Category Archives: Jets

Playing professional football hurts

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“My anxiety is off the charts,” says Lucas, an analyst for SNY, ESPN and the Rutgers Radio Network. “I’m scared and I’m nervous about this, but I need to do this to be a better dad to my kids and a better husband to my wife. If I can get her to smile like she used to, it will be worth it.”

In a profile that appeared in the Daily News in September, Lucas talked about the pain and depression he has suffered since he retired from the NFL after the 2003 season. He became dependent on painkillers to dull his physical and emotional distress, but even high dosages didn’t bring relief.

– Michael O’Keeffe, N.Y. Daily News.

I don’t know Lucas, even though he works here. Since the Jets’ crew is normally in during the evenings and on weekends, our hours don’t often overlap. And I missed this Daily News feature in September, which detailed Lucas’ struggles with pain and injuries and noted his lack of health insurance. NFL players are covered for only five years after they retire, one of the issues the union hopes to address in the upcoming collective bargaining agreement.

Painkiller abuse and addiction is a league-wide problem. Former Eagles lineman Sam Rayburn was taking more than 100 prescription painkillers a day before he got arrested and got help.

I don’t even know where to begin, really. It’s not in the NFL’s best financial interest to insure all its ex-players for a long time — at least so long as the league can shoulder the PR hit — so the onus really falls on the NFLPA to force the league to provide better long-term care. As of 2006, the average life expectancy for a former NFL player was 55.

You can follow along with Lucas’ rehab at his official Facebook page.

Plaxico Burress: Do it

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The Giants’ official, on-the-record position on Burress, as spoken through Reese, has never changed from the moment he was sent away to prison. They simply won’t publicly rule out a possible return. That doesn’t mean that they’re readying for his return or that’s the reason why they’ve yet to give out his old No. 17. Reese doesn’t rule anything out. He investigates everything. And he’d be crazy to rule out any player, not knowing what the future holds.

However, if you are for some reason holding out hope for a Burress return next season — if there is a next season — there are some other factors to consider. The biggest one may be that Giants officials, off the record, are much more leery of Burress II than Reese’s public stance would indicate. It’s not that they’re against second chances or feel that he’s somehow irredeemable. It’s about a host of other factors, including these:

– Ralph Vacchiano, N.Y. Daily News.

Vacchiano lists the reasons the Giants won’t and probably shouldn’t re-sign Plaxico Burress once he’s out of jail. They include: He’s old, he’s a distraction, he violated a bunch of team rules even before he shot himself, and they’re happy with their crew of young receivers.

That all seems to make sense. But I can see none of those things precluding the Jets from pursuing Burress this offseason, assuming the lockout eventually ends and any team ever pursues any player this offseason. Under Rex Ryan and Mike Tannenbaum, the Jets have frequently looked to find value from aging stars on short-term deals late in their careers.

Plus, they’ve welcomed players labeled distractions or reputed to have “character” issues — Braylon Edwards, Santonio Holmes, Antonio Cromartie, Joe McKnight — and mostly met with success.

Assuming the Jets will not have the funds to return both Edwards and Holmes, Burress might make a nice, big, inexpensive target for Mark Sanchez in the 2011 season. So I say do it.

So it goes

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So that’s the end of the Jets’ season then. I suppose if you’re a Jets fan and you’re reading this you don’t need a recap. You’re probably already replaying all the different little things that might have made the five-point difference that cost Gang Green the game: Mark Sanchez’s fumbling, Ben Roethlisberger’s scrambling, the ridiculous play-calling down on the goal line.

Whatever. What happens happens, I suppose, and there’s no real sense playing the what-if game now. I imagine Brian Schottenheimer will emerge as the goat for this one, for passing the ball twice when the Jets needed a yard to score, for the miscommunication with Sanchez over play calls, for eyebrow-raising decisions all season long.

It’s disappointing, of course. But somehow not as disappointing as it would have been if they just rolled over and died in Pittsburgh like it seemed they were about to. And two straight seasons in the AFC Championship is nothing to sneeze at.

The good news is Rex Ryan will be back and Sanchez will be back and D’Brickashaw Ferguson and Nick Mangold and Darrelle Revis will be back. People like to say the Jets are a “win-now” team because they do have a bunch of old players. But their core — their best players — are still in the thick of their primes.

Of course, first things first, we have to know there’ll be football at all next season before we worry about Jets football. But then I have a feeling things will get hammered out. Everyone involved stands to lose a whole lot of money if there’s no football.

Anyway, now we get the Packers and Steelers in two weeks and then less than a fortnight until pitchers and catchers. Hold your head up, Mark Sanchez. Your Taco Bell is on me.

Mark Sanchez still awesome

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Mark Sanchez felt comfortable messing with Mike Tannenbaum and Rex Ryan before he was even drafted, because Mark Sanchez is just that cool. Dude’s got a wiseass streak a mile wide. Fun fact: He also pantsed Brian Schottenheimer at training camp this year. I’ve seen footage. It deemed unfit for online posting because you got a brief glimpse of, ahh, Brian’s Schottenheimer. Link via Rob V.