Tag: Antonio Cromartie

2015 playoff miss with the New York Jets still haunts Antonio Cromartie

Antonio Cromartie laments the Jets’ playoff miss in 2015.

Antonio Cromartie will be returning to the New York Jets as an assistant coach for training camp.

Cromartie, who had two tenures with the Jets, returns to the organization as part of the Bill Walsh internship program. Cromartie spent five of his 11 seasons in the NFL with the Jets.

The fellowship was “Designed as a vocational tool to increase the number of full-time NFL minority coaches, all 32 NFL clubs participate each year. Specific aspects of the program — including hiring, compensation and coaching duties — are administered on a club-by-club basis.”

Cromartie was  recently on staff with Texas A&M where he was a defensive assistant.

In speaking with Jake Asman, Cromartie talked about the Jets playoff drought, which extends back to 2010. Cromartie was a part of that Jets team, but his thoughts were centered on another New York team that he was also a part of that nearly made the playoffs a few years later.

“I’m still thinking about the 2015 year when we should have made it and beat Buffalo. We beat Buffalo, we’re in the playoffs. We wound up going 10-6 that year. You talking about beating Buffalo, being 11-5, back in the playoffs as a Wild Card,” Cromartie told Asman.

“Nobody probably wanted to play us. It would have had that same feeling – that 2010 feel that nobody wanted to play us at that point in time.

“We didn’t get in and it’s been 14 years, it’ll be 14 years since we’ve been. It’s at the point of how that’s going to change and what’s going to change.”

The Jets ended the 2015 season with a record of10-6 as Cromartie noted and with a brutal 22-17 loss at the Buffalo Bills. Win that game, and the Jets would have been in the playoffs.

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It was one of the most brutal losses in franchise history.

 

Antonio Cromartie joining Jets as part of Bill Walsh coaching fellow internship

Antonio Cromartie joining Jets as part of Bill Walsh coaching fellow internship

Former Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie is returning to the franchise for training camp this year as a Bill Walsh diversity coaching fellow.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity I have to do the Bill Walsh internship with the Jets for fall camp,” Cromartie wrote on Twitter/X. “Ready learn as much as I can during this time. Thank you Coach Saleh and your staff for this opportunity!!! Back to 1 Jet Dr.”

The Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship allows former NFL players and other coaches the opportunity to observe and gain coaching experience during an offseason, potentially leading to a coaching career in the NFL.

This will be Cromartie’s second time being a coaching intern for the Jets. His first time was back in 2018 under then-head coach Todd Bowles.

Cromartie played five seasons with the jets (2010-2013, 2015) and was a two-time Pro Bowl selection while in New York, earning honors in 2012 and 2013. He had 13 interceptions and 63 passes defended during his time with the Jets.

Former Chargers GM A.J. Smith dies at 75

A.J. Smith was the winningest GM in the franchise’s history with 98 wins during his tenure.

Former Chargers general manager A.J. Smith died on Sunday, according to Smith’s son, Kyle, who is the assistant GM for the Falcons.

Smith, who was 75, battled prostate cancer for the past seven years.

Smith served as the Bolts’ director of pro personnel/assistant general manager in 2001, the year they drafted Hall of Fame running back LaDainian Tomlinson and quarterback Drew Brees.

Smith was promoted to general manager in 2003, and was in that role until 2012.

While Smith was the Chargers’ GM, he selected Eli Manning first overall in the 2004 NFL draft, despite Manning saying he would not play for the team. He was traded to the Giants for Philip Rivers, who had a long successful pro career.

Other successful Chargers players Smith drafted included Shawne Merriman, Vincent Jackson, Darren Sproles, Antonio Cromartie, and Eric Weddle.

Smith went on to be the winningest GM in the franchise’s history with 98 wins during his tenure.

After being let go of, Smith worked for Washington as a consultant before retiring in 2015. His career in the league began as a scout for several teams and he spent 15 years working as an executive for the Bills.

Rutgers football: Former Pro Bowl defensive back Antonio Cromartie analyzes the film of Dahkari Gilley

Antonio Cromartie talks about Rutgers football commit Dahkari Gilley.

Dahkari Gilley has a strong skillset and has shown the ability to be a playmaker in the secondary. In early June, Gilley committed to Rutgers football on an official visit.

The three-star recruit from Florida is a member of the 2024 recruiting class. At 6-foot-2 and 190-pounds, he certainly is built for the position at the Big Ten level. A member of the class of 2024 out of University Christian (Jacksonville, FL), Gilley also held Power Five offer from Pittsburgh and Georgia Tech at the time of his commitment to Rutgers.

