...just thought I would get an interesting discussion going as to why all of you became Jets fans...you know, the whole "origin story" of how/why you chose to adopt the Jets as your favourite NFL team. I thought this would be an interesting topic, especially since the NY/north Jersey region (where I am assuming most of you were born or grew up) has two teams, so for those of you from this region of the country, why did you choose the Jets over the Giants as your team? I know that people choose teams for all different sorts of reasons. Some just choose their "local team", others adopt whatever team their father pulls for, while still others really like a particular player and just choose his team as their team, others choose a team based solely upon how successful that team is while some of us choose a team based on the BIG picture...the "personality" or "gestalt" of a particular team or organization if you will. For instance, I grew up about 15 minutes away from the Meadowlands in North Arlington, NJ in the mid 80's when both the Jets and the Giants had great teams, but I choose the Bears as my favourite team. There was and is something special about that organization, it's history and tradition, it's classic uniforms, the fact that it plays in Soldier Field which has those distinctive neoclassical columns, the fact that the '85 Bears were the greatest team of all-time etc. which no other organization can match. So anyway, why did you become a Jets fan?
I blame my father. Dad wasn't much of a football fan until Joe Willie signed. Then the entire household changed. Sundays were for football! I was a kid (I'm 60 now) and dad used to take me out to training camp each summer. We collected polaroids of Joe and others over the years. 1969 will forever be ingrained in my memory. The Jets beat Baltimore! The Mets beat Baltimore! The Knicks beat Baltimore! (okay, it was the semi-finals, but still... poor Baltimore). We put a man on the moon and on our way back to Queens from upstate, my dad got this idea to drive through this little town where there was a music and arts festival going on. We got stuck at Woodstock (not the actual concert, in the traffic) for the whole damned day. 1969 - what a year... and it officially started on January 12.
lol, great response, Trainer. That made for a very interesting read. So then I assume you are a Mets fan too? lol.
hahaha, yeah growing up in north Jersey, that seems to be the pattern. Someone is either a Giants/Yankees fan or a Jets/Mets fan. I guess it is the difference between front-runners and folks who are drawn more toward the scrappy underdogs, lol!
I was born just outside of S.E. Philly and was an Eagles fan, a Phillies fan, and then I discovered Mickey Mantle and became a Yankees fan. When I was 11 my family moved to Westchester County and I was ecstatic because we would be living close to Yankee Stadium. I was still an Iggles fan though and so I couldn't root for the Giants. Luckily there was a new league that started up - the AFL - and there was a NY team - the Titans, so I started rooting for them. The became the Jets and I stuck with them and eventually let go of the Iggles. I loved watching those AFL games which were like aerial circuses! Great QBs - Namath, Hadl, Lamonica, Stabler, Dawson, Fouts! Those games were so much more fun that watching "3 yards and a cloud of dust" NFL games. After the Jets beat the Colts in what is still one of the biggest upsets of all time, and forced the merger, I became upset that after Namath left, and Ewbank, and the Jets abandoned their wide open offense for the "traditional" NFL offense. It wasn't a curse cast by Namath that doomed us to wander in the wilderness all these years, it was Hess and his crew that decided to be like the "acceptable" NFL teams. If they are to win again, they need to go back to the Ewbank/Namath formula, especially in this era of the NFL. I sure hope they can finally win another one before I die.
I was 10 years old when they drafted Namath. This is what drew me to becoming a Jet fan. I hate to say this but I was a Giants & Jets fan before the merger. I felt it was OK to like 2 teams with 2 leagues. Then they merged & I dumped the Giants & made the Jets my team.
