Most Jets thing ever: Pierre Desir, Jets' Man of the Year nominee, isn't on the team anymore
If you were trying to figure out what could happen on a given day that’s the most New York Jets thing ever, look no further. You’ve found it.
The NFL announced the 32 nominees for the annual Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award on Thursday, which recognizes a player for his "outstanding community service activities off the field, as well as excellence on it." There’s one nominee from each team, and cornerback Pierre Desir is the Jets’ nominee.
Here’s the thing: the Jets released Desir on Nov. 17.
Yes, the player the Jets nominated for the NFL’s highest honor is no longer on the team.
Desir was nominated for “his tremendous work in the anti-bullying space,” a Jets spokesperson told the New York Post. He signed a one-year contract with the team in March, and ended up playing nine games. He has since signed with the Baltimore Ravens, and was promoted to their active roster on Tuesday. Twenty-three days and three games after he was released, Desir still leads the Jets in interceptions with three.
Something like this isn’t unheard of. Players move between teams all the time, so occasionally it happens that a player nominated for a prestigious award has left the team that nominated him. The Jets aren’t the first or only team to experience this. But it’s par for the course for a team that can’t even be categorized as simply “bad” anymore. The Jets have ascended (or maybe descended) to a level of clown-show hilarity that you can barely believe is real. Releasing their nominee for one of the NFL’s most prestigious awards is exactly what you’d expect from the 2020 Jets.
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