New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith, who is in competition with incumbent signal caller Mark Sanchez for the starting job this season, has the highest of aspirations, saying he wants to be like former NBA superstar Michael Jordan.
Such aspirations are understandable as Jordan is a six-time NBA champion, a five-time NBA Most Valuable Player, and also a known leader on the court much like Smith wants to be on the gridiron. Whether or not Smith gets a taste of championship glory remains to be seen, but for now the rookie quarterback is just excited to have a chance to start for the Jets.
"I was a big Michael Jordan fan," Smith said per the Jets official website. "Just from the things that I read and heard about him he always held his teammates to the utmost accountability. That's something I try and do."
The Jets can only hope that Smith's work ethic will resemble Jordan's and, if he wins the starting job, lead the Jets to a Super Bowl one day. Though Smith is a football player, he models his leadership and in-game habits after the basketball star and tries to do everything the right way.
"Man, I try to have a perfect practice," Smith said according to NFL.com. "I haven't had one yet, but I try to go out there and I try to be perfect in practice."
Smith was 369-for-518 in passing attempts in 2012 with West Virginia, and threw for 4,205 yards with a career-high 42 touchdowns while throwing six interceptions. He also rushed for 151 yards. Sanchez, who Smith can replace with a strong training camp and preseason, was 246-for-453 in his fourth campaign with the Jets last season and threw for 2,883 yards while amounting 13 touchdowns and throwing 18 interceptions.
The starting job for the Jets is wide open, and the 39th overall pick in the 2013 draft is hopeful to use what he learned by watching Jordan to help him beat out Sanchez.
While Smith has reportedly had some bad conditioning sessions, the rookie is hopeful that he can live up to his admirations of being like Jordan.
I'm still in the learning phase, making mistakes every day and you get into the film room and you go watch it," Smith said. "But the benchmark so far is to try and be mistake-free and (I'm) just learning as much as I can."
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