Let's face it: We were overdue for more cornerback-on-cornerback crime. Antonio Cromartie has arrived to snap the dry spell.
Cromartie, recently reunited with Darrelle Revis in a revamped Jets secondary, still feels that Revis should be seen as the best cornerback in football. When asked Tuesday on SiriusXM NFL Radio what he would say to a boastful Richard Sherman -- the Seahawks star who's probably the consensus choice as the NFL's top cover man -- Cromartie did not hold back.
"I would have to tell him go play in a defense where you don't have two All-Pro safeties," Cromartie said, referring to Seattle stars Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor. "That's what I would tell him. I would tell him, 'Go follow the number one receiver. Follow him around for a whole entire game, let's see what you can do.'
"Darrelle Revis has done that his whole career," Cromartie continued. "I've done that, Patrick Peterson has done it, Joe Haden has done it. (Sherman is) the only defensive back who hasn't. So there's no point in critiquing him. If you wanna label yourself as the number one, the best cornerback in the NFL, follow the best guy on every single team. His whole thing will be, 'Well, we don't have to do that. I got my trust in the other corner on the other side.' That's not the point. If you wanna consider yourself the best, the best do what the best do and they follow around the best."
Cromartie's criticism is not particularly original, but it's certainly germane when having a debate about the position. And man, do cornerbacks love to have debates about their position.
That sound you hear, by the way, is a dozen beat writers trying to contact Sherman at the same time. We'll just keep an eye on his Twitter feed, which should have a retort -- or at least a "LOL" -- in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...
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