At this hour the New York Jets are introducing Tim Tebow, their new backup quarterback, to the assembled media at a packed press conference in Florham Park. The New York Giants? Well, things are quiet in East Rutherford.
This is the type of day that illustrates the difference between the two New York franchises. The Jets are, as they usually do, enjoying the offseason limelight. They are making all the headlines, getting all the back pages. The Giants? They are just quietly going about their business, enjoying their fourth Super Bowl championship, filling holes with useful bargain free agents and re-signing as many of their own players as they can.
There are no splashy headlines coming from the Giants. Unless, of course, you count John Mara poking fun at the Jets Tebow press conference with this snide remark:
" ... the David Carr press conference will be tomorrow, too."
Jets owner Woody Johnson can say that the Tebow move is all about winning. It's entirely possible that in Johnson's mind it actually is about winning. History shows us, though, that the Giants know how to get that done. The Jets? Not so much.
The Giants have had their share of distractions and malcontents over the years. Tiki Barber, Jeremy Shockey, Plaxico Burress among them. Lately, Osi Umenyiora and to a lesser extent Antrel Rolle and Brandon Jacobs. What happens to these guys with the Giants? They are weeded out, or, at some point they seem to realize that the Giants are a class organization that wins -- a pretty good place for a player to be. Umenyiora, Rolle and Jacobs, who seemingly still pines for a return to the team, fall into that category.
The Jets? They collect distractions. They have a coach in Rex Ryan who is a living, breathing distraction. He just can't help but talk more than he should. They went throught the Brett Favre circus. Made the splashy move of signing Burress last offseason. Now, they are hitching a ride on Tebowmania.
While the Giants were 'All In" down the stretch of 2011, the Jets were a fractured, feuding mess. Whatever the Jets say about how they will use Tebow, his presence is certainly not going to heal the rifts in the Jets' locker room.
With Tebow, and the Tebow-Mark Sanchez quarterback his arrival in New York automatically creates, the Jets are guaranteed to dominate the headlines. Of course, probably for all the wrong reasons.
When will the Giants show up on the back page? I think you know the answer to that.