Why does management hate Kellen Clemens?

What did Kellen Clemens do that was so bad that the Jets constantly go out of their way to make certain that he does not play?

It begs the question, if what he did was that bad, why is he still on the team? Are they punishing him by banishing him to the bench?

Did Clemens rape a member of the Johnson family or something? By the lengths they are taking to keep him OFF the field you might think so. (Ok, maybe not rape, but possibly a gentle molestation.)

Clemens' base salary this year is $535,000 ($937,500) if you include his prorated 1.6 million dollar signing bonus he got with his July 28, 2006 contract. His 1.6 million was spread over 4 years in addition to his salary of $275,000 (2006), $360,000 (2007), $445,000 (2008) and $535,000 (2009).

Clemens was the Jets 2nd round pick in 2006, the 49th player picked in the draft. He had a pretty decent career at Oregon. If he was at a college that gets more PR he would have been a pretty high profile guy.

When Chad Pennington got hurt in 2007 Clemens started 8 games. The Jets went 3-5 under Clemens and he was serviceable. Nothing that would catapult him into being THE GUY but no worse that many QB's have in their 1st 8 games. In fact, batter than many who became great QB's.

He lost out to Pennington in 2006, he lost out to Pennington again in 2007, he lost out to Brett Favre in 2008 (not much of a fair fight there, but he was about to lose out to Pennington again anyway), and he lost out to 1st Round pick rookie Mark Sanchez in 2009.

Yesterday, the NY Jets rookie QB Mark Sanchez in his 6th professional career game (he only played 16 college games) faded back to pass 29 times and connected on 15 of them. 10 times the ball went the Jets, 5 times it went to the Bills, and the other 19 times the ball hit the ground with no one catching hit (which I guess should be considered a positive compared to the 5 interceptions.)

I don't care who you are. You could be Joseph Willie Namath. You could be Peyton Manning, a rookie, a veteran it doesn't matter. At some point, after 3 interceptions, 4 interceptions, 5 interceptions, ....... there has to be a unanimous consensus between the 80,000 people in the stands, the millions watching on TV, the offensive coordinator, the head coach, the team owner, the QB's mother an anyone who is even heard second hand what is going on that it's not your day and you have to come out of the game and the back-up has to go it.

After Sanchez threw 4 interceptions did they think that Clemens would throw 2 more and Sanchez would only throw 1 more so the lesser of two evils was to leave Sanchez in? If you didn't put the back-up guy in on a day like yesterday, exactly when would you do it? The Jets would have received a $535,000 Salary Cap Savings if they just cut him this year. Instead, they have a kid QB that desperately needs to sit, relax, watch and learn for a bit and a back-up who apparently, the coach can't or won't play.

A buddy of mine in our office has Rex Ryan's cell phone number. He left the following message during 4th quarter of the game.

"Rex, you are paying the guy $937,500 this year! He's standing there with a baseball cap on freezing his ass off! Put him in the game and let's see what he can do, the other guy doesn't have it today! It doesn't mean that you are calling him the starter. It doesn't mean that you are creating a QB controversy; you have to try to win the game!"

Whatever Clemens did must have been really bad....... - Keith A. Baker

Keith A. Baker is a sports agent in Stamford, Connecticut. His goal is to offer a unique insight to the world of sports. Comments in his columns are for entertainment purposes only and do not reflect the views and opinions of his firm or his client.

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An open letter to Jerry from Portland

Jerry,

By now most of the college football world has heard of Chip Kelly's check-writing ways. I had only heard about the story in passing until your email came through and I was able to delve deeper into the story. For anybody who doesn't know, Tony Seminary, an Oregon alum and season ticket holder who attended Oregon's disastrous opener in Boise, apparently felt so disappointed and let down by his Ducks that he sent Coach Kelly an email with an invoice for his trip. The invoice, which was sent in jest according to its source, included the cost of the game tickets, airplane tickets and his meals. Coach Kelly responded with a $439 check to cover the cost of Seminary's trip, which Seminary returned to Kelly with a thank you note attached.

For some reason, and I don't know why, the first thing that popped into my head after reading the story was an episode of Seinfeld…

Specifically the episode titled 'The Opera' from the fourth season. There's a scene in the episode where Jerry and another man argue over whose quarter is lying on the ground. The argument progresses to the point that both men ask each other, "you think I care about money?" and proceed to rip up dollar bills, throwing the remnants on the ground.

Of course, I highly doubt that Chip Kelly was trying to prove a point about money, but wouldn't it be funny if he were doing it for spite (another Seinfeld reference)? Coach Kelly had to have been in a sour mood following the game in Boise, and reading an email from a fan demanding his money back couldn't have done much to help turn his frown upside down. What if he was so bothered by the email that he let himself get heated to the point that he busted out the old checkbook and scribbled a reimbursement check for the unhappy alum? Take that!

No way that's what happened, though. A more accurate description of what actually went down may be that Coach Kelly agreed with Seminary. The Ducks had played poorly in the opener, managing to put up only eight points, as the post-game actions of one frustrated player sent the Ducks spiraling even further. Kelly had to have been embarrassed by his team.

Seminary said that he only sent the email to a few friends. But his friends forwarded it to hundreds of others. From there, it made its way into the hands of the media, who reported the story. Coach Kelly had to have known that sending a refund check to a disgruntled fan would make the news. Perhaps that was his intent. It sure shows Oregon fans that he agrees with their assessment of his team's performance in the opener against Boise State. It might even reassure some fans that Kelly has the team's best interests at heart.

Whatever his intentions, Coach Kelly's actions sent a message to Oregon fans: He understands their frustration. And that's a good thing. He knows that the Ducks' performance was unacceptable, and that the actions of LeGarrette Blount, who did apologize, were intolerable. Not many other coaches, if any at all, would even look at the email. It shows that Coach Kelly has his heart in the right place.

But hey, that's just what I took from it.- Danny Hobrock

Danny Hobrock is a sports journalist who primarily covers college football and professional baseball. He is a contributor for several sports related blogs and is the former editor of a political and current events website.

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