Joe Namath was famous for throwing the football for the Jets, but lately he’s been spending more time throwing rocks at the current Jets team. A week after the Namath criticized head coach Rex Ryan, he was on the air again with some new targets.
This time, Namath took issue with Santonio Holmes’ postgame comments after the 34-17 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, when Holmes was critical of the offensive line and quarterback Mark Sanchez.
Holmes said, “It starts up front with the big guys. They’ve got to do a better job of protecting Mark, and Mark has to do a better job of making reads and getting the ball to where he needs to, so his playmakers can make plays.”
“That was a mistake, it surely was,” Namath said on ESPN Radio. That sounds like Namath was standing up for the rest of the team, except then he went on to say: “For Holmes, as a captain, to go outside, to the media, and start pointing fingers… I mean, he’s right about the ball getting out late to him [on Sanchez's third-quarter interception], and he’s right about the offensive line, but that can create a problem in the locker room.”
Jets guard Matt Slauson responded to Namath’s comments, saying, “We don’t care one bit about what Joe Namath has to say…. He means nothing to us.”
http://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2011/10/jets_guard_matt_slauson_says_j.html
When he was done with Holmes and the offensive line, Namath went on to focus on general manager Mike Tannenbaum and his draft choices.
“We picked some poor players and we’re not owning up to it. That’s what it amounts to. You’ve got guys on the roster who have been picked and you keep trying to say, ‘OK, they’re going to work out.’ Well, guess what? We tried that with [Vernon] Gholston and it didn’t work out.”
“You have to [say], ‘Hey, I made a bad pick, a bad selection,’ and move on. The Jets didn’t do that and it’s a little late for the season to get it righted.”
Apparently “GM Namath” would have a pretty quick hook on developing young talent. At least he’s taking an interest in the team again, which wasn’t always the case.
