Frank Schwab 18 hours ago
Early in training camp, JetsInsider.com did a story on second-year linebacker Ikemefuna"IK" Enemkpali.
The story spoke about how hard he was working to establish himself. He spoke about how he wanted to be great.
"When I retire, I want to watch film and look back at my career and just say, ‘Damn, you did that?’" he told Jets Insider.
There's probably no film of it, but Enemkpalicertainly did something on Tuesday that made everyone say, "Damn, you did that?"
Enemkpali will be a name that is remembered for a while in Jets history, but not in the way he envisioned. Enemkpali punched quarterback Geno Smith in the locker room. And apparently it was over $600.
The punch, which broke Smith's jaw and will put him out six to 10 weeks, was over a $600 plane ticket Enemkpali bought Smith to attend his football camp on July 11 atPfugerville High School in Pfugerville, Texas,ESPN's Adam Schefter reported. Days before the camp a person close to Smith died in a motorcycle accident, and Smith didn't attend. Enemkpali asked Smith to reimburse the money, and Smith said he would but never did, Schefter reported. Tuesday's incident was over Enemkpali confronting Smith over that $600, according to Schefter.
The incident will follow Enemkpali. Jets coach Todd Bowles classified it as a sucker punch, and "childish." Bowles, who had to come up to the podium a second time for another news conference on Tuesday, said "there had to be something brewing" and the punch happened suddenly before anyone could react. Here's what also happened suddenly: Enemkpali was cut by the team.
Via statement, Enemkpali gave a blanket apology to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, although he put some onus on Smith in the incident:
The NFL can forgive and forget, but teams probably won't be jumping to sign a linebacker with three career tackles who just broke the jaw of a prominent teammate.
Also, Enemkpali's off-field record isn't clean.
According to ESPN, Enemkpali was involved in a bar fight after his redshirt freshman year at Louisiana Tech in which he struck an off-duty officer. A uniformed officer used pepper spray on Enemkpali but that didn't subdue him, and a taser was used, according to ESPN's report. He was arrested and charged with battery on a police officer and disturbing the peace, which was later changed to simple battery, the report said.
"I was just being a young. [It was] a young, hot-headed decision," Enemkpali told ESPN about the incident. "I didn't think about everything. If I knew what I know now, I would've gotten myself out of that situation.
"I lost my cool," he said. "That's what it was. I didn't know he was undercover, which is no excuse, but ... Yeah, I lost my cool."
Enemkpali was a defensive lineman in college but undersized for that role in the NFL so he moved to a pass-rushing linebacker role with the Jets. He was a sixth-round pick— who had to answer many questions about that bar fight incident, the ESPN report said —and appeared in six games as a rookie last season.
Enemkpali was slated to make $510,000 this season, but that's gone. Again, reportedly over $600 he was owed. It's possible he could face a lawsuit from Smith, though there has been no indication that Smith will file one. Bowles was asked if Smith would press charges, and Bowles said it would be up to Smith.
Another regrettable incident that included a punch has put Enemkpali's NFL career in question.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
https://www.yahoo.com/sports/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/meet--ik--enemkpali--the-former-jet-who-broke-geno-smith-s-jaw-205318494.html
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