As Geno Smith seems to improve daily during New York Jets training camp, the rookie quarterback said he aspires to emulate some of the characteristics possessed by His Airness.
"I was a big Michael Jordan fan, just from the things that I read and heard about him is he always held his teammates to the utmost accountability," Smith told the Jets' official website Tuesday. "That's something I try and do. I try to hold myself to the highest standard possible."
It's an interesting choice for an NFL player -- especially considering that Jordan won his six NBA titles before Smith turned 9 years old -- but imitating Jordan's day-in, day-out work ethic is something all young players should strive for.
"Man, I try to have a perfect practice," Smith said. "I haven't had one yet, but I try to go out there and I try to be perfect in practice. ... But I'm still in the learning phase, making mistakes every day and you get into the film room and you go watch it. But the benchmark so far is to try and be mistake-free, and (I'm) just learning as much as I can."
In order to be the leader that Smith aspires to be, he must discontinue the "embarrassing" conditioning sessions. However, if Smith walks the walk instead of just talking the talk, he might be the Jets' starting quarterback sooner rather than later.
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