From Gang Green Nation: At this point, one could argue Shonn Greene has taken over the leading role in the backfield. The coaching staff has been increasing his load since the Colts game. The only time it really diminished was when he gave the Jets a reason to sit him Week 17 with a fumble against the Bengals even though a penalty wiped it out.
Truth be told, Greene is a better runner right now. His power allows him to fight through tackles better, and he has a bigger burst when he turns on the second gear. TJ has a better reputation. The Jets surely can use him. I’m just not sure he’s the top dog right now.
about 2 years ago
Adam Jacobi
42 comments
0 recs |
Email
PrintComments
It was only a matter of time
before Greene took over the starting job. But to be honest, I didn’t think it would happen quite this fast.
Moorehouse has a great article on Greene over on his site:
http://gazetteonline.com/sports/2010/01/14/jets-rookie-rb-has-been-big-greene-machine-lately-2
The guy is still just as humble as they come. What a refreshing change compared to prima donas like Chris Johnson.
by the_iowa_hawkeye on Jan 14, 2010 4:24 PM CST reply actions
Ferentz's influence?
I can’t think of a player that’s come out of Iowa under Ferentz that isn’t at least “mostly” humble. There’s certainly no asshats like Johnson or TO that come to mind.
after the "i eat money" guys got flushed
Shonn Greene did everything right, I just wish he had waited 1 day after the Outback to declare his shiz. Let the the team enjoy the win, don’t make it about yourself. Other than that the dude did everything as well as anyone could wish. I mean he was the muthaf@cking doak walker winner! If he would have stayed theres about a 50-50 chance he would have won the heisman. Did he make the wrong choice? I didn’t think so at the time, and I still don’t. He was a great Hawkeye and a great story for the program. He’s the perfect example of why talent should want to go to Iowa. Wegher will be another example.
by HawkeyeRecon on Jan 14, 2010 11:20 PM CST up reply actions
For a lot of players, winning the Heisman has been the career kiss of death in the NFL
Heisman tends to be more based on hype and media coverage than ability – at least that’s my perception. Not every Heisman winner goes on to be a dominant force in the NFL…
My blog: http://www.gretainthebox.com
by Leftcoast Hawk on Jan 15, 2010 1:12 AM CST up reply actions
Actually it seemed that announcing right after the game was the modest thing to do...
…until he said one way or the other people were just gonna keep asking (which would have taken away from the team’s win), and if he said “ah, I’m not sure” when he actually was he would have looked like a self-absorbed player who was trying to hype himself up and drag things out while both fans and the NFL stood by going, “C’mon! C’mon!”
It was like he was saying, “yes, I’m going pro, now let’s focus on the team win over the ‘OMG Speed!!’”
by Eyeheartfreedumb on Jan 15, 2010 3:30 PM CST up reply actions
Matt Roth
The Big Tuna didn’t like his attitude and thought he was faking injury to hold out on a contract in Miami. I’m not sure if that was consistent or just a misunderstanding.
Roth
While I won’t dispute any of that – if that’s the best example we’ve got, my original statement seems even more plausible.
The Doyle stamp of approval
Yes, ever since Doyle and Ferentz have come along the guys Iowa puts into the NFL have been known as hard working, prepared, physical players. Nothing more can be asked I suppose. Greene was my last pick in my playoff fantasy league, caught a bunch of shit for it, so far so good for me I guess.
I may be dumb, but I'm not stupid.
- Terry Bradshaw
by thegunslinger12 on Jan 14, 2010 6:34 PM CST reply actions
If Leon Washington comes back healthy....
I would guess that this spells the end of Jones as a Jet. He constantly complains about money andvis on the wrong side of 30.
I would like to be facebook friends with Terry Strauss
I like how he doesn't celebrate after the TD
Just puts the ball gently down on the ground and walks away. Classy. Great block to spring him free, too, but he ran out of that attempted shoe tackle.
My blog: http://gretainthebox.blogspot.com
I think it was Paul Brown
who said, “When you reach the end zone, act like you’ve been there before.”
It never gets to be easy
by chitownhawkeye on Jan 14, 2010 10:14 PM CST up reply actions
He was there a lot for Iowa.
