• Wesley Walker, WR, #85. • 6'0, 179lbs. • Born in San Bernardino, CA (05/26/1955). • Went to College @ California. • NYJ: 2nd Round, 33rd Overall (1977). • 13 years (1977-1989). • 438 receptions (27 playoff receptions). • 8,306 receiving yards (486 playoff yards). • 71 TD receptions (3 postseason TD's). • 2x Pro-Bowler. • 1x First team All-Pro. • 2 seasons of top 10 receiving yards. • 5 seasons of top 10 TD receptions. Walker was known for having elite speed and other than being an NFL warrior, I'm honestly not sure how he survived, let alone put up that type of production; while playing with a handicap such as being legally blind in one eye (his left eye) Like Al Toon; Wesley Walker was a little before my time but nonetheless an All-Time great NYJet and me being born in 85' really juat makes me want to go out and get a #85 Wesley Walker jersey (to hang up on my wall).
Fred Baxter. #84. Drafted by the Jets (out of Auburn) during the 5th round of the 1993 NFL draft (115th overall). Played as a Jet from 1993-2000. Imo he's one of the more underrated Jets of All-Time. He wasn't much of a pass catching threat but he was one hell of a run blocking TE.
I don't remember him, either. I googled him and see that he played for 5 seasons, from 1970 - 74. He was with the team in 1975, but missed the whole season after tearing his achilles tendon on his first play of the '75 season. He also suffered a career-ending injury in the 1976 season opener versus the Cardinals on a crack-back block. It appears no stats were kept before 2001 on defensive players (how weird). Was he any good?
I loved me some Sideline Santana!! Ranked 41st All-Time in receiving yards (10,283) and pound for pound one of the most explosive NFL receivers this game has ever seen. Dynamic and electric are the words that I'm looking for. Was also an NFL top 100 Punt Returner and as of today ranks 29th All-Time in average yards per punt return. u Me being an FSU fan, i naturally fall in love with these kids from Florida along with their athletic abilities. Fastest & quickest kids in the Country. Santana Moss was the one player i wanted coming out of Miami back in 2001. I remember like yesterday. I was still in High School and became simply estatic once #83 became an N.Y Jet. It then made me sick to not only see this kid leave N.Y for Washington, but also ball out for the Redskins for all of those years later. Made me sick.
I wish he would've spent more time running North than East/West, but he gave us some good times. Got muy excited during the Pitt Champ game, then of course, I had my throat slit by unseen forces.
Back to Sauer, Jr. for a sec. Yet another Alzheimer's casualty. He was a frustrated writer and a very interesting person. He never liked playing, and he more than likely felt psychologically manipulated by his father to take up the mantle. He also had so many concussions, it affected his personality, so there's always that. He was just born different in the first place, and we know what the world thinks of different people. Anyway, there are tons of quotes out there about why he left in his own words, but he probably had something else going on. Feeling manipulated, mild paranoia, that kind of thing. “My passion for the game was not sufficient,” he wrote. “Football is an ambiguous sport, depending both on grace and violence. It both glorifies and destroys bodies. At the time, I could not reconcile the apparent inconsistency. I care even less about being a public person. You stick out too much, the world enlarges around you to dangerous proportions, and you are too evident to too many others. There is a vulnerability in this and, oddly enough, some guilt involved in standing out.” He was terrified of Alzheimer's, which his father succumbed to. And of course, he got it himself, because fate is a cruel mistress. A poem found after his death: "Wind-driven fight blows in my marrow, light narrows and clouds invite. Bent by long shadows, longer time, an old man dances in my heart — his broken brain rattles mine." Bad marriages, erratic behavior, odd jobs, unstable work history, but what upsets me the most is why didn't anyone protect his writing? Who cares if it was questionably good or bad, that is so unforgivably mean. Basically, someone threw it out. In a way, it was a good thing Don Maynard was hurt (SB III). It forced Namath go to the running game, and Sauer made the catches to make that part happen. Namath probably would've slung the ball every which way but loose all game long otherwise, and we'd be talking about the one that got away instead of the only one we got. Thank you, George. I'm glad your tortured brain isn't hurting anymore.
