Chrebet Retires

Wayne Chrebet retired officially from the New York Jets the other day, and he must have been one of the most popular Jets ever.

The story is pretty well known but here it goes again: a 5'10", WR with small size from Hofstra University walks on to the New York Jets training camp and eventually makes it to the team and has a pretty major role over 11 years.

The New York Jets website has a nice video interview with Chrebet on the front page and they did a nice news article with a ton of quotes from teammates, coaches and opposing coaches (including Edwards, Parcells, Belichick, Crennel, Mangini, Coughlin). Pennington, Coles and Martin also had nice things to say, with Martin's quote getting picked up in the AP story:

“He inspired me every day. I loved the way he played and how he never backed down from anything. He was an incredible teammate. He was a warrior; and I always felt you’d have to kill him to get the upper hand on him. If every player in the NFL had as much heart and desire as he had, football would be illegal.”

In general, I don't find much emotion in sports stories but this one I think is particularly touching. What a great career, and just a beloved player. I wonder if his #80 will ever get retired, a rarity in football since you need just about every number you can get.

Tags: Chrebet, football, Jets, NFL