So with Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis pushing for a new contract to the point where he’s faking an illness at practice and then admitting that he’s faking it, league insiders wonder whether Revis has received advice on handling his business from his mother’s brother.
Sean Gilbert.
As in former NFL defensive tackle Sean Gilbert.
As in “guy who sat out an entire season in a contract dispute” Sean Gilbert.
As a rookie, USA Today asked Revis to identify his role model. “My uncle, Sean Gilbert,” Revis said. “Every step I took, from high school to college to the pros, he taught me what I needed to do. I’m just blessed to have an uncle go through what I’m going through.”
Nearly three years later, those words have even more relevance. Gilbert went through exactly what Revis is going through, and Gilbert had a unique way of negotiating.
Gilbert claimed that he received a “revelation from God” as to the magnitude of Gilbert’s demands. Specifically, Gilbert claimed that God appeared to him in a dream, showed Gilbert a check for $5 million, and told Gilbert that he shouldn’t take a penny less in 1997.
So when will Revis claim that he has received a similar revelation that he shouldn’t receive a penny less than the annual money paid to cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha by the Raiders?
Gilbert eventually missed all of the 1997 season, and the Redskins eventually traded him to the Panthers for two first-round draft picks.
Then again, if Gilbert has been sharing advice with his nephew, his nephew apparently isn’t heeding it. In 2009, Gilbert offered up some words of wisdom for former Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers.
“The best thing he could have done is say nothing,’' Gilbert said of Peppers, per Darin Gantt of the Rock Hill Herald. “You have an agent, you have people you hire to do your talking, so let them do it, let him say what needs to be said. If he goes that route, Julius could rebuild his relationships with the fans, could get the endorsements back. . . .
“I’d just tell him ‘Don’t say nothing.’ Let your agent talk to [G.M.] Marty [Hurney], and let Marty talk to the other teams you might like to play for. Keep it in those circles.”
Revis, in contrast, has said plenty. And by all indications he’ll keep talking.
It could be only a matter of time before he plays the “revelation from God” card.