Clueless Geno yet to grow up
GENO Smith unloaded on Rex Ryan Sunday with All-Pro immaturity, Pro Bowl petulance and a special kind of delusion reserved for all those legends in their own mind.
Moments after Smith’s latest loss as an NFL quarterback on Sunday, the benefactor of the Giants’ botched Eli Manning benching embarrassed himself by ripping his former coach-turned-ESPN analyst for saying this: “I love Geno Smith. Great guy. I just don’t want him playing quarterback for me.”
Ryan, frankly, could have uttered those words long ago, but he wanted to spare poor Geno’s feelings. The mistake-prone Smith, after all, was a mess for Ryan’s Jets.
Smith’s version of events was predictably different in the wake of his two-turnover first start with the Giants that resulted in a 24-17 loss to the Raiders. Smith was more preoccupied with telling the football world about his hurt feelings than actually taking true ownership of his litany of screwups.
“I love Coach Mac,” Smith said of Ben McAdoo, the most hated man in the Giants universe these days. “I think we all do. I love playing for him. I want to continue playing for him. But I did see one of my ex-coaches say he didn’t want me to be his quarterback. And that really upset me, ya know. A guy that we saved his job in 2013 when we fought our ass for him both years. And for him to come out and say that shows you how much of a coward he is.” Poor delusional Geno. Ryan, who should be commended for giving an honest assessment on a former player (rather than kiss his derriere like many other player/coach analysts do with former teammates), told me last week that he was “happy” for Smith to get another opportunity, but disagreed with how the Giants handled Manning’s benching.
“Geno’s a good kid, but at the same time, I hate to see any player that’s really one of the stars of this game be treated like this,” Ryan told me at the time. “I think it’s a slap in the face to a great veteran player.”
Smith had the NFL’s worst passer rating (66.5) and completion percentage (55.8) in 2013. Only three quarterbacks threw more interceptions than he did (21). Smith had more than twice as many turnovers (25) as touchdown passes (11). The Jets were 31st in passing offense, 29th in scoring offense and 25th in total offense. With saviors like that, who needs scrubs? Smith didn’t save anyone’s job four years ago.
Woody Johnson had already made up his mind to retain Ryan before the 2013 season finale in Miami. The owner relayed that message to the head coach before Smith took a single snap that day. So, the quarterback probably should stop patting himself on the back all these years later for winning that game. It didn’t have any impact on Ryan’s immediate future.
Ryan stuck around for another season because he galvanized his team and somehow managed to piece together the league’s worst secondary with great coaching. It’s still a minor miracle that the Jets were 11th in total defense that year. Of course, that didn’t stop Smith from detailing how he happened to come across Ryan’s remarks on Sunday.
“I was just sitting in my room watching, because we have the time difference,” Smith said.
It’s a wonder that Smith was actually aware of a time difference on the West Coast given his timezone struggles under Ryan, who probably should have benched the lost quarterback after missing a team meeting the day before a game in San Diego in 2014. Maybe the Giants assigned a timezone intern to help Geno out this time. Or maybe there wasn’t a movie theater within walking distance.
“So, I am just watching a little bit of football, and you know (I) see that happen and it is like, ‘Wow,’” Smith said. “The guy, first of all, you drafted me. Second of all, you started me. Third of all, I went out there and I gave you everything I had, and then you go out and say that. It’s unfortunate.”
First of all, the single worst general manager of this generation (John Idzik) drafted you, not Ryan.
Second of all, you only started because Mark Sanchez suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in the fourth quarter of the third preseason game. Let me refresh your memory: You were losing the quarterback “competition” to Sanchez before the injury. Or did you forget about your trainwreck, three-interception night (and sterling 45.7 passer rating) against the Giants?
Third of all, you’re right that you gave it everything you had that season. Alas, you just weren’t good enough to be anything special.
Smith was 11-18 with 25 touchdown passes and 41 turnovers under Ryan. It’d be easy to review the conga line of Smith’s missteps off the field through the years, but it’s exhausting. And we all already know about them.
The greater problem for Smith is that he hasn’t changed at all. He’s still the same mistake-ridden player he was as a rookie. He’s still the same thin-skinned soul more concerned about what’s being said or written about him than actually being a professional quarterback. He’s never galvanized nor inspired teammates at any point in his five-year career. He’s not a leader. He’ll never be a leader.
There’s a reason why the Jets couldn’t wait until he became a free agent. There’s a reason why teammates didn’t respect him. There’s a reason why he’s nothing more than a place-holder for the Giants. There’s a reason why he’ll be an eternal punchline.
The reason stares back at Geno Smith in the mirror every day.