FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- Three decades before Tyron Smith, it was Ronnie Lott. Different era, same premise: A shotgun marriage between an aging football legend and a success-starved franchise, one looking to recapture past glory, the other trying to find it for the first time in an eternity.
On March 8, 1993, Lott was introduced by the New York Jets as "a Hall of Famer," one of the first big names in the NFL's free agency era to sign with another team. There was a traditional news conference at the team facility, a jersey presentation/photo op and a declarative mission statement from the iconic safety.