The New York Jets and the Media Double Standard Will Never Go Away

Jun 26, 2013; North Attleborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots former tight end Aaron Hernandez (left) stands with his attorney Michael Fee as he is arraigned in Attleboro District Court. Hernandez is charged with first degree murder in the death of Odin Lloyd. Mandatory Credit: The Sun Chronicle/Pool Photo via USA TODAY Sports

A tweet from our friend Jake Steinberg got me thinking about the subject of this post. Take a look at what he had to say yesterday:

If a #Jet got arrested for carrying a knife at an airport, media would label it Rex’s fault and part of the circus. #Truth

— Jake Steinberg (@Steiny31) July 9, 2013

This got me thinking about the recent events around the league, and reminded me of the double standard that will never go away. It reminded me that Jake is absolutely right here.

First of all, apparently there was an incident with a member of the New York Giants. LB Dan Connor was arrested trying to bring a knife into the airport in Philadelphia.  Now, this is a player from the New York Giants getting arrested.  You would think there would be more media coverage, right?

No.  I didn’t even know about the incident before Jake mentioned it in an earlier tweet.  This has fallen by the radar and unless you are looking for it, you had no idea.  Why?  Because nobody writes bad press about the Giants.  Tom Coughlin and company run a “tight ship”, and the media never wants to rock that boat.

What would have happened here if Dan Connor was a member of the New York Jets?  The “circus” would be back in the news, that’s what.  We would hear chapter and verse on how the Jets can’t control the members of their own organization, how Rex is in charge of the frat house, and the Jets can’t do anything right.  We would hear that the more things change, the more things stay the same.

But not the Giants.  If it happens to a member of the Giants, that is swept under the rug.  That’s the double standard.

And then you have the Aaron Hernandez story.  That is one that is well documented, I am not going to rehash it for you.  But I am going to make my point.  Have you all been following this?  Immediately after he was arrested, we heard stories about Hernandez’s day by day schedule in jail.  We learned how he is learning to adjust to life in prison.  Then, we find out how the team and the organization was tricked by Hernandez.

What?

The press has given us all this information about how the Patriots were tricked.  This bad thing had to happen to such a great organization.  Imagine if this happened to the Jets?  The “circus” talk would return, and it would never go away.  The Jets would be equated with Pi Alpha Idiot basically.  It would never be dropped, that’s my point.

But with the Patriots, they were tricked.  All of a sudden, we are supposed to care how this thug is managing in jail.  We are supposed to care that the organization was tricked.  Nobody criticizes the Pats for choosing this guy in the first place.

It would happen to us.  We would get slammed for this, and that is why there is a double standard, and it will never go away.