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The New York Jets community is flying high heading into the 2023 NFL Draft, and that includes former Jets like Hall of Fame cornerback Darrelle Revis.
On April 27, the day after Aaron Rodgers to Gang Green became official, Revis sent a message at the new NYJ quarterback and the fanbase on Twitter. Within two hours of its creation, the tweet had already gone viral with over 1,200 likes and 26,000 views (and counting).
“Love to see @AaronRodgers12 in green and white,” Revis voiced as Jets fans rallied around the statement from “the 🐐.”
Aaron Rodgers Notes Great Respect for Jets Legend Joe Namath During Introductory Press Conference
Revis may be the GOAT for the younger Jets fan, but no former player has surpassed Joe Willie Namath in the NYJ history books. Coming over from Green Bay, Rodgers does not aim to do that either — but he would like to give his Super Bowl trophy a friend.
“I noticed walking in this morning, the Super Bowl III trophy is looking a little lonely,” Rodgers joked at his introductory press conference. Later, he noted that he never even considered taking Namath’s iconic No. 12, despite a friendly offer from “Broadway Joe” for him to do so.
“I heard what he said about unretiring his number, but to me, 12 is Broadway Joe and I didn’t even want to go down that path,” Rodgers told reporters on April 26. “I’m excited about going back to my college number [at California].”
After hearing the Packers legend say this, Namath told the New York Post that he “touched” by the gesture.
“That was warm, that touched my heart a bit, that shows something about the man,” Namath responded. “He has a way about him, a lot of respect for the past. I was humbly grateful, you know what I mean? It felt good. It made me like [him] even more. First time I met him I liked him, and I’ll tell you what, I’ve not seen anybody play better than him the times over the last 10, 15 years I’ve been watching.”
There appears to be a mutual respect between the two famed signal-callers. At the presser, Rodgers admitted that he used to watch Namath — among others — growing up.
“I grew up watching old VHS tapes of the Super Bowls, so obviously I know about ‘The Guarantee’ and Broadway Joe,” he stated, adding: “Been a while since then.”
Later, Rodgers expounded on that knowledge of NYJ history, concluding: “There’s something special about playing in a city, for a team like this with a storied franchise. Obviously, going way, way back to Super Bowl III, to be a part of something special would definitely help you go down in the history of an organization. I already have 18 years in an incredibly iconic organization. And it’d be fun to be a part of the history of this one as well.”
Jets’ Sauce Gardner Wants to Be Better Than Darrelle Revis
In case you missed it, current NYJ cornerback Sauce Gardner made headlines on April 19 when he told the Kelce brothers that he aims to have a better career than Revis on the “New Heights” podcast — respectfully.
“I’m never the type to limit myself to someone else’s success,” Gardner voiced at Travis and Jason Kelce. “Same with me, when it’s somebody and I’m that dude. Don’t be like me, be better than me, so, you know, I admire [Revis], I admire his game. I was looking forward to meeting him. He was a great corner and everything, but I wanna be better than him. You know what I mean?”
The quote from Gardner was in response to the Kansas City Chiefs tight end asking him whether or not there was any added pressure following Revis Island with Gang Green — as Travis Kelce did with Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez in KC. Clearly, based on his response and his Defensive Player of the Year award in year one, there wasn’t.
On the same topic, Gardner made it clear that he never wants to be known as “Sauce Island.” Instead, he’s fond of “Lost in the Sauce” as his personal calling card — a saying fans came up with upon his arrival in New York.
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