Bart Scott has a message for those who want to question whether he violated his player contract by participating in a professional wrestling event that aired Thursday: Puh-leeze!
"It would be like going on 'Dancing With the Stars,'" the Jets' linebacker told ESPNNewYork.com Saturday from Orlando, where he's appearing at ESPN the Weekend.
Scott, a lifeling fan of professional wrestling (he can name just about every wrestler from the 1980s), appeared as himself on TNA Wrestling's iMPACT, which was pre-taped and aired on Spike TV. He got to hang around with one of his boyhood idols, Hulk Hogan.
Scott didn't actually wrestle, but there was some "simulated violence" (as they say in the business) before the match -- a "scuffle" in the ring. Scott ended up limping off (good acting job) after being dropped with an ankle lock. You have to be careful, those ankle locks are killers.
NBC's ProFootballTalk.com raised the issue of whether Scott breached his contract by participating in physical activity outside football. The Jets, for their part, have been curiously mum on Scott's wrestling, declining comment.
Scott thinks it's much ado about nothing. Asked if any member of the Jets' organization has talked to him about his wrestling appearance, Scott replied, "For what?"
Asked if he checked with the organization before the event, Scott said sarcastically, "Did I have to check when I ate Wise potato chips? (An endorsement he did last fall.) Did (Mark) Sanchez have to check when he threw a Pepsi bottle in a Pepsi commercial? Do you have to check when you shoot a Dicks commercial and have to run across the floor? (A Darrelle Revis commercial.) At what point does it bear conversation?"
In case you're wondering, Scott said he's not contracted for any additional wrestling events, but he added, "Hey, who knows? I’m transparent right now. I’m fluid. I’ll be involved in what situation occurs. I have to pay the bills, right?"