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***
Rex Ryan wants it bad.
Mind if I start with the recruiting story? And Bart Scott's two German shepherds, Mater and McQueen?
Free agency began Friday morning, a second after midnight, and Scott's agent, Harold Lewis, told him he might be getting a call or two in the wee hours of the morning. At 12:15, at the same time he heard his dogs barking wildly outside his Owings Mills, Md., home, Scott's cell phone rang. "Man, come get these damn dogs!'' Jets secondary coach Dennis Thurman said into the phone.
Thurman was outside in the driveway with two other unannounced visitors -- Rex Ryan and defensive coordinator Mike Pettine. Scott knew them from their days on the Baltimore Ravens' coaching staff, and he absolutely could not believe they were sitting in his driveway, about to get attacked by his security dogs if they ventured out of the car. After Scott secured the dogs ("I'm just glad Mater and McQueen didn't take a bite out of those guys,'' Scott said Sunday night. "I'd have had to spend a chunk of my signing bonus for stitches.'') Ryan walked into the house, looked at Scott and said: "We want you. We're here for you. We're not leaving without you.'' There was a plane coming at 8 in the morning to take Scott to the Jets' facility in Florham Park, N.J., and Ryan told him he had to be on it.
"Talk about taking it back old-school!'' Scott said. "I was getting recruited! They were recruiting me big-time! Can you see the precedent they're setting? Remember Jerry McGuire? You're going to have players asking their coaches now, 'Why don't we have that kind of relationship?' ''
I asked Scott about the reports that after he'd made his deal with the Jets on Friday, he tried to get the Ravens to match it, or at least come within a few bucks. "I made no bones about it,'' he said. "I owe a lot of loyalty to the Ravens. They're the ones who gave me my chance seven years ago. And I was going to have to uproot my family, and we love Baltimore. If it was close, the home team would win.''
At the end, the Ravens were at least $3 million off the total package of the Jets, who signed Scott for six years and $48 million, most of which he actually should see. Seems close to me, but it wasn't close enough for Scott.
There was another factor too -- the Ray Lewis factor. As long as Scott played on the same defense as one of the all-time greats, he knew he'd forever be second- or third-fiddle to Lewis.
"It would have been great to walk back into that locker room, but in a way, I would have had training wheels on the rest of my career," said Scott. "I'd always wonder if I could have done it by myself, if I could have actually been the leader of a good defense. In a lot of ways, our defense was like the Bulls, and Ray was Michael Jordan. We had a lot of Craig Hodgeses on our team, but we had a few Scottie Pippens too.''
In other words, Scott, Ed Reed and Terrell Suggs are better than average. And Lewis, though it's not his fault, is going to suck so much air out of the room that the others will never get to fully emerge as leaders and players. Now we'll see if Scott can do what he never had the chance to do in Baltimore. Lead. And be great.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/peter_king/03/01/freeagency/index.html
Rex Ryan wants it bad.
Mind if I start with the recruiting story? And Bart Scott's two German shepherds, Mater and McQueen?
Free agency began Friday morning, a second after midnight, and Scott's agent, Harold Lewis, told him he might be getting a call or two in the wee hours of the morning. At 12:15, at the same time he heard his dogs barking wildly outside his Owings Mills, Md., home, Scott's cell phone rang. "Man, come get these damn dogs!'' Jets secondary coach Dennis Thurman said into the phone.
Thurman was outside in the driveway with two other unannounced visitors -- Rex Ryan and defensive coordinator Mike Pettine. Scott knew them from their days on the Baltimore Ravens' coaching staff, and he absolutely could not believe they were sitting in his driveway, about to get attacked by his security dogs if they ventured out of the car. After Scott secured the dogs ("I'm just glad Mater and McQueen didn't take a bite out of those guys,'' Scott said Sunday night. "I'd have had to spend a chunk of my signing bonus for stitches.'') Ryan walked into the house, looked at Scott and said: "We want you. We're here for you. We're not leaving without you.'' There was a plane coming at 8 in the morning to take Scott to the Jets' facility in Florham Park, N.J., and Ryan told him he had to be on it.
"Talk about taking it back old-school!'' Scott said. "I was getting recruited! They were recruiting me big-time! Can you see the precedent they're setting? Remember Jerry McGuire? You're going to have players asking their coaches now, 'Why don't we have that kind of relationship?' ''
I asked Scott about the reports that after he'd made his deal with the Jets on Friday, he tried to get the Ravens to match it, or at least come within a few bucks. "I made no bones about it,'' he said. "I owe a lot of loyalty to the Ravens. They're the ones who gave me my chance seven years ago. And I was going to have to uproot my family, and we love Baltimore. If it was close, the home team would win.''
At the end, the Ravens were at least $3 million off the total package of the Jets, who signed Scott for six years and $48 million, most of which he actually should see. Seems close to me, but it wasn't close enough for Scott.
There was another factor too -- the Ray Lewis factor. As long as Scott played on the same defense as one of the all-time greats, he knew he'd forever be second- or third-fiddle to Lewis.
"It would have been great to walk back into that locker room, but in a way, I would have had training wheels on the rest of my career," said Scott. "I'd always wonder if I could have done it by myself, if I could have actually been the leader of a good defense. In a lot of ways, our defense was like the Bulls, and Ray was Michael Jordan. We had a lot of Craig Hodgeses on our team, but we had a few Scottie Pippens too.''
In other words, Scott, Ed Reed and Terrell Suggs are better than average. And Lewis, though it's not his fault, is going to suck so much air out of the room that the others will never get to fully emerge as leaders and players. Now we'll see if Scott can do what he never had the chance to do in Baltimore. Lead. And be great.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/peter_king/03/01/freeagency/index.html
