How The New York Media Ruins Jets Quarterbacks: Several Case Studies
I.
Since then, the Jets have had several decades of mediocrity or downright terrible seasons.
They have made it to three conference championship games and lost all of them.
Throughout these seasons, one main denominator seems to be bad quarterback play.
Literature Review
When Do Outside CEOs Underperform?
New York Post
This one newspaper will be used as the gauge the criticism of New York Media.
The New York Media
New York has long been considered the media capital of the world.
However, that same environment that once attracted athletes has self-cannibalized by creating an almost toxic environment.
How does this affect Quarterback Play
In American football, the quarterback is the face of the offense.
His coaches are his board, and fans are his shareholders.
The quarterback is a lightning rod for both admiration and praise, as well as negativity and criticism.
This same phenomenon is discussed in a renowned paper titled “When Do Outside CEOs Underperform?”
(Keil, Lavie, Pavicevic).
As much as media coverage shapes status, reputation and celebrity, it also desseminates negative stake holder sentiment.
This applies directly to quarterback play.
The large New York market is different from any other city in America.
It has nothing to do with the quality of media reporting, but rather the quantity.
But there are more snakes in New York.
What ends up happening is that even in winning, there are critics as in losses.
Any positive criteria in a loss is negated by the QB’s loss.
It is the quarterback’s job to win the game, not just to play well.
To reference Will Leitch once again.
solely because a Page Six editor got a random blind item and did a terrible job vetting it.
Safe to say, thats not happening in Kansas City.
In smaller markets, there are more interpersonal relationships between the media and athletes.
They get more facetime with athletes and develop a rapport.
Outlandish stories arise in the absence of interaction.
Now, many may wonder, “Why dont they just not pay attention to the media?”
because the media determines how fans interface with athletes.
The celebrity media is an added burden here.
This is a different environment than any other city in America.
It wears on any athlete, especially the face of the New York Jets.
The thing is, not even winning can save you from scrutiny.
Only a couple of New York athletes have ever made it to the point where they are universally beloved.
Statues werent built for these men.
Someone once asked George Carlin what doing cocaine felt like.
He said, It makes you feel like doing more cocaine.
Thats what winning in New York City feels like: like theres never enough.
Even winning cannot shield you from the scrutiny of the New York media.
The level of scrutiny is so intense that every individual eventually gets forced out of town.
Even Eli Manning, who won two Super Bowls for the Giants, was not exempt from this fate.
The Jets have had similar runs but have not had the same fortune as the Giants.
C. Limitations and ethical considerations
This is all qualitative data except statistics related to the QBs.
Case Study #1 Brett Favre
Brett Favre came out of retirement to play for the New York Jets.
He won his first game and had an 8-3 record through 11 games.
He almost beat the NFL passing record with 6 touchdowns against the Cardinals.
Overall, it was a steady improvement from the previous year when the Jets went 4-12.
These are some of the headlines that were run during this improvement in the Jets' QB position.
“BRETTS LOW POINT?
Not only was the focus on his bad play, but they also embroiled him in controversy.
Favre denies wrongdoing
Today was the kind of day when Brett Favre probably wishes he stayed retired.
Favre said he gave Millen no inside information that couldnt already be figured out by watching film.
What does this indicate?
His playoff guarantee after being drafted was met with hate.
Jets rookie QB Smith: ‘Jay-Z didn’t recruit me’
Questioning and creating false narratives about almost everything.
It’s almost like the press is trying to sabotage the Jets.
However, as is typical with Jets QBs, he was immediately compared to Joe Namath.
Despite this, the media seems to have already written him off.
Who is Jets QB Zach Wilson’s mom?
It’s not like they had to bring up his mom’s looks, but they did.
Zach Wilson’s had distractions from before he even stepped foot in NJ.
It’s not like Zach Wilson could have avoided this; Craig Carton legit said it to his face.
These QBs have no escape from the circus.
Let’s be realistic here.
Has Zach done more off the field than other rookie quarterbacks?
I mean, check out all these headlines as examples.
Imagine if Zach Wilson gets picked up sometime in the future and ends up having any sort of success.
There is no denying the media has had zero effect on any of these QB performances.
Drawing Conclusions
So, what can we draw from this?
Derek Carr’s personality is one that could easily be targeted by the New York media.
Powerpoint
Works Cited
Media in New York City.
Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 20 Feb. 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_in_New_York_City.
Why Nobody Should Want to Play for New York.
Intelligencer, 16 Nov. 2021, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/11/why-nobody-should-want-to-play-for-new-york.html.
“Our last hope looks lost as Jets and Sam Darnold get dominated.”
New York Post, 21 Oct. 2018, https://nypost.com/2018/10/21/our-last-hope-looks-lost-as-jets-and-sam-darnold-get-dominated/.
“Patriots demolish Jets in Sam Darnold nightmare.”
New York Post, 21 Oct. 2019, https://nypost.com/2019/10/21/patriots-demolish-jets-in-sam-darnold-nightmare/.
“Sam Darnold isn’t a Jets cure-all.”
New York Post, 9 Oct. 2019, https://nypost.com/2019/10/09/sam-darnold-isnt-a-jets-cure-all/.
“Sam Darnold’s amateur Jets hour is scarier than any ghost.”
New York Post, 21 Oct. 2019, https://nypost.com/2019/10/21/sam-darnolds-amateur-jets-hour-is-scarier-than-any-ghost/.
“Medical reasons why Sam Darnold will be out for a long time.”
New York Post, 12 Sept. 2019, https://nypost.com/2019/09/12/medical-reasons-why-sam-darnold-will-be-out-for-a-long-time/.
“Why you should resist the temptation of Geno Smith.”
New York Post, 30 Dec. 2013, https://nypost.com/2013/12/30/why-you-should-resist-the-temptation-of-geno-smith/.
“Jets rookie QB Smith: Jay-Z didn’t recruit me.”
New York Post, 30 May 2013, https://nypost.com/2013/05/30/jets-rookie-qb-smith-jay-z-didnt-recruit-me/.
“Jets QB Geno Smith escorted off plane at LAX by cops: report.”
New York Post, 17 Jan. 2014, https://nypost.com/2014/01/17/jets-qb-geno-smith-escorted-off-plane-at-lax-by-cops-report/.
“Airline apologizes to Geno for misunderstanding.”
New York Post, 23 Jan. 2014, https://nypost.com/2014/01/23/airline-apologizes-to-geno-for-misunderstanding/.
