Scott Speaks

After the weather caused the cancellation of Bart Scott's introductory press conference we had a telephone conference instead, which just finished.

Scott sounded very relaxed and excited to be with the Jets. He gave long, indepth and thoughtful answers to every question he was asked.

He stated openly that playing for Rex Ryan was key in his reason for signing. Although he admited that he initially wanted to stay in Baltimore, the Ravens's hesitation in signing him to another contract prior to the start of free agency seemed to seal the deal for him once Ryan, Pettine and Thurman ended up in his driveway Thursday night.

He also gave quite an endorsement of Ryan. This is clearly a coach whose players love playing for him.

"We played last year to get Rex a head coaching job," Scott said.

Scott also continued on the "violent" theme that we've been hearing from Ryan and others who've worked and played for him. That seems to be the one description they like to tag this defense with. While football is a violent game, this new group seems to embrace it the word with glee. Scott himself is known as "The Mad Backer" a moniker bestowed on him by Terrell Suggs for his propensity to treat every opponent as a sworn enemy and to always find the action - and that includes every scuffle or fight available.

An undrafted free agent out of the University of Southern Illinois, Scott is one of those players who always plays as though he has something to prove. And he appeared to humbled by his new status.

"This is one of the most flattering things in my career. I'm still in awe of it," he said.

Scott also expressed his love for New York and how excited he is to be moving here. He discussed how he already spends as much time as he can here and so the idea of playing and living here was extremely appealing - in fact his wife was already packing before his contract was signed.

Scott also clarified that the delay in getting his contract signed had nothing to do with any bidding war - his agent, Harold Lewis was in St. Louis in the middle of another deal, and that was what delayed the finalization of everything with Scott.

I'm looking forward to meeting Scott in person and I'm sure I'll have a lot more to talk about him here as time goes on.