Aug 15, 2012; Cortland, NY, USA; New York Jets defensive back Darrelle Revis (24) walks back to the locker room following practice at SUNY Cortland. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

We are almost 24 hours removed from the trade. The end of an era is upon us, Darrelle Revis is no longer a member of the New York Jets. He is in Tampa Bay, and the Jets get ready for the draft on Thursday night with 2 picks in the first round, and no Darrelle Revis.

Darrelle’s years in New York were not all wine and roses. They were marred by dissention, anger, and friction between the player and the franchise. He spent a lot of time hijacking opponents’ wide receivers on the field, but he also spent a lot of time hijacking the team off the field. But, that is the last I want to mention of that today.

Now, I want to look back at some great moments, strictly football related. Let’s remember the career the guy had, we can talk about the holdouts another time, or share the stories with our friends that are Tampa Bay fans. Let’s look back at his time on the field.

October 6, 2011 Remember this pick six that went for 100 yards against the Dolphins?

And it was such a moment, our “buddy” Francesa had him on the air, and the result was this:

Remember that? I loved when Darrelle hung up on the big guy. Don’t get me wrong, he overreacted. Well, the PR guy with Darrelle overreacted, and Darrelle just did what he was told. What was great about the moment was, for all of the time that Mike gave the Jets and Jets fans hell, here was our guy giving it right back to him.

September 11, 2011 Remember how Darrelle sealed the game and giving us a victory on the 10th anniversary of 9/11?

It wasn’t a great throw by Tony Romo, but Darrelle still got the job done.

Here is one that was just a great play (I believe 2009)

The Year 2010 It’s odd to pick an entire year as a moment, but to me, it was. Why? (Remember, the ugly holdout is not part of the consideration, on-field only) Because Darrelle had become so good, that QB’s didn’t even throw in his direction. After his wonderful year of 2009 that really put him on the map, when he should have won Defensive Player of the Year honors, we have 2010. 2010 was fascinating to watch, because his side of the field became off-limits. He had zero INT’s that year, because the ball never came his way. Aside from the three game he missed with the hamstring, he was dominant.

September 14, 2008 Why this particular game? Every legend, no matter what they were a legend in, had to start somewhere. On this date in 2008, Darrelle’s legend began. In this week 2 matchup against New England, Darrelle held Randy Moss to 2 catches for 22 yards. And off he went to four straight Pro Bowls.

There are just some of the great moments from Darrelle Revis’ career. Others? Feel free to share them below.

March 19, 2013; Phoenix, AZ, USA; New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan answers questions from reporters during the annual NFL meetings at the Arizona Biltmore. Mandatory Credit: Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports

There has been no bigger supporter of Darrelle Revis than Jets coach Rex Ryan. Through the years, through contract disputes, holdouts, injuries, interceptions, and all out great performances, Rex has been in his corner. As well he should be. Rex Ryan does not work on the business end of the organization, he works on the football end of the organization. The football play has always been wonderful, so the player/coach relationship had no reason to be strained.

We also knew that one person that would never have wanted to lose Darrelle Revis is Rex Ryan. At one point, Rex was quoted as saying that he would only trade Darrelle away if he could get Jim Brown back in return. So, I know I was very curious to hear what Rex had to say about the trade, after it was made. There was a conference call last night with John Idzik, Woody Johnson, and Rex Ryan. Here is what Rex had to say:

Well, no, I can tell you this: It doesn’t come as a surprise. This has been talked about, as John has said. We’ve been discussing the possibilities of a trade with Darrelle, and I was involved in the entire process. And again, you look at the big picture as we’ve talked about short‑term and long‑term. I think this, as in all good trades, will benefit both teams. Darrelle Revis was an outstanding player for us, for myself since I’ve been here as a head coach. He was tremendous. And as John talked about earlier, he gave everything he had to this organization, was a tremendous player. You go back, I don’t take back one word that I’ve ever said about Darrelle Revis. I believe that he is the best corner in football without question. But make no mistake; as I mentioned the day I took the job five years ago, that we will play great defense, and the standard we’ve set as the New York Jets will not be diminished. We believe that we will have an outstanding defense this year and in the future, as well.

When asked about how the trade helps in the short/long term, Rex hedged a little bit:

Well, again, I think there’s a lot of ifs on a lot of fronts there. Why don’t we get through the draft and then we’ll see how everything starts going into place. A lot of decisions are made. As I mentioned before, we will play great defense here. I don’t think that’s even a question. We’re a football team that has a No. 1 corner. We’re fortunate to have Antonio Cromartie here. So there (are) a lot of factors that go into every decision, as we’ve mentioned, but again, when you look at the process and the things that John talked about before, that’s why the trade was made.

Rex will always be confident about how this team is going to play defense, as well he should. You can say a lot about Rex Ryan, but the man knows how to coach defense. I think he isn’t thrilled about it, judging by the second quote. Does he see writing on the wall about how the team is being set up for him? Possibly. It’s interesting that he can’t really talk about the benefits yet.

Sept 23, 2012; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; New York Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis (24) walks off the field with team medical staff after suffering a knee injury in the second half in a game against the Miami Dolphins at Sun Life Stadium. Revis reportedly will miss the rest of the season. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports

Now it’s for real, the picture to the right is the last time we will ever see Darrelle Revis in a Jets’ uniform. The Darrelle Revis era has come to an unfortunate, yet expected end. If you haven’t heard the figures yet, Darrelle signed a 6 year, $96 million contract with Tampa Bay, effectively completing the trade. The Jets, in the trade, received Tampa’s first round pick in the upcoming draft, #13 overall, and a conditional 3rd or 4th round pick in 2014.

Let’s talk about it a little. Am I happy that Darrelle Revis will be looking across the line of scrimmage at Mark Sanchez, instead of watching him from the sideline? Of course not. If it were possible, I would have been happy to have Darrelle on our team until he hung up his cleats. But, it couldn’t happen. Someone used the term “necessary evil” to describe trading Darrelle Revis. Absolutely on point. Because of his monetary demands, he couldn’t stay. Not if we were going to put together a good team long term.

As far as the results of the trade, John Idzik did a good job overall. I know a lot of people are upset that they only are receiving two picks, as opposed to three. I thought that at first, but you have to take into account the injury. Three picks are a lot for a guy that the Bucs would be taking basically sight unseen. They could work him out all they like, but they won’t know how ready to go he really is until he hits the field week one. The fact that John was able to hold out long enough to get the 13th pick overall included, as well as a draft pick next year, is a great job. He got as much value as possible for Darrelle Revis.

Looking back, this end has been inevitable since the first holdout. You could see the relationship between the Jets and Revis going south during the production of “Hard Knocks”. Between how long his the situation was drawn out, the disputes you saw on camera, it was the beginning of the end. And there is a lot of blame to go around here, both on Darrelle’s side, and the Jets side.