Jets quarterback Josh McCown got some bad news on Thursday night when his team drafted USC quarterback Sam Darnold.
No, not the news that Darnold was drafted to replace him: McCown understands the business and he knew when he re-signed with the Jets this offseason that part of the deal would be mentoring a young quarterback who would be groomed to take the starting job. McCown is the old man in a quarterback room that now includes Darnold in addition to Teddy Bridgewater, Bryce Petty and Christian Hackenberg, and he’s fine with that.
The bad news came in a text from McCown’s daughter after the Jets drafted the 20-year-old Darnold.
“He’s less than a year older than me,” Bridget McCown texted her dad. “Crazy.”
“Wow,” McCown replied. “Thanks Bridge.”
No one likes to be made to feel old, so that one had to hurt. Still, it’s a tribute to McCown, who was drafted in 2002, that he’s still in the league at age 38. Every other quarterback who was drafted that year (including first-round picks David Carr, Joey Harrington and Patrick Ramsey) has long since retired. Darnold should pay close attention to the way McCown handles his business, so that he can last as long as McCown does, and keep playing in the NFL until 2034.