Just for fun. Everyone who has bled the green for long enough has had one bad player who they just loved when that player was on the team. You just rooted for them because you were a fan, you may have known they sucked, or you may have deluded yourself in to thinking he could be great or was great in your mind. I'd like to keep this topic away from Current Jet players and players who have recently been Jets within the last year or two because the memories are too fresh and hurt often too deep. For me there really were 3 players who qualify for this. The first is the one who fooled me. Matt Robinson QB 1978. Yeah I knew he was bad that year but you saw that arm and his ability to just bomb away and thought "the Next Broadway Joe"...Loved him, for all of one season But that one season of watching him bomb away was a blast. Hey I was 17 and at that point just loved the excitement. The one I knew who sucked but hoped that he would get to where he would have the switch magically turn on to become good. This belongs to Johnny Lam Jones. he was a deep threat with speed to burn...he had all the tools....except hands...you just kept thinking "if only"....but man.... And the one who broke my heart and I loved no matter how bad he was. Richard Todd was a turnover machine, and not real accurate....but he was at that time, the only Jets QB to help the Jets to the playoffs not named Namath. He "led" the Jets to the AFC Championship game and laid a total egg with 5 interceptions in the game. Just broke my heart and it's one of the few times you can truly say that one player really did lose a playoff game almost single handed. Bare in mind the Dolphins turned the ball over 4 times in that game but the pick 6 that Todd threw just put the game totally out of reach...in a 14-0 loss....my heart still bleeds from that game...but no matter how bad he was, he was my QB during most of my Highschool years and early College.
I still love Sanchez. Just seems like a really likable and charismatic guy. Bad football player for us, but I hope to see him succeed somewhere. I rooted for him the whole time and hoped he would someday put it together as a Jet. He never did and when it was time to move on, we did. No hard feelings for him, especially since he actually did do some good over his career here. Unfortunately, this sounds a lot like what is going to happen with Rex in the short future. His flaws are starting to wear on the fan base who basically just want to see something changed at this point. Not saying they're right or wrong, but it looks like his time is coming. Another guy I'll root for elsewhere and will go down as one of my favorites, even if he does go out in disgrace. EDIT: I'll throw Penny into this mix too, because he actually was pretty bad for a little while (after the injuries) although that's hard for me to admit. Pennington is my favorite Jet period.
I liked some of the "bad guy Jets" that helped us win but were unappreciated because of their attitude. Keyshawn Johnson and Mark Gastineau are two examples.
Chad Pennington. After the terrible qbs we've had here as of late, Pennington is now revered as a great memory, but that's not exactly what he was. When we drafted him in the 1st round, I've had so much hope for him. He was a smart guy, worked hard, took his time to learn, very humble, seemed like a leader. I couldn't wait to put him in over Testaverde, whom I just couldn't stand after a while because he was always good for a couple of picks (which now of course seems like a huge step up ). Anyway, Pennington goes in finally, has some nice games, but then everybody in the league figures out that he can't throw deep at all. Teams start bringing everybody up near the line of scrimmage, and suddenly he can't do much. Then the injuries started, but even without them, I don't think he would've ever been a good QB just because of the arm strength issues. He might have worked for a team with a really dominant defense as a game manager, but even those need to throw deep sometimes to keep the defense honest. Still, I always liked Pennington.
You go back a little further than me but I started at the end of the Todd years My guy is Erik McMillan I wouldn't say he sucked but after his 1st 2 seasons in the league you thought he was going to be a Hall of Fame player. I don't know if it's an indictment of how pathetic our franchise is or how good he was or could have been based on his 1st 2 seasons with the Jets he's probably the 2nd best DB we've ever drafted. Then something happened in his 3rd season, he went from being defensive rookie of the year, 2 time pro bowler to garbage. I guess they say he was a bad apple but he's a guy who had it all. He'd have a bust in Canton if he could have kept it together. He only played 5 years with the Jets but man he was an absolute playmaker. He was essentially benched by his 4th season but in 3 seasons he had multiple TD's about 20 INTs and a bunch of sacks to go with some fumble recoveries. He was a guy who truly broke your heart as a fan because he showed you how absolutely amazing he could have been only for it to be stolen away from us for whatever reason. To this day his ball skills and ability to get to the QB remind me of Ed Reed.
Otis "Toast" Smith. He was so bad that it became a running joke for me and my buddies every time he was in single coverage. That dude got burnt, period. Then he goes to patsies and actually plays somewhat decent SMH.
Easy pick for me. Erik McMillan. I dubbed him "the Milkman," after Karl "the Mailman" Malone, because of the sound of his name, and because he "always delivered"... ...until, after two pro bowl years, it turned out that he wasn't really any good at football. edit: whoa, you beat me to it, Barry! lol. There ya go. A man after my own heart.
Blair Thomas. Only the Jets would identify RB as their biggest need position on a bad team with an aging beat up quarterback the coach hated even though they had the still serviceable Hector and McNeil on the roster. Then they draft a RB 3rd overall and in Bruce Coslet's ultimate wisdom proceed to bury Thomas 3rd on the depth chart. If you weren't going to build your offense around him why are you taking him so high? You waited a year to fill the QB position with Browing Nagle who was the Geno Smith of the Grunge Era. SMH.
Aaron Beasley David Clowney Octavius Cash (did he ever make regular season roster? I'll never forget him from preseason games, that name is so great)
