I'm not saying those were bad teams, but the Rex teams were built to protect a QB, something Chad could have really really used. That's why in my mind, a young chad with teams Rex had when he joined the Jets, oh man. Those two years 2001 and 2002, Oakland really controlled us. I think the GB/NYJ game, a false start occurred or it was a dead ball situation and the crowd just broke into a HUGE cheer you could hear through the TV. Then the announcers cut to the AV kick and explaining why the crowd was going crazy. My memory could be completely wrong though, but that's how I remember it watching it at home.
Were they showing the Pats/Dolphins game on the scoreboard in the stadium or was it waiting for the ticker to be updated? That was before you could stream the video of a game to your phone and what not
We were in the lot watching it on someone's sat TV--not even someone we knew--someone that was tailgating next to us. We didn't get into the stadium until after the game was over. I actually didn't see the end of it because we started to walk over but the roar in the lot was outstanding. _
My friends dad was on the phone giving us play by play as we were walking into stadium. When the crowd erupted after the FG during a dead ball, It was as loud as I ever heard a Jets game. The players looked like they had no clue wtf we were all screaming for. The rest of the game was one of the greatest parties of my life. The only better stadium feeling I've ever had was the Jax playoff game, which waS the only time as a Jets fan I truly felt we were about to be SB champs. I don't go to games very often anymore but I'm happy I was apart of the four best Jets home games of my lifetime. 1. 98 Jax playoff game 2. 02 GB game 3. 02 Indy playoff game 4. Monday night miracle.
we had excellent OLs in 2002/2004, as good or better than 2009/2010. oak was a bad matchup for us. I believe there was a penalty at the time the crowd roared. no, they showed the made kick after it happened but people were getting the info from radios, handheld TVs and TVs in suites in the stadium that people could look in to.
That's cool, thanks for sharing. It's kind of hard now to grasp we have immediate connection to every other game going on in the league in our pocket now.
It was an amazing day. It was a 4PM game w/ the 2 important games at 1Pm that we needed teams to lose in. We needed either Cle to lose to Atl or Mia to NE. We arrived before the 1PM games and hooked up a TV in the parking lot. It looked like Atl had a great shot but they blew it and NE was down 11 late in the 4th. at that moment I was pissed and didn't even want to go into the Stadium but went anyway. I carried my handheld TV and NE started coming back. Once inside a big crowd gathered around me to watch this tiny little screen. it sore of looked like this: I think NE had tied it, we all went nuts and I went to my seat. Our game was beginning but I never paid attention less to a Jet game that than 1st qtr. No one was paying attention, all we cared about was the NE game. There was a big replay on a Brady pass to one of the RBs that would have put them in FG range, they upheld the catch and moments later Vinatieri kicked the FG(which, by the way, I am still not 100% sure he made) and the meadowlands was as loud at that moment as I ever heard it.
Yeah I still remember hearing the yell through the crowd clearly coming through the TV. Was a fun time since the Jets just shut the door and it was basically a laugher of a game.
True, but as nyjunc mentions below, those stats really need to be put into context. I'll admit to being a bit of a VT fanboy. I love a story like his: guy was literally a laughingstock after TB and considered a failure, but the moment he got out of the mess of a franchise he started looking pretty damn good. And it wasn't like the Browns/Ravens teams he played for were awesome teams either. He just needed SOME other NFL quality players around him and he looked good. Put him on a good team the the Jets in the late 90s and suddenly even an old VT started to look almost HoF quality. I wish the guy had spent a little more of his career on competitive teams because I think he did have it in him to be a winner... mybe I'm looking thru VT colored glasses but I believe that cuz when he took over as the Jets QB it wasn't like anyone thought he was a lock to make us a threat for the SB. And I doubt anyone thought he'd have one of the greatest years any QB has ever had, but he did. All of this is really hindsight. Anyway, this is just my longwinded way of saying I agree with nyjunc. VT got WAY too much blame for TB and it essentially cost him what might have been a great carer instead of just a few good years.
