Jets’ Coach, Owner Give Edwards ‘The Business’

Added on Sep 24, 2010 by Jason Kearney in

NFL

New York Jets’ wide receiver Braylon Edwards was arrested for drunk driving Tuesday morning on Manhattan’s West Side, and now his coach and the team owner are giving him ‘the business’. I don’t know if you people out there in ‘flyover country’ are aware of how things work in New York City, but the fact that anyone making the jack that Edwards does was driving in Manhattan suggests that he had to be intoxicated. No one drives in NYC. If you’re above the financial ‘Mendoza line’ you take a cab or a limo. If you’re below it, you walk or take the subway. Edwards had another option not available to most civilians–the Jets have a 24 hour a day driving company on call to shuttle players around the Big Apple precisely for situations like this.

Head coach Rex Ryan didn’t talk about Edwards specifically, but did suggest that he doesn’t want the Jets to be known as a team full of drunkards, criminals and scofflaws:

“Quite honestly, I’m basically tired of dealing with these issues. I’m tired of the embarrassment to our owner and this organization. Let’s just end it. Let’s just stop. However severe or minor, we don’t need to be that team.”

A couple of Jets’ players gave their ‘amens’ to Ryan’s message, starting with safety Jim Leonhard:

“He’s disappointed. He gives us a lot of freedom and he expects us to act like professionals. If you’re not doing that, he’s going to say something. It looks bad on us. It looks bad on the organization.”

Cornerback Darrelle Revis added:

“It’s embarrassing because everybody is pointing fingers at us. They say, ‘What happened now up in New York?’ We know things happen, but as players, we have to be more careful. [Edwards] got jammed up. Me, truthfully, I don’t think he should’ve been out that late.”

Jets’ owner Woody Johnson has spoken to Edwards several times, and while adding that the player has expressed what he called ‘appropriate remorse’ had these comments:

“Embarrassment would not be the way I’d characterize it. I think it’s more sad rather than embarrassed. I’m sad for him.”

as for what he told Edwards:

“This is not acceptable, Braylon. I’m disappointed. You let yourself down and you let your team down.”

Johnson also talked about the PlayerProtect program, the 24 hour driving service in place for situations like this. The service is confidential, but some players have expressed concern that if they use it their names will get back to management. Johnson strongly disputed that:

“If they tell me who the name is, I’m firing the service. I don’t want to know. But if you have one drink, you should not be driving. Half a drink, don’t drive. Drink liquor, don’t drive.”

Edwards is slated to play on Sunday, though he won’t start. The moral of the story is a) you don’t drive in NYC b) you especially don’t drive drunk in NYC and c) you especially don’t drive drunk if you’re a well compensated NFL player with access to thousands of taxicabs and a 24 hour shuttle service. oh, and d) don’t carry a gun around in your pants if you don’t know how to use it.