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ANGRY ABE GETS READY
By MARK CANNIZZARO
BACK IN ACTION: The Jets' John Abraham says he was hurt by comments made by ESPN's Darren Woodson that the oft-injured defensive end was "overrated." Abraham, a holdout in training camp, will see his first game action Sunday when the Jets play at Kansas City.
September 9, 2005 -- John Abraham, a lightning rod of sorts on the Jets because of his option to stay away from training camp without signing his franchise-tag contract, sat in front of his locker yesterday wearing a baseball cap with the words "OVER" and "RATED" stitched onto the back.
"Last night on ESPN, a guy [former Dallas safety Darren Woodson] called me overrated again," Abraham said. "He called me overrated because I didn't play in the playoffs. I'm the most overrated person in the AFC this time, not just in New York. I don't talk about other people [like that].
"Last night I just saw it on TV," Abraham went on. "My friend called me and said they were talking about me. I asked him what they were calling me now, and he said that I am the most overrated player in the AFC. I was like, why? Then [Woodson] started talking about me, saying that I have a lot of potential, but I let my teammates down by not playing in the playoffs.
"That's what hurts the most, when a former player talks about you. The people that have played the game and understand that injuries happen and they still try to say that I'm a bad player because of injuries, and that's uncontrollable. I can go out right now, get in a car and never play football again and they're going to say that I was a terrible player because of that."
Abraham, who arrived at Jets camp last week and, predictably, signed his $6.67 million franchise-player contract, didn't play in a preseason game this summer and participated in a handful of practices.
According to Herman Edwards, the Jets are figuring to get between 20 to 30 plays out of Abraham in Sunday's season-opener against the Chiefs, obviously most if not all of them on passing downs to utilize his pass-rushing ability.
That pass-rushing ability, along with the three Pro Bowls he's been voted to, however, always seem to get lost amongst the talk of him being injury-prone, his DWI arrest two years ago, and other off-the-field issues.
"When I'm on the field I've been productive," Abraham said. "A lot of people talk about what I've done and what I haven't, but they keep talking about what I did off the field. They don't talk about what I did on the field. You don't really hear that I don't play as well. They're like, 'Well, he didn't play in the playoffs, he let his team down and he got a DWI,' but what else do they talk about?
"I'm waiting for somebody to say something about me on the field. They don't say anything about me not being a good player; they talk about all this other stuff."
Truth be told, Abraham doesn't have to search too far and wide to find positive stories about his play on the field. He was all but being deified last season when he had 91/2 sacks in his first nine games.
Then, he injured his knee against the Texans and missed the last four games of the regular season and the Jets' two playoff games. He was labeled selfish and a dog, among other things, but that came from fanatical talk-radio types who were nowhere near in the know, having no idea Abraham couldn't practice right up until the final game of the postseason.
Abraham simply got caught up lumping everyone together as if the world was against him, which is far from the truth. Truth is, Abraham is a likeable person in the locker room not only among his teammates but by the writers who cover the team on a regular basis.
Abraham knows the game well enough to know that performing well on the field will make everyone forget the extracurricular stuff.
"I'm going to be fine," he said. "Everything is forgiven once you make a good play. Everybody knows that once you start playing well, everything is forgiven."
http://www.nypost.com/sports/jets/27868.htm
By MARK CANNIZZARO
BACK IN ACTION: The Jets' John Abraham says he was hurt by comments made by ESPN's Darren Woodson that the oft-injured defensive end was "overrated." Abraham, a holdout in training camp, will see his first game action Sunday when the Jets play at Kansas City.
September 9, 2005 -- John Abraham, a lightning rod of sorts on the Jets because of his option to stay away from training camp without signing his franchise-tag contract, sat in front of his locker yesterday wearing a baseball cap with the words "OVER" and "RATED" stitched onto the back.
"Last night on ESPN, a guy [former Dallas safety Darren Woodson] called me overrated again," Abraham said. "He called me overrated because I didn't play in the playoffs. I'm the most overrated person in the AFC this time, not just in New York. I don't talk about other people [like that].
"Last night I just saw it on TV," Abraham went on. "My friend called me and said they were talking about me. I asked him what they were calling me now, and he said that I am the most overrated player in the AFC. I was like, why? Then [Woodson] started talking about me, saying that I have a lot of potential, but I let my teammates down by not playing in the playoffs.
"That's what hurts the most, when a former player talks about you. The people that have played the game and understand that injuries happen and they still try to say that I'm a bad player because of injuries, and that's uncontrollable. I can go out right now, get in a car and never play football again and they're going to say that I was a terrible player because of that."
Abraham, who arrived at Jets camp last week and, predictably, signed his $6.67 million franchise-player contract, didn't play in a preseason game this summer and participated in a handful of practices.
According to Herman Edwards, the Jets are figuring to get between 20 to 30 plays out of Abraham in Sunday's season-opener against the Chiefs, obviously most if not all of them on passing downs to utilize his pass-rushing ability.
That pass-rushing ability, along with the three Pro Bowls he's been voted to, however, always seem to get lost amongst the talk of him being injury-prone, his DWI arrest two years ago, and other off-the-field issues.
"When I'm on the field I've been productive," Abraham said. "A lot of people talk about what I've done and what I haven't, but they keep talking about what I did off the field. They don't talk about what I did on the field. You don't really hear that I don't play as well. They're like, 'Well, he didn't play in the playoffs, he let his team down and he got a DWI,' but what else do they talk about?
"I'm waiting for somebody to say something about me on the field. They don't say anything about me not being a good player; they talk about all this other stuff."
Truth be told, Abraham doesn't have to search too far and wide to find positive stories about his play on the field. He was all but being deified last season when he had 91/2 sacks in his first nine games.
Then, he injured his knee against the Texans and missed the last four games of the regular season and the Jets' two playoff games. He was labeled selfish and a dog, among other things, but that came from fanatical talk-radio types who were nowhere near in the know, having no idea Abraham couldn't practice right up until the final game of the postseason.
Abraham simply got caught up lumping everyone together as if the world was against him, which is far from the truth. Truth is, Abraham is a likeable person in the locker room not only among his teammates but by the writers who cover the team on a regular basis.
Abraham knows the game well enough to know that performing well on the field will make everyone forget the extracurricular stuff.
"I'm going to be fine," he said. "Everything is forgiven once you make a good play. Everybody knows that once you start playing well, everything is forgiven."
http://www.nypost.com/sports/jets/27868.htm