He knows what that end zone feels like. It was great to see him act like it wasn’t no thing.
by HawkeyeRecon on Jan 14, 2010 11:35 PM CST up reply actions
And he did roughly the same thing at Iowa
Never went apeshit after a TD, just handed the ball to the ref and acknowledged his blockers. The only time this was different was (1) the first TD vs PSU where he pointed out the “Greene Out” in the student section and (2) in the Outback Bowl where, presumably, he was thinking “I’m about to get paid, y’all!!!”
I ate the blue ones ... they taste like burning.
I think Shonn enjoys running people over more than actually scoring TDs
He has said repeatedly that he loves contact… and he’s a brutal big back that can you run over or put the spin move on you and run you over a 2nd time after you miss the arm tackle. You just get the feeling that for Shonn, every time he leaves some poor sumbitch aching on the turf, its his way of saying, Rogue Warrior style “Fuck you very much.”
The Jets got very lucky because if Shonn had shown more ability to catch the ball coming out of the backfield – a skill that he should work on because it will increase his NFL payday (and he’ll last longer if he’s more than a punishing runner) – someone else would have grabbed him first.
My blog: http://www.gretainthebox.com
by Leftcoast Hawk on Jan 15, 2010 1:05 AM CST up reply actions
You forgot
The huge run he had against Wiscy where he broke 4 tackles (IIRC), and dashed 30+ yards into the end zone. He went pretty ape shit at the end of that run, but it was toward the student section, and we were all going nuts too.
They took the bar, the whole fucking bar!
by recoveringfratguy on Jan 15, 2010 12:10 PM CST up reply actions
You can't not post a link to that play.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05pzZISDoyo#t=1m48s (Link goes directly to play)
Also, I contend that THAT run, THAT moment was exactly when he figured out he could do whatever he wanted on the football field. He was good before then; he was a virtuoso with the ball afterwards.
I got more rhymes than Wade Lookingbill's got dunks
by Adam Jacobi on Jan 15, 2010 12:20 PM CST up reply actions
Agreed.
My blog: http://www.gretainthebox.com
by Leftcoast Hawk on Jan 15, 2010 5:54 PM CST up reply actions
I love the Wisconsin run, but I think my favorite was the Frank Duong inside spin.
Greene showed a lil speed, made the defender look like an absolute fool and ran for 75 yards into the endzone, couldn’t ask for too much more.
link
by The Mexican't on Jan 15, 2010 10:26 PM CST up reply actions
I still think that's dumb.
Most guys, even those who do it “regularly”, are going to score fewer than 25-35 TD’s in their career. So you don’t something that rarely, against the best of the best in your sport and you’re supposed to act like it’s no big deal? Please. People do stupid shit on birthdays and those happen way more often and every jack ass has one.
In the past 10 years, just four team owners have not paid a luxury tax and are not on pace to pay one this year: Donald Sterling, Jerry Reinsdorf, Chris Cohen (Golden State), Bob Johnson (Charlotte).
Two owners’ teams averaged an operating income of over +$10 million per year while their teams have lost over 60% of their games: Donald Sterling and Jerry Reinsdorf.
Who was the last guy at Iowa that did celebrate?
Wegher did a little bit this year, only when he rode O-linemen into the endzone but that lasted all of 0.5 seconds. I can’t remember the last guy who did.
BTW, can you imagine what Wegher was thinking while standing in the endzone after scoring the touchdown in the OB? A year earlier he was just starting High School again after break, probably going to basketball practice (don’t know if he played) and tagging his girlfriend. A quick year later he scores the “nail in the coffin” touchdown to seal a BCS bowl win while out rushing every back from the 2nd best running offense in the country. He is scoring chicks at will.
"Well of course, there's nothing better than being American!!!" - Ricky Americanzi, Jan. 5th, 2010
by The Bacon Explosion on Jan 15, 2010 7:24 AM CST up reply actions
I recall Stross spiking the ball after scoring a touchdown with little time remaining in the half
I don’t remember who that was against, but it did draw the 15 yard penalty.
It's not that I'm lazy, Bob, it's that I just don't care
That was the disastrous Indiana game in 2007.
I remember that game vividly, especially Kellen Lewis’ front-flip into the endzone.
Big junkies come from little junkies.
