Hall of Famer Thinks Joe Klecko Deserves To Be In

I'm 34. And I think you're a troll.

 

Fuck you very much.

 

There is a weird virus floating around us. Sports is an outlet. You're a prick to harp over someone for the initials of DM in a Klecko thread I never knew Maynard with Namath ever played with Klecko of the 80s. To make a big deal about something so petty is a head scratcher. It's FA time and I haven't seen any olineman from JD yet who the heck cares about DMs initials? It's 2020.

 

I saw Klecko play. He was one of the best defensive linemen I've ever seen play the game. If you didn't see that when he was playing, well that was your eyesight not his play.

 

A little before my time but my older brother loved Mark Gastineau the most seasons of 13.5 sacks, 19.0 sacks & a record breaking 22 sacks. Both were obvious animals I like to think.

 

I watched them both play and I can tell you that Mark Gastineau was a good but not great player who had as many issues against the run as he had strengths against the pass. He frequently overran the play allowing a RB to get outside and then sometimes was able to catch him 6 yards down the field from behind. He was a solid player but not the three-dimensional piece that Joe Klecko was.

Anywhere you put Klecko on the defensive front he became the problem the offense worked to counter. When he was inside he was a dangerous pass rusher who could take two men to the QB in 2 seconds. When he was outside, on the strongside against the RT and TE, he was a premier pass rushing threat who kept the TE in much longer than he was supposed to be. You couldn't chip Klecko and do much of anything, you had to stick with the block for a couple of seconds to help your RT out. Sometimes it just didn't matter and he was going to get under both of you push you out of the way and get the QB anyway. When he was on the weakside he was a nightmare for most of the LT's he faced. He was stronger than them and he was also quicker than most of them.

The only DT's that I ever saw that were as good as Klecko were Joe Greene and Reggie White. I don't know that I've ever seen a DE that was a better two way player than Klecko. As a NT he was a violent twitch player, undersized for the position but with an incredible ability to split a guard and center and stop a RB in his tracks. He was harder to get a hold of than most guys and a lot of the time a planned double team broke down just because he used one of the two players against the other and got his path anyway.

That he is not in the Hall of Fame is attributable to a variety of factors beyond his control and a couple that he caused. The factors beyond his control include the injuries, which took him down during several big seasons. They include playing in NYC in a phenomenal era which included Mark Gastineau opposite him, Lawrence Taylor across town and both NY teams in the Super Bowl talk for half a decade with only one fulfilling all the hype.

Klecko's choice during his career to consistently praise others and the team instead of seeking that attention himself while Gastineau always hyped himself up in a vacuum - well, that hurt some with the backpage tabloids gravitating towards the more quotable person as they always do.

Then there was the post-career fall of a conviction for perjury in front of a grand jury relating to insurance fraud in Pennsylvania. The crime was relatively minor but it definitely had an impact on HoF voters in Klecko's first years of eligibility, which are the best chance to get elected to the Hall of Fame.

There are many scenarios in which Joe Klecko makes the Hall of fame off of what was a truly remarkable career. Unfortunately the odds look remote now as the impact that he had on the field fades from living memory and his case grows colder so to speak.

There are some guys that you forget over the years even if they were good players. When I close my eyes I can see Joe Klecko lining up for the Jets and remember the feeling that gave me all those years ago: something bad was about to happen to the other team and it was going to be a helluva lot of fun watching it all go down.

 

Duh i doubt if my eyesight is involved in off sides or illegal procedures\. Losses due to his penalties is not poor eyesight just a FACT

 

Again, you're just wrong here.

Joe Klecko played 4 full seasons after 1980. In those 4 seasons he played DE, DT in a 4-3 front and NT. In all 4 of them he was a Pro Bowler. In two of them he was All-Pro.

His 20.5 sacks in 1981 were widely considered the NFL record at that point although the record was not kept until a year later. Some considered Deacon Jones to be the single season record holder with a couple of unrecorded 20 sacks seasons in a 14 game season in the late 60's and this was not an unreasonable stance either.

