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Last Updated: 9:09 AM, August 27, 2010
Posted: 2:58 AM, August 27, 2010
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headshotSteve Serby
Rex Ryan showed up at Bart Scott's doorstep one minute after midnight to recruit him to the Jets two years ago.
Because desperate times call for desperate measures, Ryan should find out where Darrelle Revis is hiding and show up on his doorstep -- maybe with Scott and Kris Jenkins in tow -- and implore him to join the Super Bowl party he plans on throwing this season.
Wherever Revis is, we know he isn't in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. But if a 40-year-old gunslinger armed with a fear of failure can be wooed back to his field of dreams by three teammates (not to mention the prospect of becoming a $20 Million Man), maybe a wondrous 25-year-old cornerback who isn't being shown the guaranteed money can be convinced to escape from Revis Island, finally, and follow his Pied Piper head coach back to where he belongs.
Except for his farfetched suggestion two weeks ago that Revis and his agents and owner Woody Johnson and general manager Mike Tannenbaum conduct a negotiation in front of the entire team, Ryan has been reluctant to get involved. But Ryan, more than anyone, should be the front man now. The one hope . . . the only hope . . . the Rexorcist.
Remember, In Rex They Trust.
Johnson and Tannenbaum brought in Antonio Cromartie, whose entire family was discarded by the Chargers, and Santonio Holmes, who was exiled by the Steelers for a pair of Ryan's Chuck Taylors, and LaDainian Tomlinson, bless his 31-year-old heart and legs, and Jason Taylor, who used to hate the Jets as much as Tom Brady does now. You get the feeling that if Charles Manson were a free agent cornerback, they would sign him too, and trust Ryan to get Manson to Play Like A Jet and run through a brick wall for him.
The Jets have a preseason game tonight against the Redskins and Revis won't be playing. Their regular season opener is 17 days away.
It is time for a Hail Rexy.
If Revis is in the area, Ryan can drive over early today, or tomorrow. Otherwise, Johnson should put him on a plane first thing tomorrow morning. The coordinators can handle the film review.
The mere gesture would speak louder than any words other than: "Darrelle, Mr. Johnson has decided to give you more guaranteed money than you'll know what to do with." It would ring true with players who do not understand why the organization has not been willing to put enough of its guaranteed money where its mouth has been.
But what would Ryan say to Revis?
He can start by telling him that he needs him as the crown jewel of a defense that has a chance to go down in history. That no matter what he has uttered for public consumption, he doesn't want to start rookie Kyle Wilson as Cromartie's bookend. And yet, remind him in the next breath that the season isn't about to be cancelled if Revis doesn't show up, that he will be chasing that elusive Super Bowl with blunt force trauma no matter who or what dares to stand in his way.
(Pass those bad boy cheese and crackers please, Darrelle).
He can tell him that Mark Sanchez has grown into a battlefield commander.
He can tell him that while he admires a man of principle, it would be something short of a tragedy were Revis to sit out the season and never be the same player again. And who knows, maybe never play for him and the Jets again.
He can tell him that he belongs in Florham Park, with his teammates, playing in the New Jets Stadium, for championship-starved fans who would rather worship him than paint him as greedy and selfish, who all turn into Fireman Ed whenever Randy Moss finds No. 24 in his jockstrap, on the biggest stage that the biggest stars crave.
He can tell him that every man has to do what he feels is in his best interests. But in the next breath remind him that D'Brickashaw Ferguson and, now, Nick Mangold are in the fold, Jets For Life, willing to take the risk that Revis has been unwilling to take without fully guaranteed insurance.
He should bring Revis' 24 jersey with him, all tidy and ironed, and ask him to put it on to see if it still fits.
Ryan peered into an empty Cortland dormitory room on the first Hard Knocks episode and said softly: "Come on, Revis. Come on home. Let's go."
Now he should tell him that face to face, man to man, coach to player.
A Hail Rexy is worth a shot.
Read more: http://www.nypost.co...L#ixzz0xozluHwC

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