Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie has taken shots at the NFLPA* and his fellow players from time to time, which some observers have viewed as a sign of cracks within the players’ side in the ongoing labor dispute with the owners. But Cromartie isn’t particularly concerned with what people think of his comments.
“I’m my own union,” Cromartie told Jenny Vrentas of the Newark Star-Ledger. “We’re a trade association, so I’m my own union. I’ve got to protect myself. I’m not worried about what everybody else feels. My biggest thing is going out there and playing football.”
Of course, Cromartie won’t be able to go out there and play football until the lockout ends, and whenever it does end, it’s not clear whether he’ll be back with the Jets. But Cromartie said he’s not particularly concerned about that, either.
“As I know right now, I’m a Jet until we’re told otherwise,” Cromartie said. “I leave that in the hands of God and my business partners. Right now, I’ve got to take care of what I’ve got to take care of, and that’s about me going out there and training.”
So Cromartie will simply stay in shape as he waits for the lockout to end, and trust any issues related to his status as a free agent in an uncertain labor environment to God, his business partners, and his own one-man union.