Jets counter file tampering charges vs. Patriots, and we’re all dumber for it

As you read the following report below, keep one thing in mind: Tampering in the NFL is rampant and stupid.

Now, the news from Pro Football Talk is that the New York Jets are filing tampering charges against the New England Patriots over comments made by Robert Kraft over Darrelle Revis because, well, the Patriots filed charged previously against the Jets for the same player and the other owner (Woody Johnson) and I’m rubber and you’re glue and anything you say bounces off me and sticks to you.

This is embarrassing.

The Jets absolutely tampered when Johnson said he would want Revis, then under contract to the Patriots, back on his team. And for this, their wrists should absolutely be slapped firmly for this. Like maybe losing a timeout in the first meeting at Foxboro. Or Johnson being forced to join the Patriots at the White House for the Super Bowl ceremony. For those drunk-on-victory-champagne Patriots fans who expect the Jets’ first-round (or second or third) pick, feel free to — Aerosmith style — dream on.

Likewise, the Jets coming back and nah-na-nah-na-nah-na filing charges back, it just comes off as petty and stupid. Something befitting of the Jets, who often find themselves on the little-brother end of this relationship.

For the record, here’s what Kraft had to say Monday, which drew the Jets’ tampering charges:

“I speak as a fan of the New England Patriots,” Kraft said, according to CSN New England’s Tom Curran. “We wanted to keep him, we wanted him in our system. We have certain disciplines and we had hoped it would work out. It didn’t. We just don’t think about the short-term decisions. For example, next year we have three very good young defensive players coming up [for contracts] and we have to factor that we just don’t look at this year, we look out at the next few years. We’ve done okay doing that.

“[The Jets] are the team that drafted him. I think he feels a great commitment there, so we understand his going back, and we’re sorry he didn’t stay with us.”

As a reminder, here’s what Johnson said about Revis back in December:

“Darrelle is a great player and if I thought I could have gotten Darrelle for that, I probably would’ve taken him. And it was our best judgment to do what we did. Darrelle’s a great player — I’d love for Darrelle to come back.”

Not to say that the Patriots aren’t guilty of being small, too. The irony is that they likely decided — title or not — that keeping Revis for 2015 wasn’t terribly likely well before Johnson ever opened his naive mouth about his favorite cornerback that he regretted seeing go to the rivals up the coast. So when Johnson expressed interest in bringing Revis back in December, the Patriots figured — hey, why not try to kick the Jets a little more while we’re up and they’re down?

Again, the whole thing is dumb dumb dumb. We understand the rules are in place for a certain reason, but teams can’t even protect themselves by saying a hypothetical situation even if they qualify it by saying that player belongs to another team. Really, no one outside the league cares about this stuff.

Rivalries are great, and this one has taken on several lifeforms, but this chapter should be burned by the publisher.

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm