Alosi Tactics Bring Up More Questions

Sal Alosi made a mistake and not really a big one.  At least those are the words of Palm Beach Post columnist Brian Biggane.  Keep that in mind, they are not MY WORDS!  I felt that after the incident occurred the NFL and the NY Jets should immediately terminate the teams strength and conditioning coach.  But Biggane apparently felt that he has already had too much face time and frankly the issue needed to die.  He had his 15 minutes of fame, Biggane said before saying this.

"“we all make mistakes, and unless they are really big ones – which this one isn’t – there should be room for forgiveness” – Brian Biggane"

Not a big one?  Interesting considering that something like this could have easily ended the career of a player.

Apparently though this entire ordeal isn’t over yet.  Well, maybe it is now.  According to league reports Alosi has been placed on “indefinite suspension” and could possibly be terminated after he admitted to ordering players to stand foot to foot to form a wall on the sideline in an attempt to block the Miami Dolphins gunner, in this case Nolan Carroll.  Gunners are often pushed out of bounds on punts so the wall was used as an impediment.

So are you telling me that Alosi came up with this idea all on his own?  (take the poll on page 2)

The real issue here is how a strength and conditioning coach came up with such a well designed plan that had it not been for his own stupidity would have not been caught.  I find it hard to believe that this “muscle” coach came up with this wall all on his own.  Both Mike Westhoff the Jets special teams coach and HC Rex Ryan vehemently deny any knowledge of the tactic.

Earlier this week former Dolphins LB Zach Thomas spoke about this on a local Miami radio show when he pointed out that the 6 individuals would have to be ordered to stand there as it was so out of the ordinary.  Thomas was right and as of right now, it’s Alosi who is at the center of the issue.  Which again brings up the question, did Alosi call this on his own or was he too ordered to do it?  If so, are the Jets coaches and ownership working hard to keep this quiet by allowing Alosi to be a team player and shut his mouth?

They are legitimate questions that should be asked regardless of whether anyone will ever know the truth.  The reality is that the entire Jets team has become something unusual since the arrival of Rex Ryan.  As Karlos Dansby pointed out, it starts at the top.

Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum is definitely none to thrilled but has yet to fire the man…which also begs the same question.  IF he did in fact order the wall and did in fact trip Carroll, then why does he still have a job?

"“All options are certainly on the table,” General Manager Mike Tannenbaum told reporters in regards to the possibility of Alosi being fired."

He said coach Rex Ryan and special-teams coach Mike Westhoff  were not aware of the tactic and said the Jets extended Alosi’s suspension because he was not “forthcoming about his instructions to the inactive players.”

"“It was really for the totality of the situation – the unsportsmanlike act of what happened, and the fact that we didn’t have all the information on Monday,” Tannenbaum said. “Over the course of the next couple of days, more information came out, and that really doesn’t sit well with us.”"

So why extend his suspension?  Why not simply fire him?  Alosi has been suspended for the remainder of the season and the playoffs without pay, so changing that to indefinite means he won’t return until sometime after the season…if at all.  Why wait?  Well, maybe the conspiracy theorists are right on this one.  Maybe they are trying to figure out how much it will cost to keep him quiet about what really happened on the sideline.

What do you think?