Tag: Antonio Cromartie

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.”

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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.

Darrelle Revis asks Roger Goodell to apologize to NFL players who kneeled

Darrelle Revis wants Roger Goodell and the NFL to make amends for the treatment of players who knelt for the national anthem since 2016.

As more and more NFL players speak up against racial injustice in America and the fight against police brutality, the subject of kneeling during the national anthem has resurfaced. 

Saints quarterback Drew Brees recently said in a Yahoo Finance interview he would “never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag,” referencing players who have been kneeling since 2016. Those comments created a cacophony of criticism. Players from around the league called out Brees for his misrepresentation of the social and racial injustice protests and he’s since apologized, but now many are looking for the NFL to take a definitive stance.

Former Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis went so far as to ask NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to publically apologize to every player who protested police brutality by kneeling and change policies that keep players from speaking out about issues they are passionate about.

The public apology would be a nice gesture for all the players that endured incredible backlash and loss of money for kneeling since Colin Kaepernick started the movement in 2016. Kaepernick remains unsigned to this day, safety Eric Reid almost went unsigned after kneeling with Kaepernick and is currently a free agent, linebacker Brandon Marshall lost an endorsement for kneeling and cornerback Antonio Cromartie said the Colts cut him for kneeling. 

That loss of revenue for players is exactly why Revis wants the NFL to change its policies surrounding activism. The number of players who knelt during the national anthem dropped to only three players in 2019 – Panthers safety Eric Reid, Texans wide receiver Kenny Stills and Dolphins wide receiver Albert Wilson – likely because others worried for their financial future. 

The NFL has taken minute steps toward remedying these problems. The league recently committed $20 million to its Inspire Change Initiative as a means to support the movement against racial injustice and Goodell released a video on Friday formally condemning racism and the systematic oppression of black people and even admitted the league was wrong for not listening to players earlier. He added that he would “encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest” and said he planned on reaching out to players “who have raised their voices” to learn how to help.

Though not explicitly the apology Revis requested, Goodell’s video was a response to the emotional video released by several high-profile players,  including current Jets safety Jamal Adams, that called for the NFL to take action against racial injustice.

Though Revis never knelt for the anthem, he and many other NFL players see the need for player activism. Sports stars across the world have spoken out and protested with many other Americans in a public, personal forum.

What Goodell and the NFL did is a good start, but there is still a long way to go before these issues – both in the league and the world – are solved.

Bart Scott thought of life after football when he signed with Jets

Former Jets linebacker joined Jets partly because he wanted to have an easily transition to his life after football.

It came as somewhat of a shock when Bart Scott signed with the Jets over his former team, the Ravens, in 2009. Scott had his reasons, though.

After taking a team-friendly deal to stay with the Ravens in 2006, Scott finally wanted to cash in during free agency. The Jets offered him a six-year deal worth $48 million, as did the Ravens. However, with Scott’s former defensive coordinator, Rex Ryan, becoming the Jets head coach, the linebacker gave New York serious consideration. That made him realize that the big city could help him once his playing days were over.

Scott took advantage of being in the biggest media market in the world following his 11-year NFL career. He was with CBS Sports for five years before joining ESPN Radio New York. He currently has a show with Alan Hahn.

“You think it’s a coincidence that half the [ex-players] in media are from New York? It’s not an accident,” Scott told ESPN. “It helped brand me on the big stage. ‘OK, we’ll take the loudmouth’ because we had success. We didn’t call ourselves the Dream Team and get our asses kicked. People might say we talked s—, but guess what — we were damn fun to watch.”

The first two years of Scott’s Jets career were some of the best moments in team history. New York made the AFC Championship game in back-to-back years in 2009 and 2010. Scott was part of one of the best defenses of all-time, playing alongside Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie in their primes.

Scott took a chance coming to New York. Despite not winning a Super Bowl with the Jets, it’s fair to say he’s doing well in his life after football.

Antonio Cromartie calls for Adam Gase’s job, wants Jets to hire Eric Bieniemy

Antonio Cromartie wants the Jets to fire Adam Gase and hire Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy.

Add Antonio Cromartie to the list of people who don’t believe Adam Gase is the right man to lead the Jets.

The cornerback spoke to TMZ about his feelings toward Gase, and he didn’t exactly give a ringing endorsement. One of the main reasons Cromartie doesn’t like Gase is because of the way he uses and treats running back Le’Veon Bell.

“We don’t give our running back the ball in the second half of a game,” Cromartie said. “It just shows you that you’re trying to say that you don’t need him.”

Gase was reportedly against paying a 27-year-old running back, Bell, a lucrative contract, but former general manager Mike Maccagnan did it anyway. Bell received a four-year, $52.5 million deal from the Jets, but his usage was limited in 2019 and he had one of the worst years of his career.

During the season, Gase seemed to avoid handing the ball off to Bell in the second half of games. He claimed it was because of the game flow, but there were plenty of times when the Jets could have used him. Meanwhile, in the one game Bell missed due to an illness, Gase made it a point to run the football with Bilal Powell and Ty Montgomery.

If Cromartie had his way, he would have fired Gase after the season, despite him leading the team to a 7-9 record after a 1-7 start. As for who Cromartie would replace him with, he would go straight to Andy Reid’s staff and hire his offensive coordinator.

“I would go get Eric Bieniemy,” Cromartie said.

Bieniemy did interview for the Jets job after the 2018 season, but New York elected to go with Gase instead. He interviewed for a handful of openings this offseason but didn’t get hired.

To the dislike of Cromartie, Gase will be the Jets’ head coach in 2020. Christopher Johnson guaranteed him another year during the middle of last season. Whether Cromartie likes it or not, Gase isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.