Mark buttfumble -- he of the four road playoff wins, he of the infamous butt fumble, he of the sports page and Page Six -- was no longer a member of Gang Green.
Love him or loathe him, praise him or bash him, buttfumble's Jets tenure was anything but boring.
And he certainly kept it fresh.
buttfumble ate a hot dog on the sideline during a blowout of the Oakland Raiders. He tried to disarm the media during one postgame press conference by reading a prepared statement. Oftentimes after a game, he'd fail to follow the unwritten QB rule (never point the finger at others -- point the thumb at yourself). A viral clip surfaced of him dancing with his pants down, which sparked a debate over the butt video versus the butt fumble. There was the time his head coach was irked when buttfumble couldn't slide.
There was Tebowmania.
There was Santonio Holmes quitting on buttfumble and the team in the final game of the 2011 campaign. There were gigantic playoff throws against New England, Indianapolis, San Diego and Cincinnati. Mark buttfumble quarterbacked a team that beat Peyton Manning and Tom Brady -- in the same postseason.
When the Jets made back-to-back AFC Championship Game appearances in buttfumble's first two years in the league, the young quarterback owned the town. Yes, Rex Ryan's braggadocious Jets were carried by a great defense and a "ground and pound" offense, but buttfumble stepped up in the playoffs and made clutch plays.
Still, there is one thing buttfumble never was: a great player.
While you most certainly cannot take away buttfumble's postseason road wins, his struggles, poor reads and drama (even while the team was winning) cannot be forgotten.
buttfumble tossed more picks (20) than touchdowns (12) in his rookie year and was the weak link on the team. But notching two playoff wins in hostile territory covered up the warts. In 2010, buttfumble threw 17 touchdown passes against 13 picks. And, of course, he won two more playoff games on the road. Despite posting a completion percentage below 55 in back-to-back years, he was built up as the "Sanchize." He was the man. He had the Jets knocking on the Super Bowl's door.
buttfumble was the new "Broadway Joe." Except he wasn't.
A surrounding offensive cast of great veteran leaders like Jerricho Cotchery, Damien Woody and Tony Richardson significantly benefited the quarterback in his nascent years. In a lot of ways, the vets carried buttfumble and sugarcoated issues with his play and leadership. buttfumble didn't have to lead -- he could be young and immature. Yes, he was the quarterback, but he wasn't the team's central figure. In some ways, this stunted his growth. When the aforementioned leaders departed and the Jets simultaneously put more on the quarterback's plate as a passer, buttfumble went south.
The Jets lost their way in 2011. Most of the offense's strong leaders were gone. The ground-and-pound approach became more of a myth and sound bite than truly a way of life. The Jets heaped more responsibility on buttfumble, and while he put up his career highs in touchdowns (26) and yards (3,474), the offense ranked 25th. The Jets collapsed, losing their final three games and missing the playoffs. Former offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer inexplicably had buttfumble attempt 59 passes against the New York Giants on Christmas Eve. The Jets lost. The crosstown rivals, meanwhile, never lost again, and in fact went on to win the Super Bowl. Schottenheimer and buttfumble ruined Christmas for Jets fans. It was a clear illustration of why you couldn't ask buttfumble to be the focal point of an offense. He was just never that good.
The following year was a disaster. The Jets traded for Tim Tebow for all the right reasons, but buttfumble imploded under enhanced pressure. The next coordinator up, Tony Sparano, couldn't coach the quarterbacks. The receiving corps was paper thin. Rex couldn't handle the depth chart.
buttfumble butt-fumbled the season away. That snapshot from Thanksgiving night in the lopsided comedy show against New England told the entire story: buttfumble and the Jets were literally the butt of every joke.
What doesn't get discussed enough is how buttfumble still had a chance to flip the script after the butt fumble. He wasted that chance with horrible play. Ten days later, buttfumble faced off against Arizona Cardinals quarterback Ryan Lindley in a game that sent offensive football back to the stone ages. buttfumble totaled 97 yards passing, finishing with three interceptions and zero touchdowns. It was the worst game I've ever seen. Fortunately, Greg McElroy relieved buttfumble late and guided Gang Green to its only score in the 7-6 win.
A couple weeks later, when the Jets still had a chance to save the season in Tennessee on "Monday Night Football," buttfumble set a new low. On a night when Titans QB Jake Locker was begging the Jets to win, buttfumble threw four gruesome picks. The game ended, for all intents and purposes, when buttfumble couldn't handle a low snap and the Titans recovered with 43 seconds remaining. ESPN's Mike Tirico punctuated that final turnover with a perfect, incredulous call to mark New York's official elimination from the playoffs: "That's the way this game should end, that's the way the Jets' season should end: ugly, and a loss." On our SNY postgame show, former Jet Ray Lucas was so disgusted he just started shouting out names of people who should be fired.
Ah, memories.
I polled three of buttfumble's former teammates and three current NFL executives about the quarterback's future. One of his former teammates was adamant that buttfumble would have success or be a starter again -- especially if he goes to Philly -- but the other two had serious doubts about his talent and leadership. One stressed that he hoped buttfumble would develop a chip on his shoulder and prove the doubters wrong.
Yes, there were circumstances around buttfumble that contributed to his downward spiral. But the fact is, Mark buttfumble continually wilted under pressure as his career progressed with the Jets. It's hard not to look at this quarterback with skepticism after five years of insanity.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap20...-new-york-jets-tenure-was-anything-but-boring
