Aaron Glenn played eight seasons for the New York Jets and made two Pro Bowls with the team. The franchise gave him a start in his second NFL career, too, as a scout in 2012.
Glenn remains “very fond” of the organization today, which is why the second-year Detroit Lions defensive coordinator said he wants to kick the Jets’ butt when the Lions play his old team Sunday at MetLife Stadium.
“There’s still some people there that actually has moved into a higher career as far as positions, they’re really good friends of mine, so any time I have a chance to go against this team, I want to beat the hell out of them,” Glenn said Thursday. “Even though I have a lot of love for that organization, I really do. But I do, I want to beat the hell out of them.”
The No. 12 pick of the 1994 draft, Glenn said he never expected to begin his NFL career in New York.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had the sixth pick in the first round of that year’s draft and told Glenn they planned to use the selection on him. Then chaos happened, as is often the case on draft day.
“Trent Dilfer was still on the board at that point,” Glenn said. “He’s supposed to go (No. 5) to Indy, I think. I think Indy ended up picking Trev Alberts. Don’t know why that happened, but no disrespect to Trev now. I know how you guys are, but they picked Trev Alberts, so I get a call from Tampa at the draft, and they tell me, ‘Listen, we have a franchise quarterback on the board, so we’ve got to draft him.’ And my dad, rest in peace, says, ‘Look, well, you have a franchise corner sitting right there, too.’”
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The Jets, with Pete Carroll as head coach, eventually traded up one spot to take Glenn at No. 12, and Glenn started 120 of the 121 games he played for the franchise with 24 interceptions.
The Houston Texans took Glenn with the third pick of the 2002 expansion draft, and Glenn went on to play for three more teams — the Dallas Cowboys (where he was teammates with Lions head coach Dan Campbell), Jacksonville Jaguars and New Orleans Saints — before he ran a chain of eight Frenchy’s restaurants in the Houston area in retirement.
When Glenn got the itch to be involved in football again, then-Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum hired him as a scout in 2012, where he stayed for two seasons before jumping into coaching.
“I thought I should be this businessman, suit and tie, and that’s not who I am,” Glenn said. “I am a warmup, get on the field, scream, yell, curse, and try to get guys to get better. That’s who I am, and that’s OK.”
Hutch sick
Aidan Hutchinson was one of three Lions who missed practice Thursday because of an illness.
Last week, Jeff Okudah, Kalif Raymond and Nate Sudfeld missed time while sick. Okudah missed two days of practice because of the illness and was in and out of the lineup in the Lions’ 34-23 win over the Vikings.
Mike Hughes and Michael Brockers also did not practice Thursday because they were sick, and Derrick Barnes (knee), Kayode Awosika (ankle) and Jason Cabinda (ankle) did not practice because of injury. Will Harris (hip) and Frank Ragnow (foot) were limited.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.