The other week I received my most recent issue of Jets Confidential, a day which I look forward to, and when I get it, I admit I jump right into the “Media Whispers” section.
In the most recent issue, Dan Leberfeld writes about a number of interesting pieces, but this one stuck out to me. James Dearth, the team’s very steady long-snapper, who’s basically never been questioned about his ability by either of his previous coaches, came under some more close scrutiny this past season from Rex Ryan. It was a shock to me to hear the coach place blame on the team’s long-snapper, who’s been so rock-steady since 2001.
Leberfeld explains
Not to make excuses for him, but if you knew about his family situation, you could understand why he was a little distracted. We reached out to a writer who is very close to Dearth to get a feel for what was going on in the life of the Texan.
“Dearth went through a whole bunch of stuff with the family, including his mother suddenly passing away,” the reporter said. “His dad has been really sick for a while, and his mom’s health deteriorated quickly because of the stress. So he was worried about them, and then she died. So Dearth had his dad flown up to N.J. to stay with him and it just didn’t work out. His father is back in Texas and getting cared for there. He told me it was a lot to handle, mentally.”
And this was all going on during the season …
We’re sorry to hear that for the Dearths and wish them our heartfelt condolences.
The New York Times had an article about this story that I missed during the season. Here’s a quote from Westhoff about Dearth from November.
“If you want to talk about a team player, he should have his picture next to that phrase in some book,” Westhoff said. “I’ve coached for 30 years, and rarely do you find someone who gets the absolute maximum out of what he has every single day. If anyone has the perseverance to pull through tough times, believe me, it’s James Dearth.”
The team player won the team’s Kyle Clifton “Good Guy” Award for 2009, and while he’s a free agent right now, you can see why he might have had a shaky 2009. I do hope that the Jets bring him back, and if he does come back, I hope he can revert to his normal form.
But for those of you who love to get little nuggets like this, we really can’t recommend the work that Leberfeld does via Scout.com and his publication, Jets Confidential enough. There’s a lot of little bits and bites like this.
Dearth is definately one of the unsung heroes for the Jets… and have been so for the last decade. Hope to see him back for 2010 season.
Well, its certainly understandable why Dearth’s performance would falter given the circumstances. However, its the coaches’ responsibility to all out flagging performances no matter what the cause.
I’m surprised given all this he didn’t hike the ball to the opposing team several times as well. My condolences to Mr. Dearth and best wishes for helping his father while keeping himself intact.
He’s a good guy and has been so reliable over the last several years that any mistakes he made last year can be easily forgiven, especially in light of his tough year personally.
Having said that, not bringing him back (and using Tanner Purdum instead) saves them over half a million dollars and also enables them to sign a UFA, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the cost-benefit analysis leads to him not returning.
Good stuff, thanks…..and Yes my condolences to the Dearth family.
Good guy and should remain a Jet. Sounds like a very rough 2009 for him. really hoping for a bounce back year which means we never hear his name anymore.
As to Jets Confidential. I used to wait like a dummy for this especially during draft time. But with twitter, FB, TJB, and every other outlet to get info the excitement for this died about 5 years ago…… but when I was younger this was a staple
Plus I have come to dislike Leberfeld for the most part.
Love Dearth, sorry to hear about his personal struggles. It’s a credit to him that his a known quantity for the quality of his play. You usually only know a LS’s name when he’s a goat (Trey Junkin, anyone?).
As for Leberfeld, while the occasional golden nugget slipped through, I had to cancel my subscription due to the poor quality of the writing. He may get some good info, but he shouldn’t be writing about it.
Bring him back .. not sure if I remember a bad snap ?
James has helped our Special Teams remain solid for many years. Nothing is tougher than losing a loved one. He has been through the hard times with the Jets, I hope the team sticks with him and gives him the opportunity to prove that he should be with us for the Super Bowl years.
Sucks when an otherwise solid performer struggles due to personal tragedy…
The NFL is a performance business but Dearth has earned the right to come back and at least show Rex and Westy that he can still be the same old reliable James Dearth
Look dearth may be able to sling a football between his legs and all but if it means we can sign a fs like sharper or maybe retain feely , or even sign a ufa go for it, I’m sure if nothing else mangold knows how to snap! Since I’m typing this throw woody Johnson a line and tell him that to solve the coin toss debacle the jets vs giants Sunday sept 12th
bent
keeping it real…after all its a business…i wouldnt be surprised if the jets didnt bring him back…its reality… no1 cares about his personal problems when it comes down to big money…again,its a business…just my thoughts…
I have to agree with AKA….Drew, Leberfields got a really unpolished writing style and has a bit of a Napoleon complex when it comes to the more established writers with the big Daily’s. Since this site got rolling the only thing i use the JC for is cleaning up after my dog.