It was one play lost in the wilderness of a humiliating 49-9 Jets loss to the Bengals in Cincinnati three weeks ago.
David Nelson, a receiver the Jets had signed off the street two weeks before, laid a block on Bengals defensive back Adam “Pacman” Jones in the third quarter that was so punishing, after the game, Jones threatened to “find out where you live and come get you.”
Jets veteran right guard Willie Colon noticed the play immediately, and it sent a charge through his body.
“He blindsided ‘Pacman’ and I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about,'” Colon told The Post. “I told him, ‘I don’t know who you are, but I like the way you play.'”
Colon’s words moved Nelson.
“To have one of our most respected guys we have on this team say something like that in the middle of the game meant the world to me,” Nelson said. “That’s exactly what I was trying to do — make a statement to this team that I’m not here trying to just pass through or be this guy who’s relying on what I did back in Buffalo. I want to contribute to this team and be part of the heart of this team.”
Do not let Nelson fool you with his easy-going off-field demeanor. The 3-7 Bills had better not on Sunday, when they face the 5-4 Jets at Ralph Wilson Stadium, because Nelson is coming to town with a chip on his shoulder the size of Niagara Falls.
Nelson spent his first three NFL seasons in Buffalo thinking he was building a long-term relationship with the team and the community. He was a productive player, catching 92 passes and scoring eight touchdowns in his first two seasons before tearing the ACL in his right knee in the 2012 season opener against the Jets.
He rehabbed for the rest of 2012, and when it came time for the Bills to tender him a restricted free agent offer to remain with the organization, they opted not to. Nelson was at a Chicago Blackhawks game last Feb. 24 when he found out via a Twitter message from a reporter the Bills were not going to tender him an offer.
Understandably, that did not sit well.
“Because of the way it ended … it’s still kind of a little difficult for me to swallow,” Nelson said.
Nelson, a native Texan who lives in Dallas, this week has been wearing the uniform jersey of Blackhawks defenseman Johnny Oduya — which he bought at the game that day the Bills divorced him.
“There was symbolism there, absolutely,” Nelson said Friday. “I’ve been carrying that around with me all week … and the background of my phone is the tweet that I got that day. I don’t want to forget what that feeling was like that day so it continues to inspire and motivate me to put it on the field Sunday.”
To his credit, Nelson did not fall back on the “it’s-just-another-game” lip service that so many players try to sell you when they are going against a former team.
“Anybody who tells you when they play an old team or a team that cut them or something like that, ‘it’s just another game’ is lying to you,” Nelson said. “This is definitely more than just another game for me.”
Nelson is the anti-diva receiver, a guy who catches passes (he has nine receptions for 179 yards the past three games) but plays like a combination offensive lineman-linebacker — as evidenced by his “Pacman” block. He is not consumed with now many catches he has or how many times he’s targeted — Santonio Holmes, are you listening?
“He’s exactly what we need on this team — a selfless guy who just works his tail off and has a high character,” Colon said. “Considering the way David was let go, if it was me that would be more than enough motivation for me to kick their butts to show them that they made a mistake.”
Nelson said the insulting way it ended in Buffalo left him with a feeling of there being “unfinished business” there.
“My first couple of years there, I felt like I was building something special,” he said. “I felt like it was going to be my home long-term and I was hoping to make a career there. I never really got that sense of closure.”
If all goes according to plan, that closure could come Sunday in Buffalo.