Right now it’s easy to dump on Geno Smith. It’s easy to say …same old Jets. The season hasn’t started yet and it seems like the season is already done. First Sheldon Richardson and his brush with the law, the on going Mo Wilkerson contract dispute and now Geno Smith who jet fans feel uneasy about at quarterback is out 6 to 10 weeks with a broken jaw by now ex- teammate Ikemefuna Enemkpali. Geno according to all reports was sucker punched in the jaw. Yet according to Cris Carter it was Geno Smith’s fault for lack of leadership.
“Now I don’t know what happened, but for me, it’s a lack of leadership on Geno Smith’s part that he would put himself in harm’s way to get sucker punched,” Carter said on SportsCenter Tuesday after Bowles revealed Smith would miss six-to-10 weeks with a broken jaw.
Because man, you’re like the president, CEO of the team. We can’t have you fighting.” Carter didn’t stop there he continued …
If you look at the best quarterbacks in this league, they’re great leaders, and they can say things to players to make them uncomfortable,” Carter said. “But you’ve got to establish yourself with those players before you get that respect.”
Question to Mr. Carter if how is it your fault if you were sucker punched? When you are sucker punched you don’t see it coming, there usually isn’t a advertisement that goes up saying I’m going to sucker punch you right now. No it just happens quick and decisive. Could both men handle it better ? Definitely, but Geno never put a hand on Enemkpali. This was personal. This was not about football. This was over a 600 plane ticket that Smith owed Ikemefuna Enemkpali and Enemkpali was coming to collect no questions asked. The fact that it was over something like this says a lot more about how Ikemefuna Enemkpali handles situations in his life and less about Geno Smith’s leadership qualities. Instead of holding Ikemefuna Enemkpali accountable for actually punching and breaking Smith jaw…Cater made this about Geno Smith. Should Smith put his hand in his teammate’s face? No bad move and he should have known better. Like Coach Bowles said 6 year olds could have handled it better. No excuse for that. The jets to their credit moved quickly by releasing Ikemefuna Enemkpali. End of story? Probably not. This was personal so this could get more ugly if one of them shows up at the other’s home. I had heard someone mention that it’s easy for the Jets to release the player because he was a marginal player at best or a situational player, would they move to release a player if it was Sheldon Richardson or Mo Wilkerson a player of the elk if that happened between one of them and Geno Smith? Fair point, but they didn’t sit on their hands they did something.Some think it’s possible that Geno Smith may not be the quarterback of the Jets when he returns from this injury. We will see, a lot will depend on the play of who ever is the quarterback at that time and how well the team is playing too. If the Jets are 7-1 or 8-0 is Geno starting? Nope. But the point in all of this is that getting sucker punched isn’t about a lack of leadership it’s about the lack of self control by the player who threw the punch without having the presence of mind to walk away and realize there is more than one way to handle this situation over money. ,
smallthoughtsinasportsworld 