Todd Bowles was kidding, of course, that spring day when he slammed a fist on the press room podium and bellowed: “I WANT HIM TO PLAY RIGHT NOW!”
Jets fans — young and old — who have been waiting the better part of a lifetime for their Joe Namath are dead serious about wanting Sam Darnold to play right now.
Three months later, Darnold gets his first chance in Friday’s preseason opener against the Falcons to convince Bowles to play him right now, when the 2018 regular season begins.
Jets fans have learned it is no pipe dream, but a tantalizing, titillating dream worth dreaming.