Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Can we let Geno Smith breathe? Is that really so much to ask?
It wasn’t even one week since the 2013 NFL Draft before football writers everywhere began their all-out assault on the New York Jets‘ rookie quarterback, lazily writing him off as just another clown in the Jets’ circus.
All this before Smith even signs his NFL rookie contract. Before he’s even officially assigned a uniform number!
Somehow, Geno Smith being drafted by the Jets has made him a lightning rod for exposing shoddy journalism, as lazy football writers jump the gun to attack a 22-year-old for literally anything they can fabricate and sell.
For far too long, many in the media have made the Jets a go-to punchline. The team is alleged to be a circus, when the real clowns are the obnoxious media members who perpetuate these myths. They know who they are.
Smith’s decision to part with his agency, and the subsequent public backlash to that decision, are completely overblown. Smith himself said it wasn’t about his draft position, or any one incident. So what’s the big deal?
What, Geno Smith is the first athlete ever to fire his agency? Suddenly, Smith’s character is being questioned because his former agents purposely leaked private matters to the press amidst backhanded compliments?
It’s utterly ridiculous to try to attack a team and/or a player just because of a preconceived narrative you want to squeeze them into. Slandering a rookie before Organized Team Activities is the epitome of knee-jerk conclusions.
I think it would be wise to just step back and let things play out. It may be the stylish thing to pile on to whatever hogwash is the most prevalent propaganda of the moment, but it’s not very prudent and it’s not very productive.
The calendar just turned to May mere hours ago. Maybe, just maybe, it’s too early to judge a rookie.
Yet, too many alleged journalists want to suffocate this young man without ever giving him a chance, seemingly for no reason at all. Somehow it’s Smith’s fault, or the Jets fault, that the tabloids have a pre-written story to sell.
Spare me the one-sided, agenda-driven drivel. Let Geno Smith write his own story.
Jon Presser is www.RantSports.com’s New York Jets Lead Columnist
Follow him on Twitter @metsjetsnets88 and on Google+
