From the Sidelines

Keyshawn has left the building

JONATHAN FERREY/ALLSPORT To the dismay of Jets fans, Keyshawn Johnson is heading to the Bucs.

For diehard New York Jets fans, the end of the world came in the afternoon on Wed., Apr. 12. After weeks of agonizing speculation, Jets All-Pro wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson, who had whined all offseason about his contract (a contract with two years still remaining), waved bye-bye to New York and headed to sunny Tampa, Fla. He slipped on a red Buccaneers jersey, donned a wide, million-dollar smile ($56 million, to be exact), and met the Tampa media to officially announce his arrival. A reporter, giddy as a schoolgirl that his Bucs had landed one of the most dynamic personalities in professional football, posed the question of the day: "Keyshawn, besides the money, what were your reasons for coming here?" Uhh...the weather?

Meanwhile, among Jets fans, preparations for mass suicide were quickly underway. "How could he do this to us!?! Where is the loyalty!?! You can have my season tickets, I'm a Giants fan now!" On WFAN, New York's all-sports radio station, Jeff in Brooklyn proclaimed, "This is a sad, sad day in Jets football history." In short, Jets fans are already heading for the exits.

Sure, Johnson is a fine young receiver who has the tools to evolve into the most dominant pass catcher in the NFL. Sure, Johnson was by far the Jets' most talented player. Sure, the Jets with Johnson would kick the ass of the Jets without Johnson. But take it easy. This is the sports world we're talking about, a world where the only reaction is overreaction. Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox, inexplicably picked by many in the media to win the World Series this year, won their Opening Day game 2-0 in a brilliantly pitched gem by Pedro Martinez. You couldn't get a BoSox fan to shut up about their team heading to the Fall Classic. The next day, Martinez's older brother Ramon, the staff's No. 2 starter, left the game in the second inning with a 47.25 ERA and a seven-run deficit. Boston fans can't shut up about the need to trade for another pitcher and the Curse of the Bambino.

But it's not just the fans that get a little too excited sometimes. The media is probably worse, with embarrassing results. After this year's Super Bowl, in which the Los Angeles Rams beat the Tennessee Titans (See? It wasn't a joke after all), Sports Illustrated hastily called it "the best Super Bowl ever." What? The multiple shots of Kurt Warner's wife alone made this Super Bowl one to forget. This came two years after the media proclaimed that the Denver Broncos-Green Bay Packers championship game was "one of the best Super Bowls ever." It's obviously difficult to argue about Super Bowls of different eras (the Super Bowls of old have an immediate edge, however, thanks to not having halftime shows that inherently suck), but I say call it a damn good Super Bowl and let history decide.

But sports are all about instant- and overreaction. The co-hosts of WFAN on Wednesday afternoon already seemed ready to write off the Jets for the 2000 season—a season that starts in September. "You don't trade away your best player when you've got a now team," WFAN's Mike Francesa cried. (A now team is a team that can win now.) What team isn't a now team? Were the Rams and Titans now teams last year at this time? The media and the fans, this week, agreed: the Jets are toast. Which is fine with me, but in the age of instant- and overreaction, the New York media and fans seem to have forgetten a couple of key things.

No championship NFL team is built around a wide receiver. The Titans and Bucs, two of the teams in the NFL's final four last year, had average receivers. The Jets, from the deal with Tampa Bay, now have four first-round draft picks in this year's NFL draft. No team in NFL history has had this kind of opportunity. In the past few drafts, rookies have shown that they can be instant impact players—Randy Moss two years ago, Jevon Kearse and Edgerrin James from a year ago. The Jets have four chances to land the next rookie sensation. And who says the Jets can't pursue a free agent?

There's nothing wrong with a little passion. The only problem is that passion often gets in the way of logic. The Jets have an All-Pro quarterback returning in Vinny Testerverde. They have a dominant defense. Curtis Martin, the team's primary running back, could emerge this year as one of the league's top backs. The Jets will be fine. Hold on to those season tickets and just wait and see what happens.

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