My GF got us two tickets for last Sunday's Jets-Bills game at the Meadowland. It was a very sweet and touching gift. I had never been to a Jets game in person. In fact, I had never been to a professional football game in person. I think I saw a high school football game in Long Island once.
It was a surprise gift. She had put a lot of thought into which game to buy us tickets for. She picked the Jets-Bills game because "the football fan I talked to thought they had a better chance of winning this game".
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"Why did you become a Jets fan?" she asked me once, not too long ago.
Why? Shouldn't it be "How?"
Flashback to 1986: Joe Walton's Jets start off 10-1, and I'm as happy as a young'em who just started watching sports can be. The interesting thing about NYC is that you actually have a bit of a choice in which teams to root for. You can root for the Yankees, or you can pick the Mets. You can root for Giants, or the Jets. The only rule is you can't root for both.
I picked the Jets almost as randomly as you can - I just like them because they were the underdog in a Giants town. In fact, back in the summer of 1986 both teams I chose as "my team" were underdogs - the Yankees were the #2 team in a Mets town (seriously). I suppose most young boys get their rooting preferences from their fathers. My father, as it turns out, was a Giant/Met fan. He was a big fan, in fact, for many years. I think it added an interesting dynamic that we didn't root for the same teams. In fact, we rooted for rivals, for enemy teams. Open tangent: Sorry Red Sox fans, but you might try hard but you'll never be the Yankees' rival. The Mets will be, because they compete for the heart of the same city. If you guys ever wonder what happened to the old George Steinbrenner, The Boss... why he didn't rip the team apart and throw a tantrum when the Yankees lost to the Sox in 2004... it's probably because he finally got his ultimate wish in 2000, when the Yankees finally slew the Mets. End tangent.
The number of great moments in Jets history that I have been around for is supremely limited. I'll list out what I remember, off the top of my head (this list is not meant to be comprehensive... it's better this way):
-The Jets 10-1 start in 1986, when they were the best team in the NFL. Ken O'Brien was better than Dan Marino. He even outgunned him in that infamous MNF game, the one the Jets one in OT 54-48. [The Jets would go on to lose their last 5 games, limp into the playoffs with backup QB Pat Ryan replacing the injured O'Brien, and get knocked out by the Browns team that would soon earn a place in Heartbreak Land. The Jets can't even get a moment like that.]-The 1994 (?) Pete Carroll-coached Jets team that started 6-5, and was about to beat the Dolphins to take 1st place in the division for the first time in forever. It was also a MNF game. [It was the infamous Dan Marino "fake spike" game in which the Dolphins ended up winning, crushing the Jets. They lost five straight to end the season, and Carroll got fired. Thus began the Rich Kotite Era.]
-The year Vinny Testeverde took over (1998) and lead the Jets to a 12-4 record, their first ever division title. The Jets are the franchise who took the longest time to win their first division title. Their game against the Jaguars, in which Keyshawn Johnson had a touchdown reception, ran a touchdown in, threw a touchdown pass, intercepted a pass and returned for a touchdown, and blocked a punt for a safety. [It didn't really happen like that, but it is probably the fondest memory I have. The next week the Jets blew the lead against the Broncos, and missed their chance to get to the Super Bowl. Still they were the favorites to make it to the Super Bowl in 1999. Until the first half of the first game, when Vinny Testeverde suffered a season-ending injury.]
-In 2002, Chad Pennington took over as Jets quarterback after a slow 1-4 start. He looked great. At this point in the season, the Jets played an overrated Chargers team that started like 5-1. The Chargers were 13 point favorites. My friend and I bet some big dough on the Jets. The Jets blew out the Chargers, and we celebrated.
Later on that year, Chad lead them to the playoffs. The Jets were underdogs to Peyton Manning and the Colts. Big underdogs, like 10 points. Peyton Manning? That dude ain't ever won anything in his life. We went to try to double our winnings from earlier that season. By the time the game had started, we had bet a combined $1,000 between the two of us. Pretty soon the Jets were up like 31-0, and we were on the bus to Atlantic City before halftime was even over. [The Jets got blown out by the Raiders the next week, and I'm been a gambling feen since. I will add, however, that while I have never won that much money again on a bet, I've never lost it, either. Oh, and the Jets were once again Super Bowl favored at the start of 2003, when Chad Pennington get injured in the 1st game.]
