If you didn't know better, you'd think that Sunday's Jets-Patriots game was for the AFC Championship. There has been an outsize amount of jabbering between the two rivals, most of it coming from the Jets, for a game that will leave one team at 1-1 with 14 games to play. The latest and, presumably, final stage in the pregame yammering took place on the radio and Twitter Friday between Jets safety Kerry Rhodes and former Patriots safety Rodney Harrison. Earlier this week Rhodes said that the Jets didn't want to just beat the Patriots, they wanted to embarrass them. Harrison responded during a radio interview.
"I've seen him turn down tackles many a time.... Guys are not happy with Kerry Rhodes talking and Rex Ryan talking. It's just blatant disrespect. You don't talk like that. Some nerve of this guy to come out and really say that. He's going to have to back it up."Rhodes tweeted his reply, "I'm detecting a lil jealousy from @rodneyh37 he must wish he was playing 2morrow. My talent outweighs his ask belichick," and, naturally, Harrison wasn't far behind. "Kerry, you talk big for someone who has yet to even win in the playoffs you think you will ever accomplish what i accomplished?"
And so on and so on.
There's no doubt that the biggest (only?) winner of Twitter wars are the guys who started the company, but the result of Sunday's game will still serve as either a justification or a rebuke of the way Ryan has changed the tenor of conversation in the AFC East. The Jets coach has gone way out on a limb with his consistent focus on beating the Patriots in an early season game, which means he won't be able to escape a tremendous amount of blowback if his team can't back up the bluster.
Losing this game wouldn't be a disaster for the Jets, just as winning it wouldn't constitute a changing of the guard in the division, but the amount of chatter leading up to the contest guarantees it will be spun that way. Such is the risk and reward of doing battle via media.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-19-2009 @ 11:42AM
cjgdnight said...
Rodnet Harrison does nto speak for the Patriots... please go back to journalism school.
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9-19-2009 @ 12:54PM
Chalondra said...
Who is Kerry Rhodes???? A question that most football fans would ask I am sure. Rodney Harrison was a dirty player but he was a phenom at his position. He has a chance of going to the hall of fame when years later no one would have heard of Kerry Rhodes still. When will people learn that the moment you open your mouth and prophesize, you are putting a bullseye on your forehead. As many a team is aware, the pats don't take kindly and will respond accordingly.
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9-19-2009 @ 11:08PM
jtambini313 said...
Hey Chalondra...Kerry Rhodes forgot more than you will ever know about football. Sorry he's too big to have a target on hos forehead, he hunts down foreheads ok stupid? The man has done nothing wrong. Big deal, so he talked some trash. As if he's the only player ever to do that. Stay out of blogs that you know nothing about.
9-19-2009 @ 1:15PM
god24r said...
If you don't know who Kerry Rhodes is, then you are an idiot and obviously not a football fan. I don't root for either team involved, but Rhodes is easily a top 10 safety in the NFL, if not top 5. Don't be biased because Harrison was on teams that won despite him. Although, he did aid in one of the greatest catches in Superbowl history...
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9-20-2009 @ 1:02AM
cjgdnight said...
Yeah that was some crappy defense on Tyree!!!
9-19-2009 @ 4:34PM
jhonroks said...
watch all NFL Game here
http://hackafile.blogspot.com
Insruction: When your on the site, go to "HackafileTV" then select your choice of game. Password are provided their.
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9-20-2009 @ 1:50AM
John Benjamin said...
kerry rhodes is a complete jackass,AND FOR FAT ASS RYAN,he has to beg the jets fans to cheer.how pathetic....pats are going to kick the jets asses.
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9-20-2009 @ 10:39PM
god24r said...
I missed the game John. What happened?
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9-21-2009 @ 9:52PM
widelcyde said...
Harrison was one of the dirtiest players in the NFL and couldn't hack playing without taking HGH. He needs to shut up and go pump gas or something. If he ever makes the H.O.F. it will become a laughing stock!
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