The man who led the New York Jets to victory in Super Bowl III is not done ripping this year’s version of the Jets.
Joe Namath, who last week said Rex Ryan has made the team too cocky, this week said G.M. Mike Tannenbaum has done a bad job in the draft, especially on the offensive line, where 2010 second-round pick Vlad Ducasse hasn’t worked out as expected.
“I’m not sure what’s going on there,” Namath said on ESPN 1050, via the New York Post. “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.”
But while Namath criticized the Jets’ offensive line, he also criticized Jets receiver Santonio Holmes for telling reporters after Sunday’s game that the line needs to do a better job of protecting Mark Sanchez.
“That was a mistake, it surely was,” Namath said. “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. . . . That divisiveness can bury a team. They’ve got to correct that right away.”
Namath isn’t necessarily wrong in his criticisms, but he is running the risk of sounding like his criticisms are personal. No one likes to hear the old guy talk about how things were different “back in my day,” and that’s what Namath is starting to sound like.