ESPN Radio: Reggie Jackson, Joe Namath Discuss the Jets and Smack Talk

Baseball great Reggie Jackson and former Super Bowl winning quarterback Joe Namath go on ESPN Radio to talk about the Jets and Patriots. It's quite an interesting listen, if you have a half hour of time, to hear some former athletes talk about this match-up. Here are some notes:

Reggie Jackson doesn't know much about football players, but he seems like a football fan and it's interesting to hear him speak so passionately. He thinks Antonio Cromartie needs to stop talking until he wins something and that he should follow Darrelle Revis' lead and do the talking on the field.

Jackson thinks the Jets are spending too much time talking about the Patriots and wasting precious preparation time. "Only the wannabes try and make predictions."

Jackson appreciates Ray Lewis, of the Ravens, and how he talks about his own team and how well his own team is going to do, instead of talking about the other team.

Jackson doesn't think Tom Brady will focus on attacking Cromartie, but will instead attack the holes on the Jets defense. He loves the Patriots attitude of "coming to play."

 Joe Namath's thoughts:
Mark Sanchez came out with too much energy, in his opinion, but Namath's not worried about his play.
When asked if the Jets can look at Week 2 footage for how to stop the Patriots, Namath says,

The personnel hasn't changed too dramatically since Week 2 for New England. I mean they have changes on the offensive line with the return of Mankins to the offensive line, since he brings the unit together. There's also a lot of talk about the youth of the Patriots, but the Jets have grown up too since Week 2!

And then Namath says that he believes the Jets have greatly improved since Week 13. No mention of the Moss trade, etc.

He believes Tom Brady went too far when he said he "hates" the Jets because he doesn't like the word "hate." Antonio Cromartie's words, however, were a result of media pressure.

He also thinks that the Jets talk has been a distraction for the Patriots because it takes away the Patriots' focus. "Rex did a good job of distracting the Patriots, and Cromartie did too."

Thoughts on Sanchez: "Mark Sanchez has done beautifully, but he just doesn't have the number of reps against quality playoff defenses...a lot of us only think Sanchez is going to get a lot better."

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Ian O'Connor follows up and says that Brady's going to come out with his guns blazing and will torch the Jets defense because the fighting words will further pump up Brady. He says that Brady's the kind of guy that will take the smallest insult, blow it out of proportion and use it against the opposing team.

He also thinks that the Jets have blown any chance of the Patriots overlooking them.

Seems like the Jets have lost their swagger.