Link: Clowney Gets Encouragement from Unexpected Source
As many of you are aware, FOTJB Jane McManus is writing for JetsInsider this week and she filed her first story last night. She wrote about David Clowney and how he’s been able to keep his chin up, in large part because of one of his teammates, Leon Washington.
When David Clowney was at his lowest this season, upset that his fastest years as a wide receiver might be wasted on the bench, he talked to fellow Floridian Leon Washington about it.
“He talked to me, ‘Keep your head up keep grinding you’ll get your chance eventually, somebody gonna go down or something isn’t going to go right and they’re going to need you,’” Clowney said. “He always talked to me about things like that just to keep my head up.”
So when Clowney and Washington texted in the wake of a season-ending injury to the running back last week, even as Washington was in California recovering from surgery to set the bones in his lower leg, he had unprompted words of encouragement.
“He said he was real hype for me, real proud the way I played,” said Clowney, who sent Washington prayers and good wishes for recovery.
Amazing, while he was dealing with his own season ending injury, he was still encouraging his teammate and friend. Beyond his playing ability, this is the very reason why Leon Washington is held in such high regard by teammates, coaches and fans. Clowney had an impressive touchdown, first in a regular season game as a pro, but let’s see how
PS – You can watch a video of Raiders players mic’d up and it’s hard to listen to, but you can hear parts of audio of Leon reacting after his injury and opponent Nnamdi encouraging him as he was carried off the field.
27 Responses to Link: Clowney Gets Encouragement from Unexpected Source
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I watched Inside the NFL last night and they played the Raiders lowlights and had Nnamdi mic’ed up.
He reacted to the Leon injury on the sideline saying…WOW…thats a good player they just lost. I feel bad for him.
As the Raiders were getting smoked you could see Nnamdi was a team leader and a good guy throughout the segment.
The reason Leon is so well liked by the fans is stories like this one. Besides being one of our dynamic players he is a great teamate and suprising leader of our team
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bonebreaker says:
Clowneys deep speed is a great complement to what the Jets are trying to do; POUN THE BALL. Clowney has a chance to be a great reciever we just need to give him a chance.
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miketaliaferro says:
In theory, we have the perfect complements, now that we have Edwards.
Miami gives up 87+ yds a game on the ground vs. our 300/per recent juggernaut. So, something has to break there, one way or the other. Will great pitching stop great hitting, or will the hitting overwhelm the D?
Then, if Miami’s focus is on TJ/SG in their face, where will these young corners face? It only takes a second to make a bad read, and you’re toast in this league. With J-Co, BE and the Clown flying down the field — while keeping an eye out for a TJ/SG breakthrough — who do you cover?
On paper, we should be cool.
Parcell’s staff has been brilliant at times so far. I hope that Rex is up to the challenge of matching wits with them, and making adjustments on the fly this time. It’s time for Rexy to get his Sexy back.
This should be a great game…
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Just watched the video.
Not only is Nnamdi one of the best in the league, it seems he’s a stand-up guy, as well.
Some of his comments were brutally honest and on the money.
He can play for my team anytime…
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Brendan says:
A very underrated part of Clown’s game is his blocking. I’ve seen him throw fullback/TE style blocks in the open field. For a guy who is a smurf by NFL standards, that is awesome to see.
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Bent says: Nnamdi is indeed a really good guy.
Brendan – Great point. He had one particularly good block to clear a path at the second level for Shonn’s second TD last week and also impressed me in preseason.
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brian311 says:
Brendan – I agree. I have counted several pancake blocks by the Clown on OLBs and DBs this year. his blocking is very underrated. that should help him stay on the field, which will only help open up the deep ball for him. if he can remain on the field and lul the D to sleep, eventually he is going to get lost in deep coverage
also on Leon. what can you say, the guy is an ultimate class act. I want to keep him in green and white for a long time.
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starz31 says:
Wow, that video was disheartening. You can hear Leon in pain as he was on the ground. Not a good feeling to hear.
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norwegianjet says:
Oufff….am i the only one who got a little sick after hearing the sound of leons leg break? Really hope he recovers, such a great guy, he deserves every chance to play for a new contract.
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Jason says:
Nnamdi seems like a class act, and we all know how good he is. If only we could talk Al Davis into a really stupid trade and get him.
