Ever since Curtis Martin retired, the classiness of the Jets retired as well

It's not a matter of class, it's a matter of team leadership. Ever since Curtis left, this team hasn't had a true leader to bring this team together. Class is all perception to me. As long as you win games and emphasize the importance of football, that's what matters.

 

we've had plenty of leaders since Curtis.

 

Don't forget the most recent example, tied in with the Tebow trade: signing Henson, tell him he was their backup and they wouldn't be searching for another one, and then like 3 days later trading for Tebow.

 

My bad, just essentially duplicated your post. Great minds.....

But I agree - I remember vaguely something being discussed publicly after Cotchery left about the Jets having a reputation for treating players in such a fashion. I don't like that shit - I'm a straight shooter and don't treat anyone that way.

 

Right, everyone who leaves the Jets and says these things are the liars. Never the Jets. lol

Sometimes speculation is speculation. When it's rampant and said multiple times by multiple people, 'where there's smoke there's fire' applies instead.

 

I guarantee you that I will NOT miss Rex and/or Sanchez. As one of the guys who still pines for 1998, that is an easy one: that's the last time this organization was a legitimate contender, a no-doubt top team in the league with a legitimate Super Bowl shot. The two trips to the AFC Championship game in 09-10 didn't have that feel. At least not to me. I had the feeling we were on the way up and could get there, but we weren't THERE like we were in 1998.

For the record, I still look at 1998 as the point I want to get to - you'll never ever EVER see me pining for 2010.

 

The difference between 1998 and 2010 was one game. 12-4 doesn't win us the division in 2010. That was before we had Tom Brady dominating our division every year.

 

I don't know if you're old enough to remember 1998, but records don't tell the story. Like night and day. If you were around to watch 1998 and still think the 2010 team compared just because we won 1 less game and Tom Brady is in the division, then you are more of a homer than I ever thought possible.

 

98 is a bit fuzzy for me, it was pretty much my first year watching the Jets and I was 18. I don't think I watched every game either. I do remember the offense being really good, but thought the defense was kind of weak. Looking back at the stats, I'm wrong, the defense was ranked #7 and the offense #4. Average rank between 5 and 6 overall. In 2010 the offense was ranked #11, and the defense was ranked #3, average rank 7. Not a huge difference, but you're right they were better overall. It wasn't night and day, though. The end result was the same. Loss in AFC championship. If this team was really THAT much better, how is it they lost in the same exact game, where they put up an abysmal 10 points?

It's true about the Patriots and Tom Brady, however. During that era there wasn't any team that dominated the divison like Tom Brady and the Pats do now. It was a different team almost every year, and they rarely won more than 11-12 games. Best record BB (before Brady)was 13-3 and it happened only once from 95 until Brady emerged. The Pats consistently win 12-15 games per year, with a few exceptions and the years he got injured. It makes winning the division much more difficult, that was my point. There is not a single team in the AFC East that came close to that kind of domination in 20+ years. We have to contend with this powerhouse team pretty much every year. I brought up that point because I figured your main reason for saying the team was SO much better was because they won the division.

 

Is Jim Kensil's son still with the team ? F****** arrogant douchebag, when my friend worked for the Jets that guy pissed me off. Wanted to deck the SOB but I had too much respect for Mr. Hess to make a scene.

Talk about nepotism.

 

First of all, they were playing a much better team than the 2010 Pittsburgh Steelers. That Broncos team was absolutely stacked and was on its way to a 2nd straight superbowl victory. That team had arguably one of the best running games the NFL has ever seen with an all-time great quarterback running play-action passes off of it.

Also, in that AFC title game, we outplayed them badly in the first half. We moved the ball up and down the field at will (Vinny T was 31-52 for 356 yards). The problem is that we turned the ball over repeatedly on their side of the field. We had 4 lost fumbles and 2 picks (both were off the hands of receivers) for a combined 6 turnovers. We had dominated the game (and we were up 10-0 after a blocked punt) up until early in the third quarter when Elway hit Ed McCafrey on a deep post route that totally changed the momentum of the game. The key to the game to me was that we squandered several opportunities in the first half to score touchdowns with awful turnovers deep in Denver territory (The Curtis Martin fumble and the Keith Byars fumble were both enormous plays)

edit: That 1998 offense was 1,000 times more consistent and potent than the 2010 offense. The 2010 defense was more talented and marginally better than its 1998 counterpart, but the strongest unit of either team was clearly the 1998 offense.

 

Maybe. I tend to think the truth is usually somewhere in the middle when it comes to issues like the OP described.

 

I love that 1998 team but the '09 and '10 popstseasons were better. The '98 reg season beats '09/'10 but the runs we had in postseason beating the hottest teams in the league on the road int he div round gave us a much better postseason run in '09 & '10.

 

No, my main reason had nothing to do with winning the division. It was an overall feel thing. The feeling about the Jets in '98 was that they were on the way up ,that they were a true, legitimate Super Bowl contender in the making. Especially with a guy like Parcells leading the way - he was magic at that point. He hadn't yet somewhat spoiled his rep in Dallas and Miami.

I know you'll disagree with this part, but I never got the feeling that the 2010 Jets were a legit contender. I felt they were a few pieces away, and they were on the way up, but the '98 team finished in Denver and then was EXPECTED to win the Super Bowl in '99.

As for scoring only 10 in Denver, they were going against a team that would eventually win its second straight Super Bowl, and they did a bad job that day of protecting the ball. Guys like Curtis Martin and Keith Byars, who hardly ever fumbled, BOTH fumbled in big spots. Shit happens.

Statistically, you may be right that they are close. But the overall feel, expectations and even the team depth and fundamentals were different back then.

 

The difference was one team had Testaverde playing the best season of his career and the other had rookie Sanchez.

The difference was that one team was superbowl favorites on opening day the next season.

 

Classiness might not directly lead to wins. But I do believe having strong leaders with good character is a desirable thing to have. And there has definitely been an erosion of leadership and good character on this team. Problem players become available for a reason. Because they become a distraction. The Jets over the last 4 years have brought in troubled player after troubled player, while at the same time removing the leaders from the team. It started with Faneca, Thomas Jones, etc. Continued with Tony Richardson. Then they tried to force Sanchez to be a leader but he failed miserably.

I like having a team I feel good rooting for. I don't like guys like Santonio Holmes who showboats after every single catch. I miss the days of Curtis and Chrebet. They were fun to root for especially because you felt like they're the good guys in a fight.

 

You know how rings Curtis Has?
Now how many Does Roidney Harrison have?

Sorry, Class doesn't mean shit in the NFL.

Now, if we're just talking about the JETS then it's BS because Mangold is a very respected player.
Revis is one of the nicest dudes on this team, David Harris...D'Brick..I mean we have several players who can step up and be the face of this franchise..

 

Who gives a shit about class? The Patriots aren't classy and they've won 3 Super Bowls in the past decade. Class is all subjective and for the most part it's stupid to judge a franchise on class. I couldn't give two fucks about class and I don't know why anyone else would.