Another fun fact: 33 days later the Denver Broncos clinched their first division title and first playoff appearance. Before that year, Broncos were the losingest franchise in pro football. That '77 Orange Crush Super Bowl year was like nothing before or since ... Denver was still just an overgrown cow-town, so the atmosphere was kinda slack-jaw yokel exciting. Probably like Lincoln Nebraska - after finishing 11-0, and before losing yet another bowl game :smile:
The right coach at the right time can do wonders ... the '77 Orange Crush I just mentioned had a first-year head coach - the loud and fiery Red Miller who had just replaced the much-too-pleasant John Ralston. Not trying to best your 1998, but those two Broncos years, 97 and 98, that offense is underrated in a historical context. I think it ranks among the top 5 or 6 ever: Not only led the league both years despite coasting every 4th quarter, they started five or six Hall of Famers (or HOF caliber) on offense. I'm thinking you guys want to hear more Broncos babble from me ... am I right?
Great story. It's funny how things get set based on your first few experiences. I was 9 or 10 when my uncles finally roped me into watching a Jet game on the old B/W TV. They were pumped about the season coming up. I remember in the first few plays the Jets QB got carted off with a knee injury. My uncles were in mourning. They said Joe Namath was hurt again. I asked "who's Joe Namath?" Little did I know.
Friar Tebow looked decent for 4 mins yesterday, you guys must be excited. *trying to keep a straight face*
always like hearing other ppl's stories about when they became a fan... im 23, so dont have too long of a history... as a real little kid i was always more of a baseball fan, being as small as i was i never thought to play football, and was a prety solid 2nd basemen and leadoff hitter in my years of playing ball... as i was becoming a teenager i remember starting to watch football more and more. my dad is a big jets fan so they were obviously the team of choice. once i started to watch every game, chrebet became my idol. the diving catches, the toughness, him always being the smallest guy on the field really motivated me to give football a shot... ended up trying out for my HS football team and made the team as the smallest player weighing in at a whopping 99 lbs my freshman year... i played receiver all 4 years and swicthing from football to baseball was the best move i ever made... baseball seems so boring after playing and watching football religiously... obviously i dont know what it feels like to win it all being a jets, mets, and rangers fan (was on 7 yrs old in 94 so dont really remember it) i dream of the day we can celebrate a SB victory...
your touching my heart a little bit here as I was at that game and had a very similar story about my dad over the years. Shea was such a great experience, and Ill always remember it with my dad, god rest his soul. Nce story man
That was the score, I remember listening to that game on the radio, it was blacked out on TV. Todd threw for 396 yards that day, the game was the featured game on Inside the NFL and NFL Game of the Week, so I got to see a lot of highlights even though I only heard it live. Walker was my favorite player growing up as well. I was at that game. Carolina's Kevin Greene got a bloody head.
That Friar Tuck 'do is one of the stupidest looks I've ever seen. Not only were there 116 yards passing, two TD passes and a recovered onsides kick in the last four minutes ... Tebow had managed just 24 passing yards before then. Think about that ... 24 total passing yards deep into the 4th quarter.
That's about the time of my first game at Shea. Can't remember it specifically, but I remember having a lot of fun going to games with my dad and sister. I cried a lot watching the Jets in those days, and there is a 100% certainty that I cried after the game you speak of. I was probably one of those kids in front of you who you stole the ball from - I was bullied a lot.
I love seeing these posts cause it gets me reminiscing. I was a casual observer of football since soccer was the #1 sport in my house(Pops is an old school Italian off the boat). Hated the Yanks cause everyone was a fan. I liked the Eagles cause I had a lot of family in Filthydelphia. I was stretching to be different. But I still remember the milestones of the Jets - good or bad - being played out on TV or in news reports. Pledged allegiance to the Jets in 86: Hated that everyone was rooting for the Giants to go to the SB so I took the Jets. eff em' Die Hard follower in 97: My father was a Parcells fan so he followed the coach a little bit. Got tickets to the home game vs Bills. We were singing "Flutie takes it up the ass" in the upper deck with 400 other people. Best time I ever had in a stadium. Bled green ever since.
That was preseason in 1971 against the Lions, I believe. Namath tried to tackle Mike Lucci after throwing an interception and tore his knee in the process
Living in Rochester, NY everybody growing up late 80’s early 90’s was of course a Bills fan. I remember watching Kenny O, Tooooooooon, Shuler, Walker, McNeil, Hector, Clifton, Eric McMillen, D Byrd, ect on TV and falling in love with the Kelly Green. Problem was I always got razzed at school on Mondays because the Jets lost yet again and the Bills were burying teams. Even during the “Joe must Go”, Kotie (the worst years of football I have ever endured) and Costlet years I remained a fan wearing my O’Brien jersey and Jets starter coat to school. My Dad, a Dolphaggs fan bought us season tickets to the Bills as it was only about an hour and a half away. Went to many Bills Jets games (saw Boomer’s career get ended by Bruuuuuuce Smith, the Victor Green game (to clinch the AFC East, and many others at Orchard Park (Didtka and the bears, Cunningham and the Eagles, and of course that Fag Marino. Truth is, I have only been to one Jest game (at the old Meadowlands) and it was with my fiancé before we were engaged a few years back (the overtime game they lost to the Bills). All in all, many memories with this team but the last 3 years have been by far the best for me every as a Jets fan!
Kind of off topic but does anyone notice Sean Gilbert @ the 4:37 mark. none of us even had a clue what his nephew would do for our team a decade later..
I remember watching every week, hoping the Jets would be featured. Harry Kalas was the narrator, his voice was perfect for doing NFL Film work. Mazda ..a great little car or Edge Shave gel were the sponsors. Not that I'm that old, but the younger generation doesn't realize the only NFL highlights we got back then was on your local news for 1 minute or watching Monday Night Fooball halftime with Howard Cosell. With ESPN, FOX, NFLN....we get 24hour coverage.
Yup. Whenever we won I'd try to catch Bill Mazer's Sports Extra Sunday Night on channel 5 at 10:30 and then make it to every local news channel to see the same highlights over and over. Then you had to wait until Thursday for Inside the NFL if you had HBO, or NFL Game of the Week.
