I Have A Feeling I Would Have Loved Ken O'Brien

Discussion in 'New York Jets' started by The Dark Knight, May 14, 2020.

  1. jetophile

    jetophile Bruce Coslet's Daughter

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    Just the thought of Ken O'Brien makes my knees buckle.





    (^Old Jets joke^)

    That was my one big hit on him. Rarely threw the ball away, held the ball too long, and took the sack. It was maddening. I think I yelled, "THROW IT AWAY!" so many times during his career my dog thought it was his name. I mean, how could you NEVER improve on that?! It was like he had a mental block or something.
     
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  2. Snatch Catch

    Snatch Catch Well-Known Member

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    Al Toon was briefly in that "best WRs in football conversation" in an era that also included prime Jerry Rice. A supremely talented wideout. He just took way too much punishment.

    Walker is my favorite Jet of all time though, and I made him the subject of my avatar here when I decided to create one. You probably already know it, but if not, the fact that he was blind in one eye is up there with the single most incredible/unbelievable physical stories in sports history to me. Similar to Jim Abbot becoming a dominant pitcher and making the Major Leagues with only one hand - but maybe even crazier.

    Being blind in one eye is a major impairment, but not an insurmountable one for a professional athlete. You could probably play on either side of the line in football if you were talented enough, maybe also play in the NBA, mainly because the need for depth perception isn't paramount there. But I can think of no other position in sports that relies more heavily on depth perception then "vertical/deep threat WR" in the NFL. And Walker not only made it the NFL as one, but became one of the best in the whole league at it, making both All-Pro and Pro Bowl in his career, and leading the league in both receiving yards AND yards per catch in seasons.

    Try standing stationary, closing one eye, and having someone throw a tennis ball right to you in an easy looping arc from 20 yards away. It's crazy difficult with no depth perception.

    Now imagine that eye is still shut and it's a football being thrown. And it's a 50 yard bomb. And you're facing away from the ball. And you're running full speed. And there's a defender draped on you. And there's thousands of people screaming and waving in the background. And you have no depth perception.

    Somehow, and I still have trouble wrapping my mind around it almost 40 years later, Walker became one of the best deep threats in the NFL like that. He's 12th all-time in league history with a 19.0 career YPC. It makes no sense, but is such an awesome NYJ memory/fact to have.
     
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  3. KWJetsFan

    KWJetsFan Well-Known Member

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    I know I posted this before but it always makes me laugh.
    I still remember a game where Pat Ryan got injured and as Kenny is running on the field, Marv Albert says, "And here comes Ken O'Brien for his weekly beating."
    Poor Kenny.
     
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  4. mrjet80

    mrjet80 Well-Known Member

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    Geez....O’Brien subbing for Ryan....I don’t remember that quote.
     
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  5. hornblower

    hornblower Well-Known Member

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    I was there. My car died on the way home. But I was still smiling.
     
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  6. The Dark Knight

    The Dark Knight Well-Known Member

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    Great post. That truly is remarkable. I wish I could have seen him play live.
    That's awesome! Sorry about your car, but the rest of the day was amazing! :)
     
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  7. Sandman

    Sandman Well-Known Member

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    Ken O'Brien is pretty much why I am a Jets fan. Coming from the UK there was no allegiance to any team, but I watched a Jets v Patriots game and was down with Kenny from that point. A few weeks later I had a Jets Jersey ( very hard to get in the UK in the 80's ) with O'brien on the back. The years of misery were ahead of me, who knew ;)

    Still have a massive soft spot for him and always will. He was not mobile, not many QB's back then were. Kind of like Bret Favre in that he was always trying to make a play, sometimes too long. We had some real Star players then with the Sack Exchange and Al Toon and Walker etc. Its why I still love those uniforms even though people only seem to associate them with the 90's version that we sucked in for years.

    When you look back at the QB's we have had since, he stacks up pretty well. I think only Pennington has come close for amount of seasons and play. Testeverde had a good year etc. he should definitely be held in higher esteem in my opinion.
     
  8. KWJetsFan

    KWJetsFan Well-Known Member

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    I can't remember if O'Brien was already banged up or if he was just playing so poorly that they benched him for Ryan at that point.
    It's funny, every time Ken O'Brien comes up when I'm watching a game with my dad whether it's in person or over the phone, that is the first thing both of us bring up. Neither of us ever forgot that and we both remember laughing so hard we cried.
     
  9. K'OB

    K'OB 2021 TGG Fantasy Football Champ

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    I have a feeling Dan fucking Marino also wouldn't have liked being sacked 62 times.
    He must just love counting all his rings, I mean he has some right? He guarantees success in so many Jets fans eyes it is unbelievable.
     
    #29 K'OB, May 15, 2020
    Last edited: May 15, 2020
  10. azhar80

    azhar80 Well-Known Member

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    Kenny O is the beginning of my Jet love. He had a great arm, and even a bigger heart on the field. Having a big heart got him and Al Toon hurt. Both would take beatings weekly.

    The main thing I remember about Ken's time with the Jets is... Me being pissed off at the Jets for switching to Browning Nagle... I couldnt stand Nagle and that team. It was obvious Ken was the better QB, but business was priority. Nagle looked good his first game I think and then looked like a combo of Geno and Sanchezs final season... Not pretty!
     
