Broadway Joe Wants Answers About Jets Quarterbacks

It's been 40 years since Joe Namath delivered the greatest moment in team history, but he hasn't stopped caring about his team. The Jets' greatest quarterback has some real concerns about Kellen Clemens and Brett Ratliff's ability to step up and become the next contenders (pretenders?) to his legacy.

"I'm curious," Namath said. "How do the players feel about (Clemens)? How do the coaches feel about him? If he's not the guy, why is he still there? God damn, it's time for him to step up. The guy deserves a shot. If the team doesn't feel that way, don't B.S. everybody and keep dragging it out. It's bull. Say what you mean. Do you have confidence in Clemens or (Brett) Ratliff or not? ... It seems no one has a lick of confidence in them. If that's true, why have they been there?"

No one expects Mike Tannenbaum to tip his hand about what the team plans to do about the quarterback spot, but it is a fair question to ask why the Jets would feel confident entering next season with those two quarterbacks battling it out for the starting job. Clemens blew two shots at the job under Eric Mangini, and hasn't played in more than a year. Ratliff, for his part, has never played in a regular season game.

That inexperience is why it's impossible to believe the team won't bring in a veteran to compete for the job. That doesn't, in and of itself, mean Clemens or Ratliff can't play quarterback in the NFL. If the team also drafts a quarterback early in April's draft, though, it's probably time to stop buying long-term Clemens futures because the team will have made it clear he has no future with the Jets.