Darrelle Revis named Jets Player of the Decade by ESPN

ESPN recently evaluated the top players from each of the 32 NFL franchises and named one outstanding player from every team the Player of the Decade. For the New York Jets, Pitt great and former All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis was honored with the title.

Revis was selected for the honor by Rich Cimini of ESPN, and Jets center Nick Mangold earned honorable mention for his contributions to the team in the 2010s. In the article announcing the selection, Cimini outlined Revis’ accomplishments from the last decade.

“Revis played only 60 regular-season games for the Jets in the decade — five seasons — but it was enough time to establish himself as one of the best defensive players in franchise history,” Cimini wrote. “In his prime, he was a true shutdown corner. Opponents marveled at his press-man technique, which allowed him to jam and re-route receivers at the line. Revis didn’t post gaudy stats, mainly because opponents were afraid to test him. He made ‘Revis Island’ so popular that it appears in the Urban Dictionary. Definition: ‘A place where NFL wide receivers frequently get lost.’”

The selection of Revis speaks volumes about the quality of his performance and his significance to the Jets franchise, as the 2010s were arguably his down years as a player and he only spent half the decade with the team. With that said, even Revis’ less productive seasons were impressive compared to the best years of lesser cornerbacks, and by the 2010s, he was better known for the threat he posed to passers than the stats he posted.

With that said, Revis’ contributions to the Jets in the 2010s were still considerable, as he earned All-Pro honors with the team twice at the start of the decade as well as three Pro Bowl nods. His first All-Pro season came in 2010 despite one of the least statistically productive years Revis ever posted, but it was followed up by a 2011 All-Pro campaign in which he had four picks and broke up 21 passes. And in 2015, he booked his final Pro Bowl trip with a five-pick season.

The Pitt product’s NFL career came to a close with his retirement in July 2018, and since then, he has continued to rack up accolades. Earlier this year, he was named to the NFL’s All-2010s team, as were fellow Pitt alums and Players of the Decade Aaron Donald and Larry Fitzgerald. And back in his hometown, Revis was inducted into the WPIAL Hall of Fame.

Now, two years after his decision to call it a career, the last major honor left for Revis to claim is enshrinement in Canton, and given his resume, that seems all but a certainty.