(We will be perfect in every aspect of the game. You drop a pass, you run a mile. You miss a blocking assignment, you run a mile. You fumble the football, and I will break my foot off in your John Brown hind parts and then you will run a mile. Perfection. Let’s go to work.)
With his come from behind performance against Gray Maynard at UFC 136, lightweight champion Frankie Edgar has quickly become one of the more inspirational figures in the sport, so much so that last night, he was called upon by the always inconsistent New York Jets to provide some much needed inspiration heading in to their Monday night match against their long time rival, the Miami Dolphins. Despite making it to the AFC championship game the past two years in a row, the Jets have started the year with a less than stellar 2-3 record, and are in desperate need of a win against the 0-4 Dolphins, who have won their last 3 road games against the Jets.
If this scenario sounds familiar, it may be because last November, Edgar was asked to light a similar fire underneath the Jets before their week 11 game with the Houston Texans. The Jets were able to walk away with a unanimous 30-27 nod across the board thanks to Edgar’s efforts…and a touchdown with 10 seconds remaining in the game. Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez stated that the champ provided some much needed words of wisdom leading into their victory:
The guy is barely taller than this podium, and this guy, he beats BJ Penn in a UFC Championship bout. Everybody counted him out. They wanted a rematch, and then he went back and beat him even worse. Talk about a guy who’s mentally tough, physically tough. He came in and spoke to the team last night. Perfect timing. Just talking about never giving up, being counted out, playing until the end, fighting and believing in yourself, believing in your team and the people around you. Those were the only people telling him he could win the fight. Everybody else counted him out.
There is no word yet on whether or not Edgar laid out a specific game plan for the Jets, but my guess is it would be something like this:
1. Let the Jets score 4 or 5 touchdowns in the first quarter. Seriously, just let them beat the ever loving shit out of you.
2. ???????
3. Profit
Then again, Edgar could just be teaching Jet’s coach Rex Ryan, an avid MMA fan, some moves for the post game handshake in case Tony Sparano tries anything funny. As a Dolphins fan I can only hope that Edgar’s power remains inside the ring this time around.
-Danga