Sometimes it just takes a glimpse into another world in order to appreciate your own. Picture going on vacation only to have it make you miss home, or having your family leave you alone for a spell in order to miss their presence.
In the National Football League, it might do some good for everyone—especially Kansas City Chiefs fans—to just take a few seconds and look over at the New York Giants for a hot second.
The Giants' handling of Daniel Jones' midseason farewell underscores the chaos of their franchise.
On Thursday, Giants quarterback Daniel Jones took to the podium in a pre-arranged set-up with the media in order to read a statement. In it, Jones basically said goodbye to everyone in the "first-class organization"—including the fans, his fellow teammates, the coaching staff, the front office, etc.—with a stated appreciation of his time with the franchise.
A statement today after practice from Daniel Jones: pic.twitter.com/zrCye16cJy
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 21, 2024
If you're scratching your head at this, you should be. First, that's because there are seven games left in the season. Even if a player is benched, you don't see a player saying goodbye midseason only to sit on the sidelines for that same team going forward—starting quarterback or not.
The whole thing also feels awkward. Did Jones want to read this and have his moment? Did the Giants set him up to read the statement like this? He apologizes for not earning enough wins and yet the Giants are choosing to trot Tommy Devito out there for home crowds to pay ridiculous prices to come and watch in the snow for the rest of the season.
As if the franchise's abysmal track record in recent years wasn't enough proof, the shenanigans behind this entire episode should serve as the evidence needed to strip anyone and everyone of power in that organization from their posts. This is a toxic franchise making idiotic decisions at every level, and that requires the sort of top-down cultural overhaul that few franchises get.
Fortunately, Chiefs Kingdom watches the opposite at work each and every week. Here's an organization that conducts their operations thoughtfully and professionally. There's accountability in all facets of the franchise's presentation, and this sort of embarassing parade through the media would never be tolerated these days.
This is more than just "the Chiefs have a great quarterback and the Giants do not", although that's certainly true. It's about looking over at another team and realizing that everything from ownership to coaching staff to on-field talent can either be in unison toward something meaningful or a siloed laughingstock going nowhere fast.
With Clark Hunt's approach to leadership and the synergy and communication between the organizational pillars of the coaching staff and front office, the Chiefs have developed the sort of positive environment in which something like this would never be on the table.
It isn't until you see some other team doing it that you realize how thankful you are that your favorite franchise does not.