Darrelle Revis: Jets lied to me, gave me the ‘corporate answer’
Darrelle Revis was traded from the New York Jets to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Tuesday, and it does not sound like the All-Pro corner is leaving his old team on positive terms. It seemed fairly clear that the Jets were trying to trade Revis since the offseason began, but Revis says that intention was never relayed directly to him.
On Monday, Revis told reporters that the Jets consistently lied to him.
“Definitely I feel like I haven’t gotten the truth,” Revis said, via Manish Mehta of the NY Daily News. “Anybody can sit here and tell you to your face, ‘Yeah, you’re going to be a Jet.’ But what’s the truth out of it. What’s really true?”
“You just want the truth of the situation. You don’t people to be dangling information or giving false information. Just tell the truth.”
Revis said the team had not been upfront with him since hiring general manager John Idzik. In fact, he recalled a recent conversation with Idzik when he was asked what he felt was a ridiculous question. According to Revis, Idzik asked him if he wants to remain a Jet.
“Why would you ask me that question?” Revis responded. “He gave me some other corporate answer about something else. I know it’s a lie. … I call it the corporate answer. The truth is the truth. Just tell the truth because people want to know what’s going on. I want to know what’s going on with my career whether you’re trading me or you’re not. But whatever you’re doing, just let me know.”
As we know, it is not always that simple. The Jets had to give off the impression that they were not desperate to trade Revis if they wanted to maintain any type of leverage. If Revis feels they should have told him they were looking to trade him and trusted him to keep quiet about it, that’s a different story.
Over the past couple of years, many people have accused Revis of only caring about money. Warren Sapp basically said it on Sunday when asked if he feels the Bucs made a good move. Of course, Revis disagrees with that notion.
“I never said I’m looking for the most money,” he explained. “Whatever I do out on that field, you should compensated for. That’s just not me. That’s any player in this league. I didn’t make this system up. I didn’t make this system of who’s supposed to get paid $25 million, $10 million… I put my body out there on the line and I play. I do it pretty well, so you should get compensated for what you want.”
Bottom line: none of it matters now. Revis is a Tampa Bay Buc. Like with any other ugly relationship that comes to an end in the world of professional sports, it’s time to move forward.
Photo credit: Kevin Hoffman-US PRESSWIRE
