D'Brickashaw Ferguson to enter Jets' Ring of Honor on Sunday
D'Brickashaw Ferguson started 160 consecutive games for the Jets from 2006-2015. Credit: Getty Images
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — From Freeport to the NFL to the Jets’ Ring of Honor, things will come full circle for D’Brickashaw Ferguson on Sunday.
The former Jets left tackle will be honored by the club at halftime of the game against the Patriots at MetLife Stadium.
“This is a very surreal moment,” Ferguson said on Friday. “I don’t think it’s really hit me yet. I think when I see other people who have been in the Ring of Honor — Marty Lyons, Wayne Chrebet, [Darrelle] Revis — I get it. These guys are phenomenal players. In their time, they are arguably the best. I think it’s hard to look at yourself in that light.
“I was joking the other day: All I remember is my coaches telling me to do things better. Like, ‘It’s not good enough.’ I remember the times I’m picking up Chad Pennington. It’s like sack on the first play. I remember these things a lot more than I remember maybe the moments that just coalesced so today could happen. So I think for me, it’s like having time to remove yourself from that moment so you can really reflect and say like, OK, maybe the work did pay off.”
Ferguson, 38, who missed only one snap (on a desperation last-second trick play) in starting 160 consecutive games for the Jets from 2006-15, will be the second of three former players added to the Ring of Honor this season. Nick Mangold was honored on Sept. 25 and Revis will join them on Nov. 27.
“I hope I’ll be able to say what I have envisioned to say,” Ferguson said. “But I’m sure it’s going to be emotionally filled, to have family, friends, teammates, the fans. I think it’s probably going to be a challenge to really say and express how I feel. I think my emotions will be visible because I don’t know how many times you walk in an environment like that.”
D'Brickashaw Ferguson at Freeport High School on Aug. 8, 2001.
Credit: Jack McCoy
Ferguson started playing football on the Freeport JV team because he was looking to play a sport after he had open heart surgery as a youngster, he said.
“I was trying to find a sport that would allow me to feel less handicapped,” he said. “Freeport just happened to be a phenomenal football school. Russ Cellan is a Hall of Fame coach. Sometimes things are designed outside of you. There’s a bigger plan.
“For me to be in that school or for me to have the type of doctors that I had that were willing to allow me to play after my surgery, things have to fall in line sometimes. So it’s bigger than my individual efforts that allowed me to have success. It’s broader than that. I think there’s a grander scheme at play.”
Notes & quotes: Coach Robert Saleh said WR Corey Davis (knee) is out for Sunday . . . Saleh said he wants to see more in practice of James Robinson before determining if the running back the Jets acquired from Jacksonville on Tuesday will face the Patriots.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
