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Joe Namath Wants to Know What's Going on With Jets' QB Situation

Posted Feb 15, 2009 12:00PM By Ryan Wilson (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Jets, AFC East, NFL Draft, NFL Fans, NFL Free Agency

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It's simple, really: Joe Namath wants some answers. The only man to lead the Jets to a Super Bowl victory has already grown tired of the "Who will replace Brett Favre?!" discussions. Certainly, the front office has a plan (a plan, apparently, that in no way includes Michael Vick), but they just haven't been very forthcoming with it in the days since Favre "retired."

Which brings us back to Joe Willie. In an interview with the Daily News, Namath stated his case:
"I'm curious ... How do the players feel about (Clemens)? How do the coaches feel about him? If he's not the guy, why is he still there? God damn, it's time for him to step up. The guy deserves a shot. If the team doesn't feel that way, don't B.S. everybody and keep dragging it out. It's bull. Say what you mean. Do you have confidence in Clemens or (Brett) Ratliff or not?

"From what I've been reading in the papers, some of the comments, the confidence level isn't too high and it doesn't look real encouraging for those quarterbacks," he continued. "It seems no one has a lick of confidence in them. If that's true, why have they been there?"
The guy makes a good point. And I'm guessing this is all Eric Mangini's fault because, well, he's an easy target.

Actually, I have no idea what the current confidence levels are for either Clemens or Ratliff, but the National Football Post's Mike Lombardi raises an interesting question: if the Jets are content with their quarterbacks, why even trade for Favre in the first place? "What have Brett Ratliff and Kellen Clemens done the past six months that would make the Jets feel so positively confident and secure that either can handle the job?"

The Daily News' Rich Cimini writes that the Jets will likely sign a veteran and hold an open competition for the job. Some possible candidates: Byron Leftwich, Jeff Garcia, Kyle Boller. And there's also the draft. Pickings are slim, as they say, but if Mark Sanchez drops to the middle of the first round, the front office might be tempted, particularly if Clemens isn't considered the long-term answer.

Namath seems to understand this, but he's also a pragmatist: "If you're not sure, you trade for a guy. You get somebody ... Work it out. Don't be spinning your wheels. You know what they can do by now. I'm assuming Clemens is there because he's good. If not, they ought to get rid of him. How could he be on the team all this time if he's not a good enough pro quarterback?"

We'll find out soon enough.

Tags: Brett+Favre, Brett+Ratliff, BrettFavre, BrettRatliff, Byron+Leftwich, ByronLeftwich, Eric+Mangini, EricMangini, Jeff+Garcia, JeffGarcia, Joe+Namath, JoeNamath, Kellen+Clemens, KellenClemens, Kyle+Boller, KyleBoller, Mark+Sanchez, MarkSanchez, Michael+Vick, MichaelVick

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