When New York is turning to Philly for life advice, something has gone haywire.
That’s exactly what Jets center Connor McGovern did on Friday, though, responding to criticism from the “couch critics” on the #TankForTrevor train by taking a page out of fellow snapper Jason Kelce’s book.
In his Wednesday media availability ahead of the Eagles’ game with Arizona, Kelce said this about the notion of tanking in the NFL:
“I think at all times in the NFL, the focus should be winning the football game. Nothing else takes precedence. No player evaluation, no amount of curiosity from anybody within the organization – everything is focused, in my opinion in this league, upon winning games."
For Jets fans, Tank for Trevor is the mantra, and the 0-13 Jets are now guaranteed no worse than the No. 3 pick in the NFL Draft. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll get Trevor Lawrence or Ohio State’s Justin Fields (even if Cincy doesn’t need a signal-caller), so the more losses the better, right?
Not if you’re a member of Gang Green, according to McGovern.
"I don't feel like anyone here is intentionally trying to lose," McGovern said. "It hurts to lose. I don't put my body through this – I don't think anyone on the Jets puts their bodies through this – to lose. This game is too hard to do for a piece of paper and some money in the bank. You've got to love it to be great at this game and you're not gonna love it if you're trying to lose."
Also adding to the stigma, of course, is that only five teams have gone winless since 1944, and only two in the 16-game era, so it really is not as easy as some think unless it’s intentional.
And if McGovern has anything to do with it, the 2020 Jets won’t be the sixth/third.
"It might be easy for someone sitting on the couch eating pizza, chips and dip to say they should keep losing, but if they've ever strapped the pads on, that sounds like an impossible thing for me to do. So, I'm gonna do whatever I can do,” McGovern said.
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