Let us never speak of this game again
Much like the 2006 Indiana game. Or any game involving jNWU.
I ate the blue ones ... they taste like burning.
Jets fans don't deserve him
They were all bitching and moaning when the Jets picked him. It wasn’t until a couple months of hearing Rex Ryan repeatedly beat Shonn’s name into the mic in nearly every press conference that they began to wonder that he might be better than just ‘that guy from Iowa who’ll never see the field’.
I don't watch the pro's much, but the Jets got a Doak Walker award winner for cheap.
He had better numbers than this year’s Heisman winner. Against a “weak” Big 10. We all knew he was a wrecking crew stud, now the NFL is realizing it. I don’t follow the pros near as much as college, but I’m rooting for Shonn Greene because of what he has done, and how he carries himself. He’s a perfect example of why stud running backs should want to go to Iowa if they want to hit the NFL.
by HawkeyeRecon on Jan 14, 2010 11:39 PM CST up reply actions
As a Dolphins fan
since I was 6 (what can I say, as a 6-year-old the idea of a Dolphin as a mascot seemed cool), it pains me to say this but I LOVE watching Shonn tear it up. Won’t go so far as to root for the Jets, at least when they’re playing the ’Fins, but definitely love seeing Shonn make good. to think of what we would have done this year with him on the team….
I ate the blue ones ... they taste like burning.
Can you say "Mythical National Championship"?
I’m totally convinced we would have swept the table and would have won our slate by wider margins because the #er of Stanziballs would have been vastly reduced if we’d had Shonn as as running threat, and I don’t see Ricky getting hurt like he did against NW. The wider win margin would have put us in the MNC against Bama over Texas, and I think we would have beaten the dogshit out of Bama.
Assuming that we can keep Kirk until he’s 65 or so, adequately replace Norm in the next couple of years – its probably more realistic to expect Kirk here another 10 than it is to expect Norm to coach beyond next year – Iowa could become the brutal “sock you in the mouth – but with speed” program that everyone else tries to copy. Hayden started that about Iowa being physical, but Ferentz, Parker and Doyle have kicked it up a few notches. I know a guy that played for NW in the 80s and said they hated playing Iowa – in fact, he got hurt against Iowa – because “they hit us harder than anyone else did”. “When you played Iowa, you hurt the entire next week.”
My blog: http://www.gretainthebox.com
by Leftcoast Hawk on Jan 15, 2010 1:10 AM CST up reply actions
Color me skeptical.
A 12-0 Iowa team was going to have a tough time jumping a 13-0 Texas team, largely because they started so much further back in the polls. They probably would have had a superior computer ranking, but the important question is whether or not the fleshbag voters would have put them at #2 over Texas. I’m not entirely convinced they would have, given the Big Ten’s then-recent faceplants on the national stage and the love affair with McCoy/Texas.
Big junkies come from little junkies.
Not necessarily
Don’t forget the UNI game. I think that with Shonn Greene in the mix we aren’t needing two blocked field goals to pull off the win (probably winning by double digits), aren’t hearing about this fact every time a pundit gets airtime, and certainly aren’t dropped from wherever we started (#21, #19?) to being outside the top 30.
In addition, we probably win those other close games in a more convincing fashion. I think that a 12-0 Iowa team that dominated its conference looks like an equally desirable #2 compared to a 13-0 Texas team that barely beat Nebraska.
by Bearhawkroar! on Jan 15, 2010 9:53 AM CST up reply actions
That's all true.
And none of it changes the fact that (1) Texas started the year #2/3 and (2) Iowa plays in the Big Ten, whose reputation was mud until this past bowl season.
I truly don’t think that last point can be emphasized enough. The mainstream media has been actively rooting against a BXI team making it to the title game ever since OSU’s back-to-back faceplants. One need only look at the joy that erupted when Iowa knocked off #3 PSU last year to remove them from national title consideration. And that was for a brand-name BXI team with a legendary coach. I have a tough time believing they would favor a non-brand name BXI team like Iowa when there’s a perfectly good elite-brand name team from a non-BXI conference^ (Texas) sitting right there for them to prop up instead. (See also: 11-1 PSU having NO SHOT at the national title game last year, despite sporting the same 11-1 record as Texas and Oklahoma, the two teams vying for the spot.)
