The second Todd Bowles stepped to the podium and announced Geno Smith would miss 6 to 10 weeks because of a broken jaw sustained by a teammate sucker-punching the QB in the locker room, it was time to prepare the hot take cannon.
It's what happens when a polarizing player on a polarizing team is involved in a polarizing situation. Our first ridiculous claim on what's happening with the Jets comes via ESPN's Cris Carter, who blamed Geno's "lack of leadership" for being punched.
"It's a lack of leadership on Geno Smith's part that he would put himself in harms way to get sucker punched" Cris Carter on @SportsCenter
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) August 11, 2015
There might actually be an argument here that Geno was punched because Jets teammate IK Enemkpali didn't respect him. You wouldn't see this happening to Peyton Manning or Tom Brady.
Or maybe it happened because Enemkpali is a bit of a loose cannon.
Or maybe it's just absurd to say that a man got unexpectedly punched in the face by another man because he has no leadership. The last approach to this situation makes more sense, honestly. Geno wasn't punched because he lacks authority in the locker room.
He was punched because two grown men were arguing about something sixth-graders could've handled (Bowles words) and when grown men argue heatedly about things sometimes those arguments escalate into violence.
It's happened before to famous, leadership-filled quarterbacks:
When Clint Longley sucker-punched Staubach, I traded him for the No. 2 pick in 1977 draft. We took some guy named @Tony_Dorsett.
— Gil Brandt (@Gil_Brandt) August 11, 2015
And it'll happen to someone in the future, too. Blaming it on leadership without any actual details doesn't constitute quality analysis.
