Little Jimmy Roscoe, age 12 from Flemington, NJ, was wheeled into the Jets locker room late Sunday afternoon to fulfill his lifelong dream of meeting linebacker Bart Scott. The New York chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation had set up the surprise visit with the Jets organization earlier in the week.
Jimmy wanted to get as close as possible to his favorite player to congratulate him and show him the No. 57 jersey he dons before every Jets game. However a crowd of reporters hovered around Scott and would not get out of the way of Jimmy’s wheelchair. He tried to get Scott’s attention and yelled out “Good game, Bart!” The reaction he got was not what anyone was expecting.
Before the meaning of the gesture could sink in Jimmy’s mom and dad, along with Jet’s executive vice president of operations Matt Higgins, quickly wheeled him over to Rex Ryan’s office. Coach Ryan, still too overcome with emotions to formulate words into sentences, threw one of the towels he used to dry his tears at Jimmy. Higgins seeing the disaster unraveling before him ushered the Roscoe family out of the locker room and gave them gift certificates to a nearby steakhouse.
Later, when Scott was approached for his take on the matter he offered no defense for his actions.
“I don’t like getting teased by anybody after a loss. End of story.”
The NFL front office is currently investigating the incident.
