Jets Take Out Full Page Ad In KC Star Thanking Thomas Jones

and a really big and clear picture too lol

I really don’t understand this decision by the Jets at all. TJ has far less wear and tear than LDT does, and he’s coming off a career season while LDT is nearly washed up.

I mean, it won’t surprise me if Tomlinson rushes for more than Jones does next year, just because NYJ has a monster offensive line, but you can’t tell me that Jones wouldn’t have been just as good behind the same line, if not better (and cheaper too).

Obviously TJ was a great influence in NY… hopefully he can have that same effect here.

I like Thomas Jones, and I liked him even when he was a Jet. I just don’t like them taking out an ad in our paper to thank him for being so great for their organization after what they did to him (ie: cutting him, replacing him with a has-been crybaby and paying the has-been crybaby more money than Jones wanted).

Maybe we should take out an ad in the New York Times and show our appreciation. Thank you New York for not maching our offer to Thomas Jones!

I think TJ was so upset he went to the Don for some back alley justice… and the Jets got scared. They’re trying to cover their tracks now. Rex Ryan probably woke up one morning with a horse’s head in his bed.

that TJ was angry with the Jets organization for cutting him to avoid the roster bonus and didn’t want to re-sign with them. Everything I’ve read says that he’s a guy who takes great pride in the way he prepares and plays the game. My guess is that the Jets didn’t match the offer sheet out of respect for him, and also because they didn’t think he wanted to play there after what had transpired. This gesture seems to support that, possibly.

I have to agree with Jacin, though – why do it in our paper? Also, I think LT is the one who demanded $100k more so that he could keep playing out in his head that he’s still a star. I kind of feel sorry for the guy, but he’s turned himself into an aging diva. Sunset Boulevard, anyone?

Any lilja news yet?

Perplexing to say the least. And then to pick up LT? I think Armageddon is coming. The next thing I’ll see is burning pigs flying past my 9th story window.

Kansas City residents got a strange surprise on Sunday as they flipped through the pages of the local newspaper, the Star.

Contained in Sunday’s edition was a full-page ad, featuring a Jets logo in the middle of the page, beneath a photo of Thomas Jones and above the following message: “A person who embodies TOUGHNESS DEDICATION and LEADERSHIP. Thanks TJ for three great seasons.” Beneath that appeared the names Woody Johnson, Coach Rex Ryan, Mike Tannenbaum, and the New York Jets.

Asked to explain the ad by Judy Battista of the New York Times, Jets spokesman Bruce Speight said, “T. J. meant a lot to this team. We have a tremendous amount of respect for him and the way he goes about his business. We wish him the best and wanted to express our appreciation.”

Said a league source in response, “If this guy is all the things they’re saying, why didn’t they keep him?”

It’s a great question.

The source believes that if the Jets believed what they said in the ad, they would have kept Jones. The source also believes that the ad represents an effort by the Jets to defuse a potentially volatile situation.

The locker room is loyal to Jones, and players are still upset, we’re told, by the decision to dump him. The locker room also might not be thrilled about the decision to pay LaDainian Tomlinson even more money than the Chiefs paid to Jones.

“Anytime [G.M. Mike] Tannenbaum feels the heat,” the source opined, “he reacts like this. . . . Do you think Jones cares about this [ad]? How do you think he feels about the fact that the paid Tomlinson more money than Jones got in Kansas City?”

By all appearances, then, the ad is an exercise in damage control. The Jets are being criticized for letting Jones go, and we think they needed a gesture aimed at persuading Jones to not take advantage of any lingering influence he might have with his former teammates.

After all, the guy was only there for three years. And when the time came to honor the fourth and final year of his contract, they didn’t bat an eye about cutting him.

So spare us the P.R. ploys. The Jets made a bad decision by getting rid of Jones, they’ve arguably compounded it by signing Tomlinson, and the respective performances of the two players and their teams suddenly has become an interesting story line for the 2010 NFL season.

BUT a piss poor judgement call on a Man who (truthfully) worked for his ass off for that money. Only to be replaced. Man, then they take out an ad (to me, a slap in the face). A phone call or thoughts on facebook probably would’ve did nicely.