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You know who Darrelle Revis is now?
He is Barry Bonds, in his prime. Forget what we know or assume about how Bonds became what he became in the first few years of the new century: In baseball, nobody ever has inspired the unique emotion in opponents that Bonds did. He was walked with the bases empty. He was walked with the bases loaded.
It wasn’t fear, really. It was beyond fear. Teams tried to pretend Bonds wasn’t there. They did whatever they could to render him invisible. Sometimes, it was comical the lengths they would go to avoid him, the ultimate athletic theory of passive/aggressive.
Bonds was asked about that once, in 2004 — a year in which he hit 46 home runs and was walked 232 times, 34 more bases on balls than any player ever has drawn in one season (and Bonds is in second and third place on that list, too).
“The biggest opponent for me, sometimes,” he said, “is staying alert for those chances I have to get a good pitch to hit. It’s great to be patient. But it doesn’t do anyone any good if I stop swinging at strikes, too.”
Which brings us to Revis, who held out for most of the summer, came back a tad diminished, then hurt himself when Randy Moss beat him deep in Week 2, then sat out a bit, and then came back, and then …
“You hardly ever hear his name,” coach Rex Ryan said, smiling, shaking his head.
You don’t. You hear about everyone else in the Jets’ secondary, don’t worry. There have been so many thousand-word screeds offered up among the Internet masses about Antonio Cromartie’s up-and-down season at the other corner slot, they could fill a Norton’s anthology. Jets safeties have spent a good chunk of the season cleaning tread marks off their backs; Jay Cutler still has sweet dreams thinking about them.
Revis?
“He’s the best guy playing his position in the league,” Ryan said, “and it isn’t even close.”
You can forget that, of course. It’s easy. Revis doesn’t have an interception this year. He hasn’t recovered a fumble or recorded a sack. He has 66 fewer tackles than the Jets’ team leader.
There have been entire weeks when his name hasn’t once been uttered by the stadium P.A. announcer.
Revis’ first three years in the league, he built a reputation as a Deionesque cover cornerman through what he actually did on the field — breaking up passes, picking them off, hounding receivers, frustrating them.
Now, he has solidified that reputation, and earned a starting nod in the Pro Bowl, for what he might do. It’s this simple: Teams stay away from him Religiously. Consistently. At almost all costs.
“Quarterbacks drop back, say, ‘What side is Revis on?’ “ Ryan said. “And then look to the other side of the field.”
If Revis looked vulnerable as he worked his way back from his holdout, it wasn’t long before opposing offensive coordinators began their weekly Jets game plans with one prominent rule of thumb: Stay away from 24.
And, much like a No. 25 from another sport and another time, the opposing wide receivers and quarterbacks aren’t Revis’ primary foes.
“You can’t get bored,” he said. “Even if there’s nothing coming your way, you have to fight boredom because you might have to step up and make a play at any time. And you have to be ready for that.”
It stands to reason that if anyone is eager for the challenge of throwing Revis’ way, it would be Colts quarterback Peyton Manning. Still, Manning didn’t get where he has gotten by venturing into dangerous waters too often. Even if his favorite target, Reggie Wayne, likely is to be inhabiting Revis’ shadow.
“A lot of guys have not thrown his way this year at all,” Manning said yesterday. “You can see that on film, they haven’t thrown his direction because when you do, you better be accurate with the football.”
Manning, his sport’s Greg Maddux, knows enough: Give Revis a pitch to hit — even one — he will know what to do with it.
michael.vaccaro@nypost.com