Every kid who grew up in the late 80s / early 90s wanted to “be like Mike”. And, if a coach had told one of us to go home and watch some tapes of Jordan – no matter the sport – we would have done it. Why? Because Jordan was and is the best.

So, theoretically speaking, if an NFL coach was to tell one of his players to look at tapes from a former NFL great and try to emulate his game, reason would say that said player would accept the task eagerly and revel in getting an excuse to watch one of the game’s best.

That is, unless you are New York Jets rookie tight-end Jace Amaro…

During the Jets first preseason game against the Indianapolis Colts last Thursday, Amaro was targeted five times and only caught two of the passes, much to the chagrin of Jets head coach Rex Ryan who thought Amaro could have caught two more passes. Following the game, Ryan had some advice for the rookie:

That’s something where he’s got to realize, ‘Hey, you’re a huge man. Give him tapes of Mike Ditka or something and say, ‘This is how we want you to play. Recognize you’re a big guy. You need to be a bully out there. When that ball’s thrown up, you’ve got to go catch it. I don’t care where it is.’ So he needs to have that kind of mentality.

While one could question many decisions made by Rex Ryan considering the dearth of success for the Jets organization over the past few years, this tidbit appears to be sound advice. Which rookie tight-end wouldn’t want to emulate the guy who potentially revolutionized the game for his position?

Jace Amaro – that’s who.

Jace Amaro told me he won't be digging up old Mike Ditka video like Rex suggested: "I’m not going back 30 years to see how Ditka played."

— Bart Hubbuch (@HubbuchNYP) August 11, 2014

Jace Amaro: "I don't want to imitate anyone. I want to be the guy who someone decades from now says, 'That guy plays like Amaro.'"

— Bart Hubbuch (@HubbuchNYP) August 11, 2014

In speaking with the New York Post on Tuesday, Amaro dissed both Ryan and Ditka by simply refusing to follow his coaches advice:

“I’m not going back 30 years to see how Ditka played. I know the way he played and the kind of character he is… You don’t really want to look into it too much. You want to be your own player. You don’t want to [imitate] anyone else who has played. I want to be the guy who someone decades from now says, ‘That guy plays like Amaro.’ ”

If Amaro doesn’t step up his game soon and play to his potential, the only way the Amaro name is going to be remembered is by “that rookie who was too dumb to shut his mouth and take some much needed advice”. Then again, this is the Jets and imploding is their thing, so perhaps Amaro has found his place after all…

Image via Twitter