In a 33-0 loss to the New England Patriots on “Monday Night Football”, New York Jets quarterback Sam Darnold was caught on an open mic talking about how he was “seeing ghosts” out on the field.
The comment immediately went viral with Twitter users absolutely unloading on the sophomore gun-slinger, and members of the Patriots openly laughing at the fear they had instilled.
However, after the amusement of the moment wore off, the reality of Darnold’s embarrassing comments set in. It was a bad look for him, a bad look for head coach Adam Gase and a bad look for the Jets organization. And as a result, Gase may no longer allow his players to be mic’d up during games — especially those on prime-time.
During a Tuesday afternoon conference call with members of the New York media, Gase took aim at ESPN for exposing the vulnerability of his young quarterback
Gase said they “will be looking into it pretty hard” when asked about having players mic’d up in games anymore. “It bothers me. It bothers the organization.” #nyj
— Brian Costello (@BrianCoz) October 22, 2019
Gase on ESPN mic’d up deal: "I don’t know how we can allow our franchise quarterback to be put out there like that.” Says they will reevaluate their cooperation with network. #nyj
— Brian Costello (@BrianCoz) October 22, 2019
Objectively, it’s easy to understand Gase’s frustration, but there’s also a level of personal responsibility that needs to be taken into account. If you know you’re not only going to be picked up on a live mic but are carrying said mic, you have to know that whatever is said could be played live on the air.
That’s a tough lesson for a young quarterback like Darnold, but one he’ll need to learn.
As it relates to Gase’s issue with ESPN, what does he expect them to do? They caught something interesting and knew it would generate clicks, reads and viewers — that’s the entire point of putting live mics on players. They wouldn’t be doing their jobs if they let something like that slide.