The thing about those great seasons is that they followed some really good ones in 1979 and 1980 when the Jets defense was largely anonymous along with the guys who were the mainstays in it. Klecko started 32 games in 1979 and 1980 when the opposition had respectively a 3.4 and a 3.8 yards per carry average with 500+ carries both seasons. By the time the Sack Exchange burst onto the scene in 1981 they already had a rep as being able to stop the run and a big part of that was two good DT's and a weakside end who you could not run against. The Jets stank during '79 and '80 because their QB sucked and the defensive backfield was in constant flux. However the foundation was laid for them to be a great defense as soon as they found good defensive backs to pair up with the talent in the front seven.

That Klecko could not stay healthy playing the way he did is not surprising. Very few 260 lb guys could handle being double-teamed on the majority of the downs they played and stay healthy in that scenario. Joe Greene played at 275 lbs. Reggie White at 290. They got that kind of attention also but they were just a bit bigger than Klecko.

When guys like Dwight Stephensen and Joe Delamellieure, who actually played against Joe Greene and Reggie White, say that Joe Klecko had a similar impact I believe them. I saw him play for a decade and he was always the strong point on the LOS with a lot of talent playing alongside of him. He was the guy offenses double-teamed constantly, because if they didn't do that, if they let him go for a play he'd wreak havoc in the pocket and they'd come right back to the double team again. You had to over-man him to have a shot at breaking even.

 

But his eyes don't lie and those offsides man, he seen them and once seen, they can't B unseen or forgotten about 40 years L8R (@championjets69 -you can have that one for free, another two taps saved, you can thank me L8R)

 

Joe Klecko is absolutely a border line HOF player.

 

. .Give my regards to that piece of shit Don Hasselbeck (I'm sure your eyesight remembers him & Klecko that day in Foxborough like it was yesterday).

. ."..ball's snapped, placed down and booted.....it's high enough, deep enough, and good. Curley Johnson's kicked his 3rd FG of the game and the Jets now lead the Colts 16-0..."

.

 

Actually you and DWC escalated this whole thing by being butt hurt over my initial rather non agressive comment that read "Not sure how you can have Boozer as your avatar, but do not know who DM is" This came as part of a comment that read in part" To me the only good players such as JWN. Boozer, Snell Sauer, DM came from 68 team which won SB3 After that glory trip it has all dumpster FB IMHO . Notice the term 68. Also notice the use of initials. For your buddy DWC NM, AC were not part of the 68 Jets, duh, so why would he mention those players in a conversation about 68 Jets. So, in parting, none of this would have happened if either of you just took enough time to read the details before commenting. By the way, most of the other stuff you both wrote such as "he (meaning me) doesn't even have a Jets related avatar sounds so 4th grade ish. Over and out.

 

Klecko made the Pro Bowl at 3 positions which at the time and now is unheard of the guy was an absolute stud and he played hurt too many times to count.

 

And he was almost as good as guys who actually went into the HOF at his 3 positions. Granted he was as good as Dan Hampton maybe a little better. Hampton doesn't belong in the HOF in my opinion. He is because he was on what many people consider the best championship D in modern football.

Klecko was a 2 time all pro. He made the pro bowl 4 times. He played on a good not great teams and had 1 sack in 5 playoff games. He played in an era with a lot of really good DL men. Many of them were just as good, some of them were better and many of them who went into the HOF won championships. Some went in some didn't. Klecko could go in or not because he's borderline. He hasn't been cheated of anything.

3 of the 4 Jets in the HOF won SB. Martin didn't but Joe Klecko's career isn't comparable to Martin's. Winston Hill on the other hand was great and in the SB against what at the time was considered the best D in modern football completely dominated the game. He was robbed of going in when he was alive.

As a Jets fan it would be nice to see him go in. As an avid fan of NFL football who thinks the HOF has more players in who shouldn't be in I have no issue with Klecko not getting in.

 

That was Mike Hickey/Walt Michaels from 1977 going forward. They found a lot of gems....Klecko, Dan Alexander, Shuler, Lance Mehl.....also drafted Powell and Ward first round in back to back years to solidify the OL. Picking OBrien over Marino was the beginning of the downfall although OBrien was a good QB in his own right - by the time he became a starter the OL was beginning to age out. And he took the punishment. I’ve wondered over the years how Marino would have fared playing behind that OL in the cold.....