all-star corner. The trade left a bitter taste in Revis mouth as he was assured he would remain with the team. When asked how it felt to be traded he expressed disappointment as he felt the Jets gave up on him at a time when he was injured. Revis has been the subject of numerous contract disputes or "hold outs" and speculation about how far the team and the player were apart on negotiations for a new deal were the catalyst in the move. The Jets managed the 2nd ranked pass defense in a season where Revis only played 2 games, perhaps giving them the comfort level to move the best pass defender in the league. But this does not bode well for defense first head coach Rex Ryan. Losing your best defender is never a good thing, for Rex it's just another brick in the wall he will have to break through to keep his job in the seasons to come. Now focus moves to Thursday  when the Jets will use the 9th and 13th picks to better the future of the franchise. The pressure on Idzik to draft talent that is NFL ready is obvious, yet if they don't pan out Rex Ryan will likely pay the price. A few mock drafts have the jets taking OLB/DE Barkevious Mingo of LSU with the 9th and WR Tavon Austin of West Virginia with the 13th. Addressing 2 of the jets needs, a consistent pass rush on defense and big play ability on offense. Austin could be a god send for Mark Sanchez, allowing him to make some easy tosses on screens and out routes which the team severly missed last season. That said their may be clamor to add some pass defense at the safety position,  Kenny Vaccaro of Texas is the top rated Safety projected in the top 15-20 in most mocks. The Jets will also look to solidify the offensive line as Sanchez subpar season was enamored with sacks and blown pass rush coverage. One can only hope the temptation to draft a QB does not formulate with management should the top rated QB fall to 9. This is not the year to be looking for a QB, adding another sub par thrower to compete with the Jets ragtag group of QB's is the last thing the lockeroom and coaches need.

All that said the Jets are in a rough spot this season. Owner Woody Johnson appears to be more concerned with how many times the team is mentioned by media daily. Someone should remind him media coverage does not translate well to wins. Putting anyone with a blog and press badge in your building and letting the rumor mill spew anything it can dream up is just one of the issues the Jets look to reign in. There will be alot of proving to do from top management all the way down through rookie draft picks, and any hopes of being competitive lye squarely on their shoulders. Sit back grab the popcorn and watch the show unfold, the draft starts Thursday night at 8 pm.

Go Away Tim Tebow

With Aaron Rodgers looking to get paid from the Green Bay Packers within the next week or so with a new contract, what about the NYJ quarterback situation.... Or for that matter where do the New York Jets and Tim Tebow stand? After last year I think most of us thought he would be released after the season as we saw how that experiment went. I do know the Jets are and have been trying to trade him but the fact that he is still with the team means his trade value is zero right now. The draft is soon coming and if Tim Tebow isn't traded then I say he will be cut by the Jets. If he does however remain on the roster weeks from now then I am puzzled. I would not be surprised if Tebow is in the CFL in weeks to come in which I will be happy for him but if he is still here on the Jets roster than I am questioning what is going on here. With all the drama that has come with Tebow it has brought a much negative vibe, and now with the comments from the instructor of Tebow (seen below) this has to end. So the Jets should be concentrating on the future as they are in rebuilding mode and that future should exclude Tim Tebow.

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I think he was purposefully sent to New York. From the standpoint: you send him to a situation where you have instability with your coach -- you don't know if he's coming or going. You have a fragile-minded Mark Sanchez at quarterback. You stick Tim Tebow in there and you kill two birds with one stone. You stick Tim Tebow in there and you kill two birds with one stone. So if you're Denver, you've got to be thinking, 'We send him to New York, we basically kill an opponent and, at the same time, Tim Tebow doesn't come back to bite us in the proverbial butt, if you will, because he's not going to make it out of there.'

