New York Jets. Meaning in football. NFL. Definition. Wiki. Terms

Franchise history

The franchise history dates to 1959. The sports broadcaster Harry Wismer announced the state is ready to have another football franchise. He counted on the AFC franchise to create the potential rivalry between the available Giants and the potential new team. Thus, the Titans had appeared and started in the AFC competition.

In 1962, Wismer started to suffer from financial problems. AFL took financial aid to save the team in the current season. These peculiarities forced the owner to sell the team to syndicate under Sonny Werblin’s heading. The new owner relocated the team closer to the LaGuardia Airport and renamed it Jets. That name perfectly rhymed with the New York Mets baseball team who used Shea Stadium, too. Jets moved there in 1964 after four seasons at Polo Stadium.

These problems affected the team’s performance in the regular seasons. They took second to fourth places in the division. The first success came in 1968. They won the division and later the league, advancing to the first Super Bowl. Their NFL opponent was the Raiders. The Jets defeated them. This Super Bowl is the single trophy in their history. The Jets reached the playoff the next season but lost to Western silver winner Kansas City Chiefs, who later qualified for the Super Bowl and won it.

This team has never reached the Super Bowl after the merger with the NFL. They competed for the AFC Championship twice but lost them. The average place is third without any chances to get Wild Card qualification. Despite this, some Jets performers get the awards as best players, primarily Rookie of the Year.

Ownership changes

Despite 5 people in Werblin’s syndicate, he started to build the independent policy when the franchise became profitable. The partners Leon Hess, Townsend B. Martin, Philip H. Iselin, and Donald C. Lillis forced him to sell his part to them or share the profit between the partners. Werblin resisted the ultimatum but had to agree on the conditions. The former head of the syndicate remained involved in sports, contributing to the New Jersey Sports Authority.

Leon Hess fought for improvements related to the Jets. The owner of gas stations has controlled the state of affairs since that year. He spent 8 years to buy the partners’ shares. Usually, he wasn’t interested in football but took all losses hard. He wanted results now after the 6-10 1995 season. The Jets wanted to please their 80-year owner, but Leon Hess died, and his dream wasn’t reality.

Hess corporation listed the Jets for sale. The buyer became Woody Johnson, whose grandfather ran the famous Johnson & Johnson corporation. The team has been under the Johnson family until now. Woody Johnson left the football decisions to the management team, thinking about promotional and administrative policies. In 2017, US President Donald Trump sent him as the country’s ambassador to the United Kingdom. Woody delivered control over the team to his brother Christopher.

Rivalries

The team has strong and interesting rivalries with its opponents. But one of the most important is the rivalry with New York Giants. These teams play annually in the preseason. Their regular season matches are rare due to schedule formula, so this causes the question about real Big Apple rivalry or MetLife cup because both teams share MetLife Stadium. The teams didn’t meet in the Super Bowl due to the poor results of the Jets in the regular season.

Another rivalry is related to New York state. The Buffalo Bills meet the Jets twice per year. It truly shows the difference between the state and the city. The author could call it Empire Derby due to Amtrak service riding between these two cities. Some experts consider this rivalry uncompetitive, but there are some notable moments. Bills’ running back O.J. Simpson broke the record of rushing yards in the game between the opponents. The 1981 Wild Card game was the first playoff game between two teams from one state – New York. And it’s a single playoff between them in the rivalry history.

The next major intradivisional rival is the New England Patriots. This rivalry started in the 1960s and was docile in this period. For example, the Jets’ victory in 1966 removed the Massachusetts team from the playoff campaign. Jets won the AFL championship but lost Super Bowl I. The Patriots revenged in 1985, chasing the Super Bowl XX.

There were two major incidents in the rivalry history. The first happened in 2001 when LB Mo Lewis tackled the quarterback Drew Bledsoe and caused him internal bleeding. Tom Brady replaced him and became the starting quarterback, leading the team to six Super Bowls. The Spygate incident occurred in 2006 after Eric Mangini, Bill Belichick’s assistant in Foxborough, became the head coach of the Jets. The NFL discovered that the Patriots secretly taped the opponents’ signals. The Spygate incident strengthened the tensions between the rivals.

The rivalry between the Dolphins and Jets are much quieter than other in this series. Both teams had improbable victories. Everybody remembers the famous Fake Spike play, helping the Dolphins to win their away game in 1994. The Jets responded with Giants stadium’s Monday Night Miracle in the 2000 game. The hosts trailed 30-7 but succeeded to score 23 points in the fourth quarter. The single field goal in overtime decided the fate of the game.

Players

Like most of the teams, NYJ has many famous players. For example, quarterback Joe Namath and wide receiver Don Maynard preserved their numbers and were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Legendary quarterback Brett Favre played for the Jets in the 2008 season. Joe Klecko also has the honor to keep his number 73 in the Jets.

The number of players who have retired their numbers and executives but didn’t get the Hall of Fame record. The defensive end Dennis Byrd left behind this honor. It is an exciting fact that Dennis left without a Ring of Honor, unlike his partners in the retired numbers list. Leon Hess has this ring but didn’t join the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Even more, no Jets owners are present in the list.

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