<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Darrelle Revis pulled up his left sleeve, revealing a tattoo on his bicep: the likeness of a Native American chief in full headdress, his high-school logo in Aliquippa, Pa. Also included were the words: "Only the Strong Survive," a personal homage to his school's legendary football tradition."We bleed red and black," the Jets' first-round draft pick said yesterday at rookie minicamp at Hofstra. "A lot of great guys have come from there. In Aliquippa, it's hard-nosed football."It's premature to say he will be as good as Ty Law, Tony Dorsett, Mike Ditka or Sean Gilbert, Revis' uncle - all Aliquippa alums - but the gifted cornerback already has impressed the Jets with his intangibles. They like his natural leadership skills and his willingness to learn.Revis, who left Pitt after his junior year, always has displayed uncommon maturity. He slept on a couch through his high school years because there were only three bedrooms in his mother's home and he wanted his younger brother and sister to enjoy the comforts of their own room.At his high school prom, Revis, alerted that a mentally disabled classmate didn't have a date, escorted the girl into the prom hall so she didn't have walk in alone in front of the entire class."That's the kind of guy I am, willing to help and being a good guy," Revis said.Maybe he gets it from his mother, Diana Gilbert, who turned down a track scholarship to Texas because she was pregnant with Darrelle. She was an accomplished sprinter, but never made it to college because she started to raise a family."She had to mature fast," said Revis, who promised his mother that he'd return to school to complete his degree. "She sacrificed and took the responsibility of raising me."Revis, who rose above the drug and gang culture that enveloped his neighborhood in Aliquippa, is going to need that positive outlook to survive at cornerback in the NFL. The Jets open against the Patriots, which means he could be matched against Randy Moss."I grew up watching him," Revis said. "He's a great player. It's going to be a little crazy, playing against a guy like that."It's hard to evaluate a player at a rookie minicamp, but Revis, working at both left and right corner, has shown flashes of his potential. The Jets traded up 11 spots for him, selecting him 14th overall, so they expect big things. He could wind up starting as a rookie."You can see the change-of-direction and the burst," coach Eric Mangini said. "The other thing you notice is he's got a very physical way about him in terms of how he gets his hands on people."That's how they do it in Aliquippa.</div>LOVE his attitude and mentality! :beerbang2:
