Crossing the border
Six months ago, Larry Izzo was on the other side of this The Border War; a smiling, illegal video-watching, 3-time Super Bowl champion. Then came the news that he had decided to cross that “border” and don the green and white of the good guys. His reaction to switching sides? “It was a little surreal.”
“Obviously, when you first make the move, the first time you’re in the building it’s a little surreal, crossing over to another team in the division,’’ said Izzo, who came to the Patriots in 2001 after five seasons in Miami. “But having done it once already I was able to make a smooth transition.’’
Going to the Jets reunites Izzo with Jets special teams coordinator Mike Westhoff, who was Miami’s special teams coach when Izzo went from undrafted rookie out of Rice in 1996 to special teams sensation.
Izzo joined the Patriots with a reputation of being one of the league’s best special teams performers and cemented that during his time in New England by going to two of his three Pro Bowls. Last season, Izzo led the Patriots in special teams tackles with 14, the sixth time he led or tied for the team lead, but coach Bill Belichick didn’t show a lot of interest in his special teams captain.
Belichick has been wrong about players before, but they’re usually pretty good about getting rid of older players up there. They don’t hold on longer than they have to usually, so it’ll be interesting to see how much Izzo has left. At 33 years old, he’s definitely a risk, but like the story said, he did it last year, so hopefully there’s not a sudden fall off. However, the Jets have a lot of young linebacker depth, and Izzo is pretty much a special teams-only player at this point of his career so he’ll have to impress to keep his job.
Filed under: Links
That should be:
a smiling, illegal video-watching, PED receiving, 3-time Super Bowl champion*
…but, hey, welcome to the Jets, Larry!
Zing, Bent. Zing.
Cant help it but I am watching America’s Game….the 2001 Patriots!!
Its like car wreck TV…. I just cant turn that crap off. Seeing Mo Lewis murder Bledsoe was a great moment in my Jet fan career that quickly ended……God I hate Tom Brady!!