It's not unheard of for pro athletes, at some point in their careers, to sign with the teams from their childhood. On the Jets, TE Jeremy Ruckert was the most recent example of a Long Islander coming from a family of Jets fans ecstatic to be drafted by the Green & White.
But S Andre Cisco will give Ruck a run for his money as the member of the current Jets who has the most connections to the team and to New York.
"I went to Hofstra camp growing up, so I saw the Jets at their camp when they used to be on Long Island," Cisco told newyorkjets.com reporter Caroline Hendershot shortly after signing as an unrestricted free agent. "A few years later, I went to some preseason games, and I was the kid yelling at guys on the sideline, 'I'm here! Hello!" Fast-forward to when we were season ticket-holders for a few years. And I was a true Jets fan, especially around the time of the back-to-back AFC Championship Games."
Is that why Cisco left his first NFL team, the Jaguars, to return home to his hometown team?
"It's hard to say anything other than New York because it's such a big reason," he said.
Cisco also has all of the New York datelines on his résumé. He was born in Queens, grew up in Valley Stream, attended St. Anthony's HS in South Huntington (as well as IMG Academy in Florida), and went upstate to Syracuse for his college ball.
There were a few other factors, though, guiding Cisco back to the New York area. One is the new head coach who preceded him to Jets by a few months in Aaron Glenn.
"Coach AG, obviously, has a great background, a great track record," he said. "I've known a few guys that played for him and have nothing but rave reviews. He has a great history of getting guys the ball and doing it right, so being part of that product was huge for me."
Another inducement from the Jets' perspective was that they needed a big-tackling, ball-hawking safety and Cisco sure fills the bill. In his last three Jaguars seasons, he put up combined numbers of 8 interceptions, 22 passes defensed and 203 tackles.
"I'm very aggressive to the ball, looking to get the ball and bring it back to the offense most of the time," Cisco said of his playing style. "And just being a field general, commanding the field, being loud and in communication. And past that, just letting guys play around me and really bringing the best out of everybody is my job."
If fans need any more evidence of Cisco's exuberance over becoming a Jet, they only had to read his X (Twitter) post from last week after his signing, in which he wrote:
5th grade me would be running through a wall right now!!!! ECSTATIC about what's to come. God's grace simply never fails!
Hendershot asked Cisco what he would tell his fifth-grade self if the two could hook up for a shmear or a slice over in Queens or next door to the Jets' training center in Morristown.
"I would just tell him, 'We're a Jet,' " Cisco said. "That would be all he'd need to hear."