-After Chad recovered, he lead the Jets to a 10-6 record in 2004. The Jets were playing a favored Chargers team (what were they, 12-4 that year) in San Diego. My third biggest bet ever (after the two 2002 bets) was for on the Jets to cover (they were like +7.5 to the Chargers). They ended up winning. I can at least take some solace in that my three biggest bets have all won (knock on wood). [Though I was vacation on a remote island off the coast of Puerto Rico (Vieques), I still found a TV to watch the Jets game against the Steelers. Despite having two chances to win the game, Doug O'Brien missed two field goals. The Steelers ended up winning.]
That's it for the great moments. The Jets made the playoffs last season, got stomped by the Pats in the 1st round. Boomer Easison threw for 500+ yard one game - I remember that.
Oh, and the last game of the Kotite Era sticks out, too. Though he had already resigned (he was too nice to let Leon Hess have to fire him), Kotite coached the last game against the Lions. Completely meaningless, but the team played hard to try to win the game for him. They really did, for the most part. Playing the hardest was Wayne Chrebet, a guy who would never had made the NFL had it not been for Kotite giving a walk on a fair shot. As the Jets were driving with the clock running down (less than a minute left), Chrebet made a nice catch and was trying to get extra yards, trying to get closer to the end zone for the win. He was stripped of the ball, and the Lions recovered. He looked as disappointed as any player you'll ever see. I guess he really did want to win that game, and it makes me almost want to cry thinking about it.
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The Jets always make me want to cry.
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What was left of the crowd on Sunday filed out after JP Losman threw a prayer that somehow was caught by Bills receiver Lee Evans. It broke a 6-3 game wide open, with less than two minutes to go. Actually, it wasn't the Bills receiver who initially caught the ball... Jets corner Darelle Revis caught it, but Jets nickleback Abram Elam (Revis' teammate) nailed him with the best tackle of the game:
That video was found via The Jets Blog.
There isn't much to add. The crowd was filing out quietly and quickly, when someone behind me screamed "#1 pick next season". Even that isn't a real option - the Dolphins and Rams have the advantage. But no one ever got excited to have the #3 pick.
Then again, what is there to get excited about? A coach who went from "genius" last season (I never brought the hype, though I did think he was a smart coach) to being openly and quietly questioned by his own team.
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But the problem with being a Jets fan isn't this season. It's every season. I suppose we did win a Super Bowl in 1969. A great one, one that should leave Jets fans content for their lives. If they were lucky enough to be around to enjoy that one.
For fans like me, we don't have that to keep us happy. We don't have much by way of "good" memories. And I've been watching the Jets for over 20 years now. I am getting a little cranky. Yes, I think they'll still win something in my lifetime. But I'm starting to worry that I won't care by the time they do.
But I will care. Because that's what Chained Fandom is about.
Hey, it could be worse. I could be a Bills fan... imagine rooting for a team that just fell short... four times... in a row. A team whose best player in their franchise is:
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Weird shit, SML - my dad is a Giants/Mets guy, but he didn't tell me that until I was like 10. And by that time, I had already decided on being a Jets/Yankees guy due to the fact that he had taken me to a Jets game when I was like 4, and the Yankees had already won the World Series in 96.
Not quite as random as just picking underdogs, but there are practically no Jets/Yankees people out there.
We follow two cursed teams: the Knicks and Jets have the longest dry streaks in their respective sports, at least for teams that have won titles. Depressing.
Wow, Barnesgasm. Thus proving that we are probably related in real life....
Last line: ouch. Well, I'll see your OJ and raise you drunk joe namath, drunk bryan cox, hanging chad's arm..... crap, this is getting pathetic. The bills are still gonna beat you this year.
Also: JJ, you can got to hell. And get me a waffle.
Your info is a little off on some of the points regarding your 1986 Jets. First off, the MNF against the Dolphins you refered to was actually 51-45, and not in fact on Monday Night. The MNF game you confused it with was later in the season. Though, I understand why you blocked it out of your mind, being that the Jets were embarassed by the Dolphins 45-3. And the last thing you got wrong...? Never in his wildest dreams was Ken Obrien better than Marino...
SML, I shudder at how well said that last sentence is.....
I was a Bills fan since Jim Kelly was a rookie QB . Four Superbowl appearances, no ring. After years of suffering, I gave up on the Nils before this season. Everyone with talent fled the team. They made the absolute worst coaching and drafting decisions possible over the last seven years. I've suffered enough.
So GO JETS! They should dismantle J.P. Losman and the Nils. You stand a better chance of being at a winning game than I do this week, as my Eagles play the Cowboys and I'll be there. Enjoy your game, SML!