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PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2023
DARRELLE REVIS
‘Revis Island’ finds a home in Canton and the Hall
Jets’ lockdown CB set bar
high for all who followed
Peter Holland Jr.
Canton Repository
USA TODAY NETWORK
From his generational talent to mem-
orable nickname, Darrelle Revis made
quite an impact on the NFL during his
11-year career.
He became the ultimate lockdown
cornerback with the New York Jets, cre-
ating “Revis Island.” No wide receiver
wanted to be stuck there. He set the bar
high for elite corners in today’s NFL and
won a Super Bowl with the New England
Patriots.
A spot in the Pro Football Hall of
Fame was only a matter of time.
In August, Revis will make his way
across the stage in Canton as a member
of the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2023.
Revis was taught to keep his head
down and let his game do the talking.
Already a soft-spoken individual, he
was addicted to competition and always
thirsted for knowledge while never set-
tling for anything less than greatness.
“I just had a knack for having a com-
petitive nature and just wanted to not
settle for the last season or the last play,”
Revis said. “When you have that type of
insanity, it could drive you crazy a little
bit, but at the same time I was able to
balance that during my career and still
enjoy having the appreciation to every-
thing that was taking place and just go
take it in stride”
Darrelle Revis, a kid from
Aliquippa ‘looking for coaching’
For years, Aliquippa High School pro-
duced generational NFL talents such as
Ty Law, Mike Ditka and Tony Dorsett.
Revis, who looked up to Law, was next in
line. He joins the other three in the Hall.
“It puts a little bit of expectation, very
high expectation for you,” Revis said.
“That’s how you approach it. It’s a way
Darrelle Revis played eight of his 11 seasons with the Jets, becoming a superstar
during his initial six-year run with the team. THE STAR-LEDGER
for me to improve if I could be a Ty Law,
Tony Dorsett or Mike Ditka.”
Originally, Revis was into basketball
and according to his former high school
football coach, Sherman McBride, he
was good at it before he started playing
football for Aliquippa High School.
“Darrelle was a great basketball play-
er,” McBride said. “I remember this guy
going around dribbling a basketball. Ev-
erywhere you saw Darrelle, he had a
basketball in his hands. When he first
came to Aliquippa, he was actually play-
ing basketball here and came to a foot-
ball workout. Our head coach told him to
give it a try and everything. We knew
right then and there that Darrelle always
practices his craft. He is always first in
line. He is always that guy and always
wanted to go places.”
McBride, an assistant coach at the
time, discovered something about Revis
that separated him from other players.
“All you have to do is tell Darelle once,
and he will absorb whatever you were
telling him,” McBride said. “You didn’t
have to look for him because Darrelle
was first in line. He was looking for
coaching.”
McBride shared many memories of
Revis as a football and basketball star
for Aliquippa. He recalled a time when
he led his team to a state championship,
scoring five touchdowns in five different
ways. The following Tuesday, after only
one day of practice because of a snow-
storm, Revis dropped 35 points in a bas-
ketball game against a rival school.
McBride called it ‘Revis weekend.’
“Darrelle was one of those kids that
plays hard in every play,” McBride said.
“Just like anybody else, when you play
against that one player that you
might’ve heard of that was doing the
same thing that you will do or people
will talk about the things that will take
Darrelle’s level another step up. Darelle
never played up to his opposition be-
cause you can’t get there. You can’t
make it like that. Darrelle made sure he
didn’t take anyone lightly.”
Revis Island redefined
the term shutdown corner
Drafted by the Jets in the first round
of the 2007 draft out of Pittsburgh, Re-
vis played eight of his 11 seasons with
the Jets, becoming a superstar during
his initial six-year run with the team.
Revis Island went from a simple nick-
name to a way of life for all lockdown
corners who followed him into the NFL.
Revis, who trademarked the name,
couldn’t imagine Revis Island becoming
a lifestyle. Still, while it is often imitat-
ed, never duplicated, he takes it as a
compliment whenever a player uses ‘Is-
land’ with their last name.
“For young corners in today’s game,
to say Revis Island or what their last
name is and then put Island next to it,
it’s just a testament to your hard work
and the thing you strive for to be great,”
Revis said. “I think for me, guys have al-
ways been an inspiration to me, growing
up. You are always doing it for the next
generation. Somebody has done it for
me, and I think that was the same ap-
proach.”
Revis dominated one-on-one cover-
ages. He went against some of the
game’s all-time great wide receivers.
And receivers such as Randy Moss,
See REVIS, Page 20S