IK Enemkpali got fired (and quickly re-hired in Buffalo) for punching Jets quarterback Geno Smith in the face.
But while the Jets came out quickly to describe it as a sucker punch, the idea that Smith played a role in his own getting punched is gaining traction.
Via Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News, unnamed sources within the team are saying Smith “deserved it.”
Smith “was up in [Enemkpali’s] face and pointed/touched his face,” an eyewitness said.
That followed Ryan Clark’s defense of Enemkpali on ESPN Radio earlier Wednesday morning, as he explained the situation surrounding Smith stiffing the linebacker out of $600 worth of travel expenses.
“These guys were in each other’s face,” Clark said, via the New York Post. “Geno put his finger in his face and told the guy, ‘Well, you’re not going to do anything about it.’ . . .
“It became about the fact that Geno wasn’t necessarily apologetic and being in a way remorseful about the money when saying he was going to pay IK back and he didn’t. He was rather smug about it.”
Whether he was or wasn’t, Enemkpali was wrong to punch him in the face, breaking his jaw and taking him out of action for a portion of the regular season. That’s something the legal system will work through now, along with the league as it applies its personal conduct policy.
But with Smith’s career in the balance this year anyway, it’s not a good look for his future that teammates would immediately blame the victim.