Much of what makes Herman Edwards such an effective football coach and leader of men is the trust he gains from his players. Edwards is anything but superficial.
Asked yesterday if he felt he gained the respect of the Jets’ players this season, Edwards didn’t hesitate before answering.
“Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, I think I have. The turning point for them was 9-11. I can remember sitting in this room with those players and we had a to make a decision. I told [the players] whatever decision they made I’d back them 100 percent.
“It was a decision that was very simple,” Edwards continued. “If the NFL said for us to play [Sept. 16] we were going to forfeit the game. I told [the players] that was right decision to make, I was proud of them for making it and I would stand behind them 100-percent.
“If I got fired for doing that, that was OK. I’d be 0-2 as a head coach.”
Vinny Testaverde took an immediate stand with the players behind him after the Sept. 11 attacks, saying he would not get on an airplane for the Jets’ scheduled Sept. 16 game in Oakland.
Fortunately, the NFL thought better of trying to play games that weekend and moved those Sept. 16 games to last weekend.
With Edwards on board with the players’ desires, he took huge strides toward winning the players over, though he’d actually done that long before, during the offseason and training camp.
“That was a decision that was bigger than football,” Edwards said. “It was a decision that some men had to make and they were willing to go 0-2. If they weren’t getting on the plane I wasn’t getting on the plane, either.
“That’s probably where they earned my trust.”