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EastSide says:
Don’t want to sound cynical as Nnamdi seems like the real deal in regards to classiness but anyone else think he might be trying to maintain as many bridges he can for when he punches his ticket out of the Black Hole?
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Bent says:
“Don’t want to sound cynical as Nnamdi seems like the real deal in regards to classiness but anyone else think he might be trying to maintain as many bridges he can for when he punches his ticket out of the Black Hole?”
If the Jets are one bridge he doesn’t want to burn then…wow.
He has been like that for the last few years. If that is his intention then I feel even more sorry for the guy. He probably would have been better off in the long run whining about his contract and demanding a trade.
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ED says:
Nnamdi is a class act, but even the Raiders aren’t stupid enough to let him go. Glade to hear at least someone from Oakland has his head screwed on right.
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Big Papi says:
Nnamdi Just signed a 3 yr 45million contract to stay in oakland, nobody is gong to turn down that kind of money.
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Harvlis says:
Often times, the players know who can play and who can’t. Leon knows that Clowney can help this team. It is Schotzy who has no clue. He’s a dog.
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Here we go again… Schott has given him plenty of opportunities and Clown has shown he can play, which is why he’s playing more (obviously trades and injuries opened up space in front of him as well).
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JesusRevis says:
I really love this core of young offensive players.
Sanchez – Greene – Washington – Ferguson – Mangold – Edwards – Cotchery – Clowney – Keller
This group should be here for a long time, and i’m VERY excited about it.
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supercooljetfan says:
damm you hear clear as day leon screamin ahh my leg…i never broke a bone in my body so i dont know how it feels but after hearing leons voice it must hurt bad
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Brendan,
Clowney was the star of the past two pre-seasons. He didn’t make one catch or one TD, he made lots of catches and had lots of TD’s. They have thrown to him about eight times, this season, in the first seven games. He is averaging about 19 yards per catch. Six out of his eight catches have been for first downs. You call that lot’s of opportunities. You call that playing more.
Whether a player reaches his potential, or not, is in the hands of the Coordinator. If the Coordinator realizes the player’s ability, he gives him the opportunity to perform. If he doesn’t realize the potential of the player, the player can waste away. Schotzy has done this with lots of players. It took until the seventh game for us to see the ability of Shonn Greene. He needs to go, for us to get to the next level. Sorry, if you can’t see this.
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Green Lantern says:
Nnamdi cant be that nice…I think he wants to be a Jet.
Id welcome him with open arms lol -
Bent says:
Harvlis – You may be right, but it could also be the fact that they weren’t confident in the ability of Clowney to get open (see the Bills game for evidence as to why this would limit his reps) and that Shonn is not experienced in pass protection (which is less of an issue when the other team is unable to stop the run, but what if they can?)
Clearly, Clowney did a good job getting open on Sunday, so maybe they have been working on this. On the other hand, if he had a chance to do this sooner, then maybe he would have developed sooner too. There may have been growing pains along the way though. He didn’t do badly in Miami, so maybe he was ready sooner than they thought. The suspension was obviously a setback.
At least both performed well on Sunday. This can only be a good thing. Now we will get to see how Clowney performs with both Edwards and a healthy Cotchery and taking away defensive attention from him. Shonn Greene will also benefit from that, but it’s a shame we’ll have to wait until next year to see Leon with the same combination of players.
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just watched it again leons injury def affects you more when you actually hearing him in pain goodluck leon
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on another note with edwards and cotchery on the field together again there should be no reason why clowney cant get passes thrown to him hes not gonna have as much attention j-co and b-ed are gonna get…another plus w. wright caught 2 or 3 passes last week maybe he gets in a little groove now and pick up some 1st downs for us
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Bent,
That is my point. Clowney and Greene and Keller and Washington and Ainge and Caulcrick and Woodhead all have talent. We need someone who can see it, be confident in them, and (most importantly) use them properly.
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Supercool,
Great point. You would think that, with all three of these receivers on the field, Sanchez and Shotzy could find a way to hit the open receiver. We know our running game will be there but, if we can throw a balanced offense at them, where they don’t know what is coming — we should be able to beat them at home.
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I am glad to see Clowney getting some playing time. He has been exceptional this far.