This whole Herm Edwards in Kansas City and not New York situation oozes confusion.
Should fans hate on him for leaving the Jets? Or, should they wish the man well in his new endeavor and look forward to a fresh start for the Jets?
Figuring out “The Da Vinci Code” is less taxing on the brain.
Now I know what “Wall Street” character Gordon Gekko meant when he said “Mixed emotions – like Larry Wildeman going over a cliff in my new Maserati.”
In July 2004, I wrote, and still believe 18 months later, that if Herm walked into a room and I had no arms, I would still figure out a way to give the man a hug.
He has that kind of motivational aura.
But seeing that red tie and that red Kansas City behind Herm at his 45-minute press conference on kcchiefs.com was just plain weird.
But we should not begrudge a man who leaves one job for a better situation and gets a 200 percent pay increase.
Of course, not everyone chooses to accept such rationale.
The other school of thought, one echoed by Restaurant friend Rob and thousands of others, involves cursing Herm and offering up e-mail cheap shots such as “I can't believe KC hired him after seeing in person how unprepared the Jets were in Week 1.”
Yes, Rob, that was quite a rough day at Arrowhead.
Jet fan Andrew S. agrees with the departure of Herm. “Oh, and as a Jet fan, I am glad to see him go,” an excerpt from his email read. “He may have been a good motivational speaker and sound bite guy, but between the lines on Sunday, he seemed rather clueless to me.”
Hard to dispute either point. Wow, this is like meeting your idol. They say you shouldn't do that, for fear the image you concocted will be tarnished by reality.
Rob, Andrew and the other Hermanators most certainly snickered when Herm said about his new offense, “Keep scoring 30 points . . . I haven’t been involved in that too much in my career.”
But where is the love for the man who gave Jets fans three playoff appearances in five seasons. Sure, he put together a 39-41 record in five seasons, but he led the Jets to three playoff appearances in five seasons. No other Jets coach ever did that. Not Bill. Not Weeb. Not Joe Walton.
That should count for something, right?
Leenie in North Carolina doesn’t really care about any of that. “At this point I am so upset and can hardly sleep. I am a HUGE Jets fan and I can't believe that Herm would lie to me,” wrote Leenie.
Leenie, please take a nap or something. It’s in your best interests.
Then, watch Herm’s press conference on kcchiefs.com.
It’s pure Herm.
In the first four minutes of his speech, he said “National Football League” five times.
At the 30-minute mark: “I’ll get on the preacher’s box now.” He then spoke about Baptist church preachers and wanting to go to heaven but not wanting to die to get there.
And then his next-door neighbor, Mr. Johnson.
And something about 7-Elevens being convenient but not for football players.
It was all very Hermy. Let’s just hope the Midwesterners learn to appreciate the beauty of Hermisms – the “We’re on the bus” and the “Make sure nobody pours any poison in your Kool-Aid” and the “When you go to the prom, you go rent your tuxedo, you get one of those big limousines and you feel pretty good. The next day you come to school, you're driving a Volkswagen.”
Of course, nothing compares to the legendary eruption of 2002. Herm’s “You play to win the game” rant rivals Allen Iverson’s “Practice?” outburst for best outrageous and repetitive press conference sound byte.
I don’t know what any of these things mean, but I know I will miss them greatly next season. Sort of like the way I miss Teddy Cottrell’s spouting of ridiculous “Second in AFC East run defense in Week 8” statistical data about his defense a few years ago.