New York Jets legend Joe Namath is the latest personality to weigh in on the current quarterback situation, especially Christian Hackenberg. Is that a good thing?
I guess we better get used to the nickname, “Broadway Hackenberg.” Rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it?
The New York Jets are one of the most polarizing franchises in pro sports, for better or for worse. Everyone has an opinion on their decisions and that’s again the case when it comes to their signal caller.
Who’s going to win this “open competition,” as head coach Todd Bowles has put it? The grizzled veteran Josh McCown? A one-armed pirate in Bryce Petty? Or perhaps the greenest of them all, Christian Hackenberg?
Well if Pro Football Hall of Famer Joe Namath has a vote, it’d be Hackenberg.
“I’d like to see Hackenberg get a shot, and I’d like to see him win the job,” Namath told reporters at a charity event in New York via ESPN. “That would give us the [hope of], ‘Hey, lookie here. Maybe we don’t do it this year, but boy, we’ll get ready next year. We’ll get ready the year after that.’”
Yes, Hackenberg and hope go together like salt and pepper. Namath has a point. Everyone else on the roster … we already know what they’re.
McCown is a career journeyman who can’t finish full seasons or win games consistently. Although he’s a veteran who could provide some senior discounts at the movie theater, so that’s a plus.
While Bryce seems to have the ceiling of a career backup, he’s a nice kid. But sugar, spice and everything nice makes the Powderpuff Girls and we need a quarterback. He had his chance and I just don’t see it.
Which leaves the mystery bachelor behind door No. 3. He’s 22, 6-foot-4 and likes long romantic walks on the beach. Could he be the quarterback of the future? No one knows truly, but he hasn’t gotten his chance to write his legacy yet.
I don’t care what the experts say, let him show his worth in game action. We talked about this in my column on Tuesday (It’s Hackenberg Time, for Better or for Worse).
Broadway Joe?
Namath doesn’t often speak for the fanbase, but he does for me anyway. I wanted the Jets to draft Deshaun Watson in last week’s NFL Draft. As soon as they passed, I was ready and willing to invest in Hackenberg and see what he has.
Hackenberg has been punished for sins that should be looked at with favor. He stuck with something despite his people telling him to bail. Call that stupidity if you like. I call that guts and confidence.
He could’ve left Penn State and transferred somewhere else and had success, but he didn’t. He got a luxury of riding the bench in year one without being thrown to the wolves. A quarterback hasn’t had that luxury in the last decade who was taken in the first two rounds.
He can truly blossom with the right pieces around him and with a brand new offense that can suit his strengths. Don’t expect a Pro Bowl season from “Hack Attack,” but if he can show progress, the Jets may not be in the quarterback carousel next offseason for the first time in the last 50 years.
