Class of 2023: Darrelle Revis — Definition of a shutdown cornerback

Enshrinement Published on : 8/5/2023


By Barry Wilner 
Special to the Pro Football Hall of Fame 

Rex Ryan once was asked the most effective way to build a defense in the modern NFL. He didn’t point immediately to a monstrous pass rush or a do-everything linebacker.

“Get yourself a DARRELLE REVIS,” the former Jets and Bills head coach said, “and you have half the field you don’t have to worry about.”

Shutdown skills like that also swing wide open the doors to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

In his first year of eligibility, Revis has received his Gold Jacket. 

“Ahead of the 2009 season,” Revis told the crowd Saturday at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, “Rex Ryan called me the best corner in football and I hadn’t even met him yet. Needless to say, the expectations were high. After our first meeting, I was convinced I’d play my heart out for him. He was crafting a winning culture and told me that he was confident that I was the guy to set the tone for the rest of the team. Rex, thank you for seeing something special in me and motivating me to live up to that potential.”

A starter and standout for the Jets from that first day he stepped onto the field as a first-round draft pick out of Pitt, Revis spent eight seasons in New York, and also played one season each for New England, winning a Super Bowl, Tampa Bay and Kansas City. A four-time All-Pro and seven-time Pro Bowler, he led the NFL in 2009 with a stunning 31 passes defensed. That, naturally, was when opponents recognized the futility of challenging Revis, who added six interceptions in his first season working under Ryan.

The Jets advanced to the AFC championship game that season, and Revis finished second to Hall of Famer Charles Woodson for Defensive Player of the Year.

New York also made the conference title contest the next season, when Revis missed three games yet still was an All-Pro.
 
Rex Ryan once was asked the most effective way to build a defense in the modern NFL. “Get yourself a Darrelle Revis," he said.

Revis lauded Jets secondary coach Dennis Thurman, who imparted lessons that remained with the cornerback throughout his career.

“Get used to fighting boredom, but when the ball is thrown your way, be ready,” Thurman told Revis. “They will come at you when you least expect it.”

When they did, Revis usually won.

“His words stuck with me to a point where if I’d let up a single catch I felt like it was a letdown to my teammates,” Revis admitted.

In all, his 29 career picks might not seem overwhelming. But consider how rarely he was tested once Revis established himself.

“He forced you to throw the ball the other way,” Tom Brady once said.

His 2012 campaign was shortened to two games because of a left knee injury, but he returned the next year as a Buccaneer, made the Pro Bowl and finished high in the Comeback Player of the Year balloting. Moving on to the Patriots, Revis helped Brady and Co. win a fourth NFL title.

He was so much in demand as a free agent that that the Jets brought him back for the next two seasons, in which he had six interceptions. 

“And to the Jets fans, for all the boos, cheers when I was drafted 14th overall to burning my jersey when I signed with the Patriots to now being here in Canton,” he said, drawing a mixed reaction from the Gang Green fans on hand, “I guess it’s safe to say we’ve been through a lot together. You expected great things out of me and every single game and I accepted the challenge. Thank you for believing in me and supporting me every step of the way.

“You will always have a place to stay on Revis Island.”

A member of the NFL All-Decade Team of the 2010s, Revis also wasn’t afraid to mix it up against the run game, as his 496 career tackles attest.
Ryan offered to have Revis skip some in-season practices to stay rested for Sundays. But those practices were a key to his development, Revis has said:

“I had to cover some of the greatest, Hall of Fame receivers. or me, it was just being the best prepared I could be. The practice squad wide receiver had to be Randy Moss or Chad Ochocinco that week.”

No matter. Revis still managed to win the battles, and now, like fellow natives of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania Mike Ditka, Tony Dorsett and Ty Law, he has a bust in Canton to prove it.


 

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Class members are listed in order of their Enshrinement speeches:  

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