Edgar inspires NY Jets with pre-game speech

UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar spoke to the New York Jets this past Saturday night prior to the Jets’ Sunday afternoon game against the Houston Texans. Edgar was brought in by Jets head coach Rex Ryan, an MMA fan, to impress upon the players the importance of mental toughness.

Via Yahoo Sports:

Edgar spoke to the Jets about mental toughness and relayed a story back to the squad about his famous 2007 win over Tyson Griffin in which he had to battle out of a last minute submission attempt by his opponent to secure the win.

The talk must have inspired the Jets scored a last minute touchdown to beat the Texans 30-27.

Mark Sanchez spoke about Edgar’s speech after the Jets come from behind win:

“The guy is barely taller than this podium, and this guy beat BJ Penn in a UFC Championship bout,” Sanchez said following the game. “Everybody counted him out. They wanted a rematch and he went back and beat him even worse. Talk about a guy who is mentally tough and physically tough. He came in and spoke to the team last night. It was a perfect time. He talked about never giving up, being counted out, playing until the end; fighting and believing in yourself and your team and the people around you. Those were the only one telling him he could win the fight. Everyone else was counting him out.

“I think there’s a lot of people who counted us [the Jets] out tonight and last week and the week before that. We just look at each other look at the guys wearing the Jets decals and we know we have a chance until the thing is over. It was perfect for Rex to bring in a guy like that [Edgar] and give us a little extra inspiration so it was great for Frankie to come in.”

Payout Perspective:

Edgar’s invitation to speak with the Jets is another sign of the influence of MMA. Many professional athletes are MMA fans and respect the MMA athlete for what they do and the necessary mental acuity to compete in the octagon.

For Edgar, he enjoyed his experience as shown through his tweet. 

Overall, a great PR appearance by Edgar. Not only does it elevate his own name and hype his fight January 1, his speech resonated with the Jets. I’m sure some NFL players gained much respect and admiration for his accomplishments.