He also has been offered by Central Florida, USF, FAU, UMass, Liberty and Georgia Southern among others.

Former NFL cornerback Antonio Cromartie took a look at the highlight film of Gilley. Cautioning that they are only highlights, Cromartie sees some strong components to Gilley’s game.

“Plays at the line scrimmage, has good ball skills shows a willingness to tackle. Looks long and athletic,” Cromartie told Rutgers Wire of Gilley’s Hudl.

“I like him, but I would like to see actual film on him to have a better understanding of his skills. Highlights only show so much.”

Cromartie is a former first round pick out of Florida State who spent 11 seasons in the NFL. He was four times a Pro Bowl selection and once an All-Pro.

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In 2010, he helped lead the New York Jets to the AFC Championship Game.

Over the last two years, Cromartie was in the SEC as a cornerbacks coach with Texas A&M. He liked the skillset Gilley brought to the field although highlights are certainly not the best way to evaluate a player.

“He’s always around the football from his highlights,” Cromartie said.

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Former All-Pro CB says Dolphins have two of the NFL’s top 5 CBs

Two others were also in the AFC East.

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The Miami Dolphins did some work this offseason to improve their secondary, as they traded a third-round pick and tight end Hunter Long to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for cornerback Jalen Ramsey.

The acquisition pairs Ramsey with another former All-Pro in Xavien Howard, who is coming off of one of his worst seasons since entering the NFL back in 2016. However, Howard did mention that he spent 2022 dealing with multiple groin injuries which could’ve hampered his play.

Miami’s cornerback duo appears to be one of the best in the league entering the 2023 season. In fact, former All-Pro cornerback Antonio Cromartie recently listed Ramsey and Howard as two of the league’s top-five cornerbacks.

Interestingly enough, two of his other picks were Sauce Gardner and D.J. Reed of the New York Jets, meaning the AFC East would have four of his top picks at the position. That’s a lot of defensive talent on just two teams that will face each other twice a year.

If Howard and Ramsey are healthy for a full year, and coached by one of the most well-respected coordinators in the game in Vic Fangio, they should be among the NFL’s top units for 2023.

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Antonio Cromartie posits Texans CB Derek Stingley would get praise in bigger market

Former All-Pro cornerback Antonio Cromartie believes the Houston Texans’ Derek Stingley would get more attention if he were in a bigger market.

Though situated in a football state, Houston has had trouble developing as a big market in the NFL.

Whether it was the lack of having a franchise from 1997-2001 or the lack of wins beyond the wild-card round for the Houston Texans since 2002, Space City can’t stay relevant to the rest of the league unless they are winning, which has been difficult to come by since 2019.

As a result, there are some players on the Texans’ roster that get slept on, and one of them is cornerback Derek Stingley, according to former All-Pro cornerback Antonio Cromartie.

Cromartie took time after working out college defensive backs at Ollin Athletics and Sports Medicine to opine about the Texans’ former 2022 No. 3 overall pick.

“Love him, I don’t think he gets enough credit because he’s not in a bigger market,” Cromartie said via Aaron Wilson of KPRC-TV. “I think if Sting was in New York, it would be a whole different spiel. I think Stingley had a great rookie season and I think it’s going to be even better as he goes on. The kid is phenomenal.”

The former LSU product had a limited rookie season with nine games, but was nonetheless productive with 43 combined tackles, 1.0 sack, five pass breakups, and an interception.

Part of Stingley’s production is a result of his understanding and application of the game.

“Football IQ is high, and athletic ability can’t take that away from him,” Cromartie said. “I think he’s a game-changer who can do the things he needs to do on the back end and he’s going to have another good season this year.”

The Texans’ defensive scheme under new coach DeMeco Ryans is predicated upon an attacking front four that forces opposing quarterbacks into mistakes. If Stingley is racking up interceptions amid a Texans turnaround, it should help the former Bayou Bengal — no matter Houston’s market size.

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6 former Chargers among modern-era nominees for Pro Football Hall of Fame

Find out who is representing the Chargers.

Six former Chargers have made the list of 122 modern-era players eligible for the 2022 Pro Football Hall of Fame.

They are as follows:

DB Antonio Cromartie

NT Lorenzo Neal

DL Leslie O’Neal

LB Takeo Spikes

DB Rodney Harrison

DB Bob Sanders 

It will be trimmed to a list of 25 semifinalists in November and then to 15 finalists in January.

The selection committee will meet after that to select the 2022 class, which will be enshrined next August.

Ex-Jets Nick Mangold, Antonio Cromartie among 10 first-time Hall of Fame nominees

The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced the nominees for the Class of 2022, and two former Jets are among the first-time candidates.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced the nominees for the Class of 2022 on Wednesday, and two former Jets are among the 10 first-time candidates.

Nick Mangold and Antonio Cromartie are up for induction for the first time, joining a list that includes another 120 total nominees.

Mangold only played for the Jets during his 11-year career. The team drafted the center 29th overall in 2006, and he proceeded to start 164 games while earning seven Pro Bowl selections and two All-Pro nods.

An anchor on the Jets’ offensive line, Mangold did not miss a start in seven of his 11 seasons. He played fewer than 14 games just once in a season; he made eight starts during his injury-riddled final year in 2016.

Cromartie spent two stints with the Jets (2010-2013, 2015) and also played for the Chargers, Cardinals and Colts. A four-time Pro Bowler, the cornerback formed a dangerous coverage tandem with Darrell Revis in New York.

Cromartie finished his own 11-year career with 31 interceptions.

The Hall of Fame’s list of 122 Modern-Era Nominees will be narrowed down in the coming months. Mangold and Cromartie will find out if they are among 25 semifinalists in November. Fifteen finalists will be announced in January.

For now, you can see the rest of the first-time nominees below.

Chargers claim pair of players in best draft slots since 2006

The Los Angeles Chargers landed two of the best secondary defenders in the first-round, dating back to 2006.

Pro Football Focus’ Mike Renner recently did an exercise where he listed the best players selected at each slot in the first-round, dating back to the 2006 NFL draft.

The Chargers were represented by two players, one current and former.

The two that made the list were safety Derwin James, who was taken No. 17 overall in the 2018 draft. The other was cornerback Antonio Cromartie, who was selected No. 19 overall in the 2006 draft.

Here’s what Renner had to say about James:

James is quite easily the best 17th overall pick of the past 15 years … when healthy. That last part has all too unfortunately been difficult to come by in his three years. He earned an 88.3 overall grade as a rookie and an 82.3 overall grade in 2019 after returning from injury in Week 13 before tearing his ACL and missing all of 2020.

James, the versatile defender, has 139 tackles, three interceptions, 3.5 sacks and 14 passes defensed. The results show that when James is on the field then there’s a greater chance of success, as the team made the playoffs in the year that he was healthy and missed the past two when he was injured.

As for Cromartie, here is what Renner said:

Cromartie was very much an up-and-down player in his career, but his peaks with the Chargers were special. His 2007 season saw him pick off 10 passes and allow a mere 53.5% completion percentage.

Cromartie spent four of his 11 seasons with the Bolts, appearing in 64 games, accumulating 165 tackles, 15 interceptions, 42 passes defended and two fumble recoveries. He made one of his four Pro-Bowl appearance with the Chargers and was also named once as a member of the All-Pro First Team.

Ex-Jets CB Antonio Cromartie calls Drew Brees ‘coward’ & ‘stupid’ after QB’s kneeling comments

Former Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie went after Drew Brees for his comments on national anthem protests.

Former Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie let Saints quarterback Drew Brees have it on social media earlier this week.

In response to Brees’ opposition of players kneeling for the national anthem to protest social and racial injustices in the United States, which Breese described as disrespect toward the flag, Cromartie took to Twitter to air his thoughts. He did not pull any punches, calling Brees a “coward” and “stupid.”

https://twitter.com/CRO31/status/1268293054622060546

Kneeling during the national anthem is a subject that hits home for Cromartie. In 2016, he kneeled during the anthem while playing for the Indianapolis Colts and was released in the middle of the season. Cromartie has not played in the NFL since and has claimed that the Colts cut him because of the protest.

“It ain’t have nothing to do with my age, it ain’t have nothing to do with my style of play,” Cromartie said. “It was because I took a knee.”

Brees’ comments come in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derrick Chauvin, whose third-degree murder charge was upgraded to second-degree murder on Wednesday. The other three officers involved in the arrest that lead to Floyd’s death have also been charged.

Floyd’s killing has prompted protests across the United States calling for an end to police brutality against black people and minorities. It has also brought the kneeling protests started by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick back to the forefront of conversation in the NFL with the 2020 season approaching.