I guess being a Patriot fan most folks can not believe I am also a Jet fan. I guess my story goes all the way back to 1968 and the Boston Patriots that year sucked. Yes this is not a typo, the Boston Patriots. Everyone assumed the Raiders were going to win the AFL championship game again. Back then you were not just a Pats fan but you were also an AFL fan. Most people talk about the Jets Super Bowl victory over the Colts. But to me the greatest football game ever was the Jets versus the Raiders for the AFL championship. That over the shoulder catch by Maynard in that heavy wind was just incredible, let alone the throw Namath made especially when you consider how hurt he was. Even then I thought the Raiders were going to win that game. But let me start by saying I went from hating Namath and thinking he was a pussy into gaining a lot of respect for him. At first I cheered as the Raiders literally kicked the crap out of him. Besides I disliked the Jets because they were the AFL East Champions and my Patriots sucked that year after a better year the year before. But that Namath dude didn't quit and got back up no matter what. Some of the hits he took that game would today result in players being removed from the game and suspended afterwards. To this day I have no idea how he ever finished that game. He was in a lot of pain and I learned later he had a dislocated finger also. He probably was concussed several times and the Raiders were a dirty football team back then. So during that game I went from rooting for the Raiders to the Jets. When Namath threw that interception to Atkins, Namath made a TD saving tackle and you could see after that tackle he was probably concussed again. Unfortunately for Namath the Raiders still scored a TD afterwards to take the lead. But you all know the story of the drive, the unbelievable catch and throw between Namath and Maynard. The fact that Maynard was able to get free from Atkins who played a real bump and run, not that wimpy football you see today. The final TD catch by Maynard that gave the Jets the final lead. But the game was not over yet. The Raiders had a QB name Lamonica, and it sure looked like they were driving to a winning score. Then came that weird pass that was a lateral and a fumble for the Jets! Who would have guessed the game would end that way. Afterwards I was not surprised to see the Jets win the Super Bowl? After beating the Raiders, to me that was more important than a Super Bowl back then. I guess at that moment I was hooked as a Jet fan. I also must admit that I was a big Don Maynard fan who always had some witty thing to say. For example when talking about the Super Bowl years later, he said a lot of players want the ring, I just want the 15 thousand. I believe he is the greatest receiver ever in Jet history, and in another Jet forum I almost went ballistic when someone suggested Marshall was best Jet's receiver ever. Oddly enough over the years Jet fans would come to Foxboro and we all got along. I remember one great game between Namath and Plunkett and how Pats and Jet fans partied afterwards. I know you all might find this hard to believe, but I guess you had to be there back then. I also discovered back then that many Patriot fans were Namath and Jet fans also. So I wasn't the only weird one back then. Now I have to take shit from both Patriot and Jet fans accusing me of either lying or being some kind of weirdo. To me the fact that people today can't enjoy differing point of views whether they be politics or sports, just goes to show how this country has declined socially and intellectually. go Jets!
My extended family are all hardcore Giants fans and I hate most of them so being a Jets fan made sense at the time. A lot of other shit that made sense when I was 10 hasn’t stood the test of time. The Jets win over the Phins in the last week of the 91’ season was the clincher. First game I decided to actively watch from start to finish.
Old age alert. Everyone I knew was Giant fan so I wanted to be different. When the Jets drafted Joe Namath I was on board.
Curtis Martin was my favorite player when I started following the NFL and made me gravitate to the Jets. I had no idea what I got myself into.
Something happened on January 12, 1969. Can't quite remember but I think it's important to my fanhood.
Thanks for the background info. Knowing now that you're a "lifer" like me puts your dual fanhood into perspective.
Born in Oceanside in '68, unfortunately I started following them as Joe Willie was already on his downward slide, probably around '75. Been a sadist ever since...
When my father and uncle took me to my 1st game (at Shea), Joe Namath (post-SB) threw a TD. I'll never forget it. I was hooked after that.
I have a younger bro w special needs.Without going into too many details there werent alot of things in my house even for a 5 year old that were my own both property & conceptually. Father & grandfather(Born & raised in Pittsburgh) were Steeler fans. Mother’s side are not big sports fans other than Red Sox but were fair weather Patriot fans. No lie I can still picture the early 1980s Patriots glass set my grandparents had. I detested the logo.Further i think that side of the family’s apathy for the sport in general further made the Patriots out of the question for my young mind. The steelers were a real possibility. But any hope my father had at winning me over ended when i saw those Jets unis for the first time.A blowout loss against the Cowboys..sometime between 86-88.I loved the color green to the point of obsession.And these unis (and guys on the team) were much cooler than the Eagles or Packers of the time. Also liked the fact that they are somewhat local (3rd in the pecking order & crapped on then & 10 fold now).But best of all..they were all mine! No one in my family or anyone else i knew liked the Jets.And from my perspective that was all the more appealing..From that day on the Jets were my team & sports obsession.Glow in the dark Ken O’brien PJs & all! Its safe to say i hated the patriots before i loved the jets..but the gang green was love at first sight.
I used to play Madden on like a sega dreamcast at a family friends house when I was around 5 years old. I liked airplanes and the Jets were decently rated back then. I always picked them because a Jet is an airplane. I then learned every players name and started religiously following them ever since.
Weird how I randomly became a Jets fan. I was always a fan of Brett Favre growing up, but not much into football. It wasn't until my junior year of high school (2008) when I became interested in football. Coincidentally, that is when I learned that Brett Favre was going to the Jets. I watched the Jets that year, and ultimately became a fan of the team in 2009....Mostly because I learned the team was getting a new head coach (Rex Ryan) and then they drafted Mark Sanchez. The back to back AFC Championships were a fun ride though....... Now I'm here....lol Also, learning about the team history was also why. Mostly because of how they were underdogs. I guess that was the selling point, being a fan of a team that didn't win too much. I think it's because of having 'hope' that they will some day win a Superbowl, and the amount of satisfaction it would bring.
A young kid at school was utterly useless at all sport, was into American football and used to stay up late and listen to the results etc, this will have been 83-84ish he brought a football in to school and we all picked a team, being the cool cunt I obviously choose the best team in the Jets. #stillwaiting
