Jets' first-round pick Vernon Gholston has hardly contributed this year the way team brass was hoping when they tagged him with the sixth pick in April's NFL Draft. Boasting a build from a Gladiator movie and showing off athleticism and a size/speed ratio rarely seen, Gholston's upside was too enticing to pass up.
But after seven games Gholston has struggled terribly, amassing a mere six tackles and zero sacks.
Rather than sit idly by as his rookie season was littered with labels of "bust" and "disappointment" the former Ohio State Buckeye this week made what could be the smartest contact he'll ever make.
Gholston met with the greatest tutor a 3-4 linebacker could ever hope to have — Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor.
Taylor told FOX Sports that Gholston reached out to him through his marketing agent Mark Lepselter and actually met with Gholston on Monday — the first step in what Taylor thinks will be a long-term relationship.
"He reached out to me and I've never really had the time to do anything like this but after I met him, I really like the kid," Taylor said Sunday morning from, of course, a golf course in Florida. "He's a good kid and he wants to bust his butt and really understand this defense. After I met him I decided I'd help him."
Great and mature move by Gholston, a move that other youngsters should consider doing more in their early struggles. If there's one guy who knows the nuances of pass rushing in the 3-4 scheme, is there any better teacher than Taylor? Taylor revolutionized the outside backer rush position and is pretty much credited with the reason the sack became an official statistic after Taylor's rookie season.
Gholston will now have the luxury of learning from a 10-time Pro Bowl selection, three-time AP Defensive Player of the Year and 1986 NFL MVP. Not a bad guy for Gholston to spend his Monday with.
The two spent about an hour and a half talking football, philosophies, pass rushing and defense and his tutoring won't stop there.
"I really need to watch him on film to see what he's doing out there and I plan to do that," said Taylor, who also plans to go as far as physically working with his new protege in Florida after the season. "You can see he has all the physical tools, that's obvious. There are other things I'll help him out with."
This is the first time since Taylor retired has agreed to get so involved in the career of a young pass rusher. He was lukewarm on the idea at best, that is until he met Gholston. Once the two starting talking shop, Taylor decided to give the tutoring biz a shot this one time.
As far as how their initial lesson progressed, Taylor drove home several points but two in particular stood out.
"One of the things I told him is If you are going to mess up, mess up going full speed 100 percent," said the living legend. "We all mess up but just making sure when you do you are going all out."
Lesson No. 2?
"I told him in that scheme you need to know what everyone else around you is doing as well or even better than what you have to do," he said. "That's one thing I really tried to emphasize. When I played I knew exactly where Harry (Carson) and Carl (Banks), the linemen, the DB's — I knew what everyone was doing. When you get that down and you know where everyone around you is going to be on each play that puts you in a better position.
"If you know exactly what everyone is doing, it takes a lot of the thinking out of it and you can use your physical tools a lot better."
With Taylor now helping Jets fans can probably rest assured that their first-round pick is in good hands.
NFL Week 9
Week 9 action
Titans 19, Pack 16 (OT) -- Recap | Box
Cardinals 34, Rams 13 -- Recap | Box
Bears 27, Lions 23 -- Recap | Box
Bucs 30, Chiefs 27 (OT) -- Recap | Box
Jets 26, Bills 17 -- Recap | Box
Bengals 21, Jaguars 19 -- Recap | Box
Ravens 37, Browns 27 -- Recap | Box
Vikings 28, Texans 21 -- Recap | Box
Dolphins 26, Broncos 17 -- Recap | Box
Giants 35, Cowboys 14 -- Recap | Box
Eagles 26, Seahawks 7 -- Recap | Box
Falcons 24, Raiders 0 -- Recap | Box
Colts 18, Patriots 15 -- Recap | Box
Steelers at Redskins -- Preview | Notes
Analysis
- Bradshaw: Titans-Giants Super Bowl?
- Marvez: Giants are NFL's best team
- Glazer: Jets rookie Gholston struggling
Video
- Buck and Aikman on Cowboys-Giants
- MNF Preview: Steelers-Redskins
- Online OT: Complete NFL coverage
Photos
- Week 9's best action
- Most injury-ravaged teams
"It was interesting to see because Lawrence doesn't do this," said Lepselter, who was also present at the meeting. "Lawrence came in, sized him up and took an immediate liking to the kid. And Lawrence, you know him, he was classic. At one point Gholston asked LT how long it took him to really pick up the 3-4 his rookie year. In classic LT fashion he said, 'about two or three hours.'
"They hit it off great."
WHO YA GONNA CALL? With the recent news of several prominent NFL stars facing possible suspensions for testing positive for water pills, the process of protecting players from falling victim to the pitfalls of the supplement industry has come into focus.
Many of the players tested positive for an illegal substance that wasn't on the label and would be illegal for the manufacturer to include in their pills.
To combat this, the league strongly urges players to call a hotline number and send products in for testing. Lately, players have been complaining about the lack of effectiveness of calling the number.
So, I decided to call it myself. 1-800-N-F-L-S-U-P-P. Totally ineffective. You know why? It turns out this number is actually the number for an adult phone sex line (Note to editors: You're damn right I'm going to try to expense the rather lengthy charge I felt obligated to incur as I fished out this story). The real number is 1-866-N-F-L-S-U-P-P.
Other players complained that they have called the number and it rings and rings without someone answering. Some who have stayed on the line complain it can ring up to 15 times before it's answered.
But the true problem doesn't lie with the league or players, it lies with the FDA. There is no official regulation of these supplements and thousands if not millions could be putting things in their bodies they are unaware is in a product. Just because a product lists supposed ingredients on their labels, there's nothing that prevents them from slipping in a steroid, diuretic or placebo in the package.
It's simply not fair to our athletes and even less fair to our kids who innocently take things over the counter to help them bulk up for high school or even junior high.
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