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The New York Jets lost a heartbreaking game to a Tom Brady-led Tampa Bay Buccaneers team. Stop me if you have heard this song and dance before.
Gang Green held a 14 point lead and it all slipped out of their hands in the final moments.
Despite all of the emotions flying around after a loss, rookie cornerback Brandin Echols saw a golden opportunity after the game and seized it.
At midfield, Echols ran up and met Brady with a football and a sharpie in his hands looking for an autograph. The 44-year-old obliged and signed it, but several people weren’t fans of the situation.
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Called out as ‘Pathetic’
Several people seemed to have a problem with Echols getting the ball signed after a tough loss in the heat of the moment. It didn’t seem to be the act, but rather the timing of the request.
Although no one was as passionate about their take as WFAN radio host Sal Licata:
“I think it’s pathetic that a player, Brandin Echols in this case, would ask another player (Brady) for an autograph on the field after a game they just lost. Beyond pathetic. Grow up, dude.”
It did seem odd initially after the game, but this was clearly a big-time moment for the rookie to check an item off his bucket list: picking off the greatest quarterback in NFL history.
Everyone didn’t trash Echols for the decision, New York Daily News Jets beat reporter DJ Bien-Aime understood what this moment would truly mean for the former day three pick in the 2021 NFL draft:
The thing many people don’t realize is that wasn’t a random football that Echols was attempting to get autographed, that was the same ball he intercepted at the end of the first half from Brady:
It was actually a pretty savage move by Echols to get Brady to sign the football that he misfired on in the game.
A Path Towards a Long Term Future
Head coach Robert Saleh was adamant throughout the offseason that he was going to trust his guys at cornerback, regardless of what anyone said outside the organization.
That decision paid off in a major way, but general manager Joe Douglas deserves a ton of credit for providing Saleh with his soldiers on defense.
Echols was the No. 200 overall pick in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL draft out of Kentucky. Even the most devout Echols fan couldn’t have possibly imagined the role he would have on this year’s Jets.
He has played and started in 13 games so far in his rookie campaign. During that time Echols has two interceptions, eight pass deflections, and over 58 combined tackles.
It is quite common for sixth-round picks to not even make the team they were drafted to, Echols not only defied those odds, but he has carved out a long-term role for the Jets.
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