No follower of the Green & White has been paying any closer attention to the success of wide receivers Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker than fellow WR and Jets Ring of Honor member Wayne Chrebet.
"I see some really good things they're doing. They're really communicating well out there," Chrebet told us this week as he, like all Jets fans, was gearing up for Saturday night's big game in Big D against the Dallas Cowboys. "They're doing as well as any duo I've seen in a long time. I know they tied Randy Moss and Cris Carter for the most touchdowns in the same game, and it does seem that way anytime you're watching them play. They're having an outstanding season."
Chrebet was all over the arrivals of Decker as an unrestricted free agent from Denver last year and Marshall in a trade with Chicago this past March.
"When we gave up a fifth-round pick for Marshall, I tweeted immediately that that was the steal of the year," he said. "I knew the guy still had a lot of talent, still had a lot of years left in his career. I knew he still had that kind of game in his system."
And Chrebet recalled meeting Decker briefly at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center after his arrival last year.
"The last thing I said to him was, 'They're going to love you here in New York.' I could tell the kind of guy he was, the player he was," Wayne recalled. "The move to the slot has really helped him and helped Ryan Fitzpatrick with a little more high-percentage throws. He's deadly inside the 20."
Of course no discussion of the Jets' top two wideouts would be complete without some analysis on the man getting them the ball, the aforementioned Fitzpatrick. Chrebet knows quite a bit about great QB play, having caught 580 passes and scored 41 touchdowns, most on throws from Vinny Testaverde and Chad Pennington in his 11 crowd-pleasing Jets seasons.
"The thing about Ryan is I always thought he was a good quarterback, but you heard words like serviceable and capable when he first got the job," Wayne said. "Now with how well he's playing, those words no longer apply. He's a very good quarterback in this league. He's having a very good year for a very good team, and I'm glad Todd [head coach Todd Bowles] wants to keep him around.
"And he's playing hurt, too. People aren't even thinking about that anymore. He's playing with reckless abandon. When he's running the ball, he sticks his nose in there. I appreciate that type of play."
We could talk with Chrebet about the Jets all day, but we moved on to another reason we reached out to the Jets legend. He's been a financial adviser with the Moldaver, Lee & Chrebet Group, since 2008, but he's starting with **Stifel Financial Corp.** Stifel brought the Moldaver team in as part of its acquisition of Barclays Wealth and Investment Management, Americas, which closed Dec. 4.
"I'm looking forward to it," Chrebet said of his ongoing venture in wealth management. "This has been a great second career for me. I made a name for myself being part of a great team, and I just look forward to continuing that with Stifel.
"It's a Midwestern firm, but we have a big presence in New York City and New Jersey, which I actually said was kind of cool because they have an office in Florham Park. I'll get a chance to spend some time there and some time to stop by practice and catch up with the guys."
