The omnipresent specter of Tom Brady somehow still hovers over the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center.
Until there is visual evidence of Brady requiring the use of a cane, or until Gisele convinces him to retire, Sam Darnold won’t be able to topple Brady by his lonesome in the never-ending “Game of Thrones” drama that has tormented the Jets and their fans since Quinnen Williams was 4 years old.
“It’s crazy, because Tom Brady started playing in the NFL before I was born,” Williams said, and laughter filled the Jets press room.
Brady was a sophomore at Michigan when the Jets’ first-round draft choice was born, but it sure seems like an eternity to the Jets as well.
Darnold was the most important part of the latest plan to dethrone Brady and Bill Belichick, because without a franchise quarterback, fuggedaboutit.
The next stage was pairing him with Adam Gase, an offensive guru head coach who can help him take the next big step.
Next came Le’Veon Bell, an elite runner and safety valve out of the backfield, followed by Jamison Crowder, a nifty, crafty slot receiver.
And next getting free agent middle linebacker C.J. Mosley, a quarterback for new defensive coordinator Gregg Williams’ rabid defense.
Finally, drafting Williams and Jachai Polite to make Brady think twice about playing until he is 45.
Williams is a 300-pound toy who can provide the interior pressure that has often been Brady’s kryptonite. Ask Justin Tuck about that.
“I just know I’m a dominant player,” Williams said, “and I just bring another tool and an aspect onto the whole defense. I can rush the passer, I can stop the run, and just another great player to add on to a great defense who are great players.”
This is May, a time when it was far too early for the Jets to realize Vernon Gholston was more Lawrence Welk than Lawrence Taylor. No one thinks Williams, the third-overall pick and arguably the best player in the draft, will bust.
“I’m not the normal defensive nose guard,” Williams said.
He is, however, the most giddy.
“I met Le’Veon Bell yesterday,” Williams gushed Friday. “I’m like, ‘Whoa, that’s Le’Veon Bell, the number one running back in the NFL.’ It’s just crazy. … I met Sam Darnold, that’s crazy. I’ve got Jamal Adams on my ultimate team [in the Madden video game]. It’s crazy.”
Gregg Williams can line him up anywhere and everywhere. Quinnen Williams has already started picking the brain of veteran defensive tackle Steve McLendon.
“I want to play 10, 11 years also,” Williams said.
Polite, much more low-key, will be dangerous if he can sack his immaturity issues.
“I’m surrounded by great people, so I have no choice but to change and be great,” Polite said.
He is a natural 245-pound pass rusher who can bring heat off the edge.
“I feel like it’s my speed and flexibility, like bending around the corner,” said Polite, who said he admired Dwight Freeney.
“I liked the spin move a lot,” Polite said.
How’s your spin move?
“It’s not like his yet. It’s gonna get there,” he replied.
Polite’s post-draft goal is to retire his mother, Katrina Simmons, who is a supervisor of housekeepers at a Daytona Beach hotel and a hairdresser.
“She’s been crying ever since and then I left yesterday, so she really was crying,” Polite said Friday. “I’m just trying to take care of her, do my job and be the best Jet I can be so I can take care of her.”
Asked which quarterback he would love to sack, Polite said: “The first one we play, hopefully.”
Brady after that.