Me too, although I don't know that I recall us being expected to perform quite as well as we did. My recollection is we were w good team that came out kicking names and taking asses! Btw, like you, '98 is one of my all-time fav years of Jets fandom. It made the pain of the Kotite years go away. I think '98 is also why I have my man crush (okay, I admit it) on VT. I felt like the Jets had been really bad for a long time and in comes BP, and soon VT and we are competing for a SB.... I'll never forget that second half implosion in Den tho..... DAMN DAMN DAMN!
I love Chad; dude's got more heart than a slaughterhouse, but there is no way he was better than Namath. I'd give you more accurate as CP was one of the most accurate passers of all time. But that is different. It also means he didn't try to make a lot of throws he couldn't make and, to be fair, there were quite a few throws he couldn't make,
I'm not debating whether it was Vinny's fault or the lack of talent around him on a really bad team, just that you can't mention him in a discussion of the best TB QBs of all time based on what he did after he left that franchise. I loved Vinny as a Jet and liked him after he left, but not only wasn't he one of the best Buc QBs of all time, he might have been one of the worst . Dilfer, Deberg, Johnson, Williams were all better. Plus I hated that Miami team of the 80s so I had a natural bias against him when he came out. But again, by the time he got to the Jets, all was forgiven for me. I loved that 1998 team and he was huge for us that year. I will always be appreciative of what he did for us. _
Love both of these posts. I was in Minnesota at the time but a friend of mine had a pirated feed on a satellite that year and I got to see all but two games that year. Chad just had it, it was a heartbreaker when his shoulder was messed up the next year because I was sure he was the guy. I have never had an emotional run as a jets fan or even a fan of any team I root for than I had for those last 2 week of that season and then the Colts game. Thank you for making me remember that guys.
I see what you're saying. When you put it like that I can't argue. I love VT but he did suck on the Bucs (and as your said, that really isn't debating the reason) so I can't argue with you there. BTW, since we're talking about the best Bucs QB I'd like to give my vote to Williams. Dilfer was always a team manager, even when he won a SB, so I don't feel like he belongs on a best QB list unless the pickings are slim (on second thought... I guess this is exactly where he belongs.. ). Brad Johnson was good but had much more to work with. I am admittedly struggling to remember how DeBerg was with the Bucs specifically, so I am momentarily discounting him from my own ignorance. Doug Williams, however, was a damn fine QB. I don't think many QBs could have eeked out a conference championship appearance from any Bucs team before the mid-90s or so.... the franchise was just a suck fest of epic proportions. I think that's why I look at Williams so highly; he simply succeeded against all odds.
I've always had a special dark place in my heart for Herm Edwards exactly because I felt we had damn fine teams under him for the most part and it just felt like he excelled at pissing away greatness. I think he is probably a very good position coach, but I never believed in him as a HC. But I did love those teams as well. Chrebet and CMart are two of my all time favorite Jets and it pains me that neither won a ring and the only SB either played in was when CMart played with the Pats.
Wow the Bucs never had a great QB. At least Jets fans can hang their hats on Namath and to a lesser extent O'Brien, and Pennington. And for a few seasons Freeman looked promising.
I think if he could have stayed healthy and played 10+ years in this league, he would have been on his way to Canton.
Herm always really confused me actually. He always sounded like a goof but he got some really good results from some really one dimensional football teams. Can't hate him for that. Always had a feeling he was a very different guy in the classroom than in front of the cameras
That's a fair enough observation. I guess I had always assumed that him sounding like a dip in front of the cameras was a strong indication that he was a dip shit, but that really isn't fair. As you mention, some peeps just don't come off well in the spotlight. It was just very difficult for me to get past that impression and then watch his mismanage the clock and crap like that. OTOH, you're right that he could get results at times.... as critical as I am of Herm it isn't like he was Kotite or something. I may have to put some thought into reassessing the guy--I'm just not sure if he was a mediocre coach with a great team or a good, but flawed, coach with a good team. It was some combination that kept them from going all the way....
