At the time of his retirement, Don Maynard had the most receptions in NFL history. He has to be noted.
Depressing. A lot of the folks mentioned are not in the HoF. Weeb had a losing record =[ Klecko’s ballot time is up. I’m going Broadway Joe followed by Martin. Broadway Joe basically beat the Evil Empire of that era.
If you mean as #1, I would say of course not. He would still deserve to be in the Hall of Fame (people who weren't around to watch the AFL simply can't understand how dominant he was on the field, since looking at the statistics from a modern eye completely obscures it), but in my mind there's no way he could objectively be considered to have had a greater Jets career than people like Maynard, Klecko, Martin, or Mawae without the Super Bowl, and his unquestionable leadership role in winning it (and I don't just mean the guarantee). Namath might very well have been the most talented Jet ever (he's right up there with Revis and Gastineau, I would say), and if he had had five reasonably healthy years in the 1970s like he did in the 1960s he would unquestionably be the greatest Jet ever. Unfortunately he didn't, which is why I put him second on the list behind Maynard.
I'm right beside you on these choices. Add Freeman McNeil, Al Toon, Chad Pennington, Coaches Buddy Ryan, Bill Parcells, Injuries killed my other 3 players... What might have been? Parcells and Ryan had great bodies of work in their careers. Ryan believed defense in football should be as close to 11 on 11 as possible, with pressure on the backfield (run or pass) every play. Parcells built the 80's Giants, Belicheat, and revived Jets football in the late 90's into the 2000's. Namath for everything he did in that era, mainly the guarantee. Gastineau was awesome to watch! That "sack dance" pissed off so many people. His sack record should never have been broken. The way it was broken was B.S.
Player: Klecko, the picture of him shredding his knee and the look on his face. A Warrior. And being in the Ring Of Honor meant everything to him. Coach: Weeb Eubank. Front Office: Owner, Sonny Werblin. We wouldn't be around if it wasn't for him.