That said, I think the anti-BXI sentiment has certainly died down a bit after the bowl season. I think there would be a greater willingness to see a BXI team get a shot in the national title game next year than there was the past two years.
^ — Amusingly, the B12 has now lost far more title games (5!) than any other conference, including the much-maligned BXI.
Big junkies come from little junkies.
It'll quiet down more this season.
I’m of the opinion that either OSU or Iowa is gonna win the MNC this year.
by ReadingRambler on Jan 15, 2010 11:15 AM CST up reply actions
Don't go down that road.
There’s no guarantee that Greene would have stayed healthy this season if he’d come back to Iowa—especially with so many guys whiffing on blocks on the OL—to say nothing of his academic eligibility. There’s no need to tack so many ifs onto such a great season.
Basically, you’ll never know if it’s true, you’ll never get anything out of it, and you’ll tarnish the legacy of what actually happened on the field this season: Iowa won 11 games and a BCS bowl. Do yourself and everyone else a favor and leave it at that.
I got more rhymes than Wade Lookingbill's got dunks
Still...
Talking in sureties is dumb, yes, but it most definitely is exciting to think of what could have been. Wegher and Robinson did a fine job for us, no doubt. But there’s a nice little temptation to playing the imagination game by taking this 11 win team and elite defense, and replacing two freshmen with a returning Senior/Iowa-single-season-record-holding/Doak-Walker-award-winning wrecking ball of madness and pain.
by TheDutchFlounder on Jan 15, 2010 10:18 AM CST up reply actions
Nah
Think about it this way. If we have said wrecking ball, does McNutt emerge as a huge receiving threat? Does our defense have the same effect since we now control the ball a lot more on offense? Does KOK become even more predictable and conservative in his playcalling (this is a definite yes by the way)
There’s a ton of what ifs and maybes. However, consider this…
Would going undefeated, playing in the MNC game, but LOSING to Alabama have been better than winning the Orange Bowl? I’ll take what actually happened over what might have happened, thanks.
I’m with OPS. This season was unbelievably bat shit crazy. I had to leave the thread and go to another tv after throwing in the towel on the Indiana game, and thinking after MSU scored, " … well, they scored with time, Stanzi has time." Greene did the right thing, and I think Amari is, too. These guys have to fear the Bradford. Would that 11-2 and a BCS win sets a realistic goal every year for the good guys.
I try to think about the upside (though what-ifs are tempting)...
…we wouldn’t have even seen Wond3rboy or Black Thunder unless Shonn got hurt or we ran up the sc…. bwaaaahahahaha. Sorry, I though of KOK and couldn’t help but laugh.
Anyway, we had a lot of guys emerge this year that will be incredible in two or three years because of it. Yeah, it woulda been great to see Iowa with Greene this year, but then what happens in two years when we are a young team again with no experience. I’d rather look at the fact that in three years we’ll have a Reiff-led O-line (that will probably have two or three two-year starters) that will be full of experienced studs, with three Senior running backs who will all have two or three years of experience behind that bad-ass O-line, and KDavis, JCotton and some younger receivers AND The Dawson or Derby throwing to them.
THAT’S HOW YOU RELOAD!
Otherwise we could have all of that but only Jewel with running experience, and if he goes down… not good things. Instead we got an 11-2 OB winning season and two or three more chances at great seasons in the years to come. All of that helps me get over the loss of Greene.
by Eyeheartfreedumb on Jan 15, 2010 3:47 PM CST up reply actions
edit fail
“thought” not “though” of KOK
by Eyeheartfreedumb on Jan 15, 2010 3:47 PM CST up reply actions
Not diminishing this season's accomplishments at all
And you make great points about the academic stuff, because Shonn sat for a year elsewhere getting his grades acceptable, and, if you’re not into school, a guy with that ability should’ve taken the NFL dollars.
What I’m musing about would have the perfect storm, obviously. And we had that this year. You play the hand you’re dealt.
My blog: http://www.gretainthebox.com
by Leftcoast Hawk on Jan 15, 2010 5:57 PM CST up reply actions
I'm just saying
You don’t need any ifs to enjoy and appreciate this season. It was awesome. Best to leave it at that.
I got more rhymes than Wade Lookingbill's got dunks
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
