On the eve of the Jets-Patriots game virtually all of the media and print coverage seems to be focused on one thing. The talk. That is the talk on the part of Jets players such as Kerry Rhodes and Kris Jenkins who are following the lead of their talkative leader, Coach Rex Ryan.

Coach Ryan started the talk less than 30 seconds into his initial press conference in stating that he expected his team to be meeting the President of the United States within the next couple of years. Since then he has made widely publicized comments regarding his lack of fear of the New England Patriots, and in particular Coach Bill Belichick.

Ryan actually had the audacity to state out loud, and publicly, that he “never came here to kiss Bill Belichick’s rings.”

Kerry Rhodes has finally achieved national notoriety, but not for his play. Rhodes had the unmitigated gall to state that as part of the goal for this Sunday’s game, in front of the home fans, “You go out from the first quarter on, from the first play on, and try to embarrass them, Not just go out there and try to win, try to embarrass them.” Rhodes went on to say, “We want to send a message to them, ‘We’re not backing down from you and we expect to win this game, and it’s not going to be luck, it’s not going to be a mistake’”.

Kris Jenkins made headlines by stating that the Jets are going to play this game like it’s the Super Bowl.

The Patriots, it has been said, are approaching this game in a more “professional” manner. They are going about their preparation in their typical workmanlike way. Belichick has responded by not directly responding. Tom Brady has only been heard to say that “talk is cheap”

The talk and non-talk has made for great hype of an important division rivalry game that doesn’t really need any hype. It has provided talk radio hosts with a dream topic of conversation. It undoubtedly will be debated on all of the Sunday pregame shows.

Have the Jets gone too far? Are they over their heads in talking about themselves so confidently? Have they made the mighty Patriots so angry that they might want to show up on Sunday and….well…embarrass the Jets?

Does any of this sound familiar to long time Jets fans? Does anything specific in their history come to mind as the current debate on their comments rages on?

The truth is the Jets were really the first team to make “trash talk” history. Ok, maybe the team as a whole didn’t participate, but Joe Namath’s “guarantee” against the mighty Baltimore Colts before Super Bowl III is now a revered part of football and sports lore.

Namath knew how good his team was. Namath had confidence in each of his teammates, both on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Namath knew exactly how his team was capable of performing on the field and he simply stated the truth as he saw and believed it.

Of course he was aware of the fact that the Colts were a team both he and the Jets were supposed to fear. During the weeks leading up to Super Bowl III the Colts didn’t respond, they simply went about their preparation in a workmanlike manner. Some would say a more professional manner. Surely they were aware of what Namath had predicted and the “experts” were sure this would only make them more angry. Namath would be lucky to survive the game in one piece.

The rest is now well documented history and Namath and the Jets, to this day, are credited with playing a significant role in helping to create the NFL of today.

So, in listening to the current Jets players and coaches speak so confidently about their own team, it’s abilities and its goals, they are, in fact returning the team to its heritage and the thing that put them on the map as a football team.

Rex Ryan doesn’t want to kiss Belichick’s rings. Isn’t that what any fan of a team opposing the Patriots would want of their coach? Ryan said it out loud because that is what he believes, and in doing so he has immediately established himself as the confident leader the Jets have been searching for since Bill Parcells resigned and Belichick quit on them. In fact, Ryan’s statement seems to have pushed the buttons of his players in a very Parcells-like way.

Rhodes states that the goal is to not only win, but to try to embarrass the Patriots. To send a message that his team is the real thing and a force to be dealt with the entire season. Isn’t this the goal of every team in the NFL each week regardless of who they are playing?

Rhodes stated the team goal, not just for this week but for all 16 games. Now he and his teammates have to go out and achieve that goal.

Some would argue that he has set himself up to be picked on and tormented by Tom Brady and company. Perhaps, but one would think that if Rhodes were going to be picked on, the legendary coach and quarterback of the Patriots would have had that plan in place without the comments being made.

Kris Jenkins says the team is playing this game as if it were the Super Bowl. Isn’t that how every fan wants the team they are rooting for to approach all 16 games? How many times over the years (remember last year’s game against the Raiders) have the Jets come out for a game inexplicably flat? Each game should be played with the intensity of the Super Bowl. That is what makes winning teams.

In the end it is true that pure talk will not win any games for the Jets. However, as long as the player or coach truly believes in what he is saying and is confident the team is focused, intense and motivated enough to back it up, then talk as long as it works.

Remember, Namath was confident. The Colts came into the game angry and determined to make him eat his words. The rest is history.