”-- Steve Clarkson, private coach who has worked with Tim Tebow

The Big Green Scapegoat

When Rex Ryan became the NY Jets Head Coach he made an immediate impact. He joined Mike Tannenbaum and built a team with a strong defense, a pretty good offense led by a rookie quarterback. During the first two seasons together they were 1 win shy from a Super Bowl appearance. The following season wasn't as good as the team went 8-8. Then there was last season. A year that was full of Mark Sanchez interceptions and injuries to big name players such as Santonio Holmes and Darrell Revis. The team was 6-10 and I think they were worse then their record showed. Some of the worse games featured a 49-19 loss to the Patriots, 34-0 loss to the 49ers, the loss to the Titans on Monday Night football 14-10 in which the Jets were given chances to score towards the end but didn't. Even some of the wins were ugly such as the 7-6 win over Arizona.

As everyone knows Mike Tannenbaum was fired and Rex remained Head Coach. A lot of people in the media questioned why Rex was able to keep his job and Tannenbaum wasn't. Tannenbaum was the one who gave Sanchez the extension due to his success in his first two seasons. Sanchez was still under contract so it didn't make sense at the time for the extension but then again if Sanchez was playing great the past 2 seasons then I would be saying otherwise. So after the abysmal season I think Woody Johnson kind of pinned a lot of the blame on Tannenbaum since he was the one that was fired.

New GM Mike Idzik had been busy at the start as the Jets cut players such as Bart Scott and Calvin Pace, and they also failed to resign a lot of players such as Laron Landry, Yeremiah Bell, Shonn Greene, Dustin Keller, Mike Devito and Brandon Moore. Not to mention, Idzik was and most likely still trying to trade Darrell Revis and who knows if they will get anything in return for this season. It will most likely be for picks in the 2014 draft unless something happens quick or even at the draft this month. If the Jets don't get any picks in this draft for Revis then how is Rex supposed to win this upcoming season? It's simple, he isn't. I am a big fan of Rex Ryan and he brought the Jets back on the radar but he is being setup to fail and follow Tannenbaums footsteps in being the next scapegoat. It doesn't make sense that a team that goes into rebuilding mode to fire only the GM. Rex Ryan is under contract for this upcoming season so keeping him around could be a money thing, he also will be calling the plays for the defense. Will this season be Rex's last as Jets Head Coach or will he be able to use the little talent the team has and put together some big wins to build his accountability up for a new contract. We all know Rex Ryan is usually very vocal but we really haven't heard much from him since the dismantling of the team. Its seems that Idzik is running the show, but if the Jets have a bad season, it won't be Idzik it will be Rex Ryan who will lose his job and he will be the 2013 NY Jets Scapegoat.

Fuel to the fire, time to take off

It's only March and already the Jets are trying to disappoint their fan base, and assure themselves a losing season. As if last seasons debacles weren't enough, Jets new GM John Idzik and owner Woody Johnson wasted no time getting the media bus rolling. This time in the direction of CB Darrelle Revis, who's in a contract year and coming off an ACL injury. Whether the Jets are serious about trading Revis or just trying to gain bargaining chips come contract negotiations remains unclear. Idzik is hard pressed to not make any moves that could hurt the franchise going forward, so trading away your best defensive player when you have a defense first head coach seems unlikely. However this is the NY Jets and Woody Johnson were talking about here, anything is possible. Rex Ryan remains with no contract extension, and Revis trade talks have fueled speculation his days as head coach could be numbered should the Jets have another sub-par season. New offensive coordinator Ronnie Mornhinweg will have his hands full too, with the Jets lack luster combination of QB's. Hopefully his plan is better constructed than Tony Sporano's Sanchez/Tebow wildcat offense that never blossomed. Speaking of Tim Tebow, WHAT THE H E double hockey sticks is he still doing on this roster. Offseason Conditioning program starts in 2 weeks, get the Tebow part of the circus out of town. Cutting him is a win for both parties, he would get the chance to start over, and go somewhere they can actually use him. The Jets free up some cap space and get rid of a couple 100 reporters at the same time. Are they really thinking someone will trade for him? waiting for the draft to see if they can squeak out anything before cutting him? Any scenario in which Tim Tebow is a New York Jet is absolutely ridiculous. More ridiculous than a Rex Ryan shoulder tattoo, thats all im sayin, it's only april and YEAH I went there... GO JETS!