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  11. donkey

    donkey Well-Known Member

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    Well this thread takes me back. I loved the skill position players we had. Toon and Walker were great to watch. I'm gonna mention Freeman McNeil here, though, as he's been missed out. :)
     
  12. ConcordeChops

    ConcordeChops 2018 International Poster Award Winner

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    Kenny O was amazing. A combination of a Hall of Fame arm and Dollar Tree knees.

    If junc was still here he'd be telling us how he wasn't that great and the mid-eighties O-line was perfectly serviceable.
     
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  13. Early 80's

    Early 80's Active Member

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    Being born in WESTERN PA in the early 70's, with dad+mon+bro being a steelers fan and my other brother a seahawk(go figure), in the early 80's, I enjoyed what I read about Broadway Joe and his then swagger and calling his shot against the mighty Colts. I liked that confidence, bravado, as an 11 year old kid in 1982 and that's when I became a fan of the Jets. Having only Antenna TV in western PA, one can imagine my viewing options of the Jets came down to 1 or 2 games a year, but I stuck with "my team" and cherished the few times they were on my tv per season. Seeing Richard Todd perform 82', I remember being in my dad's dodge pickup listening to the 1983 nfl draft and when the jets selected Ken O'Brien, I was like.. WHO TF is this guy???? I had never even heard of the school he was from. hahaha. But sparingly seeing him perform the next couple years on my TV, I always liked Kenny and thus, he was my first ON THE FIELD qb of the Jets that I enjoyed watching, seeing how I hadn't seen Namath play Live.
    A further down memory lane to the Jets of the 80's
    RB- McNeil and J. Hector
    WR- Toon, Walker
    TE- Shuler
    DL- Gastineau + Klecko and the often forgotten M. Lyons
    LB- K. Clifton
    And yes... the legend.. K- Pat Leahy.

    Hence my login name... a western pa kid who chose NOT to be a Steelers fan. Go figure.
     
  14. championjets69

    championjets69 2008/2009 TGG Darksider Award Winner

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    KOB did not have the fire in the belly to B a SB winning QB. I will never forget the play in which he was sneaking to the GL saw a Dplayer coming towards & instead of trying to score just dropped to the ground that is how I remember him :mad:
     
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  15. Red Menace

    Red Menace Well-Known Member

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    Marino had three all pro offensive linemen blocking for him, if he were with the Jets as you said it correctly he probably is not as successful, Marino was just as immobile as Kenny was.

    I liked Kenny, guy threw one of the pretties spirals in the game, like a laser. As everyone said he gave them stability and gave me some great memories.
     
  16. championjets69

    championjets69 2008/2009 TGG Darksider Award Winner

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    Sorry to correct U my memory says that after Jan 12, 1969 the NYJs have won NOTHING so how can U have good memories of a losing FB team? :mad:
     
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  17. jetophile

    jetophile Bruce Coslet's Daughter

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    Only, lol. I can't remember what game it was now probably because my mind is protecting me and I blocked it out, but there was this one game where it was really dry and dusty (away game) and my Daddy was his usual belligerent self once the Jets game started (please note he wasn't belligerent before kickoff). Sometimes he'd get into this zone where you could barely talk to him because he was this deadly combination of focused and angry.

    My Daddy wasn't a "drinker", but he was religious about it when he did do it. Two small glasses of red wine every night at dinner, one gin and tonic every Saturday night in the Summer only (very dry, one olive), and two Pabst Blue Ribbons during football season, including home games. He would make me a partner in crime and have me sneak them in to the game in his binocular case. We never got caught.

    I was 20. I remember that because I was a sophomore in college. Anyway, it was Sackpalooza, but the distinguishing part is that every time Ken O'Brien was in the grasp, he would disappear in a cloud of dust. It was like a cartoon. "Jesus Christ on a stick! What the frig am I watching, a Western?! Any minute now I'm gonna see Buffalo stampeding across the plain!"

    There was my opening, but I waited, I waited to spring like a cat in the grass on a hare. There's Kenny, frozen like a statue, getting bullrushed, holding onto the ball, holding onto the ball, holding onto to the ball, "JESUSCHRISTALLMIGHTYTHROWITAWAY!" Dust storm, and I belt out, "Home, home on the range! Where the deer and the antelope play! Where never is heard, a discouraging word, and the skies are not cloudy ALL DAY!" My Daddy spilled his beer and dropped his Cuban cigar. It's a good thing it wasn't lit.
     
  18. stinkyB

    stinkyB 2009 Best Avatar Award Winner

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    Doubled edged sword..... Big Arm, very accurate..... but being immobile and not throwing the ball away are a bad combo. Dude got smashed way too much (hence low ints also)
    With a good O-line and he was good enough to be the QB of a winning team

    but like Dierking WW was my favorite....... "OBRIIIIIIIEN TO WAAAAAAALKERRRRRR!"
     
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  19. jetstopgun

    jetstopgun Well-Known Member

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    The sad part for a lot of us back then Dan Marino is the only quarterback Ive seen that remind me of Joe Namath....He got back in the pocket very quickly and his release he would get rid of the ball very quickly he was a gunslinger and they both had bad knees..And both from Pennsylvania
     
  20. jetophile

    jetophile Bruce Coslet's Daughter

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