I went with the season opener in 1997. As others have stated, it was the beginning of a new era and boy did it start out great! If we only could have beaten the Lions in the last game of the season we would have made the playoffs. We pretty much led the whole game until Barry Sanders had that long TD run that gave them the 3 point lead. It was a terrible end to a great season, but you had to feel great as a Jets fan because you knew things had changed.
Great poll question As other have said, I'm also too young to accurately vote on it but I did nonetheless.... I was 14 when the Chad Morton game happened. Living in LA, I rarely got to watch games live (unless they were shown in the LA region by CBS) but I always had the NFL radio subscription and would gametrack the games while listening. I remembering leaving the room to get a drink after regulation, and walking back in to here Bob Wischusen screaming as Morton broke free....I was convinced it was a replay of the call from earlier in the game. I quickly found out it wasn't Great moment, amazing opening day...to this day whenever a Jets game goes to OT I pray for another "Chad Morton" type finish.
I picked the Foley game, as my wife and I flew from Vegas to San Francisco for the Labor Day weekend. Thought it would be cold but it was unseasonably hot. 49er fans surrounding us gave Dorothy ice and wet towels to survive. They thought we were going to be dog meat, but slowly realized we were kicking Young's butt. Too bad OT only went a few plays as a few missed tackles and great open field running beat us. Foley never looked that good again.
Another nomination .... 2011 vs Dallas Sunday Night Football and 10 Year Anniversary of 9/11 Down a couple scores in the 4th, McKnight blocks a punt that's recovered for a TD. Jets D forces a fumble near goal line, which wouldn't of happened if Leonhard didn't chase down Whitten right before the endzone. Then Revis comes through with the huge pick to set up winning FG. GREAT GAME! Going by just exciting games, it has to be 98 even though we lost in SF....hell of a shoot out. The 02 Buffalo/Morton game and the Cinncy opener were great games as well. Im only 30 so I can only for as far back as mid 90s. I can't pick 99......that was probably the WORST feeling I've had as a Jets fan to see such a promising team's season come to an end before it even started. Sent from my LG-P999
If I'm honest I would probably go with Morton in 2002 or Martin in 2004, but for obvious reasons <----- I will go with Maynard. I do remember that game, and of course it was the start of the greatest season in Jets history, which is worth a lot. Maynard was unstoppable that day. By the way, I got the autograph to the left at Hofstra about 6 weeks before that game.
I voted for Gastineau in 1984. I wasn't yet a paying attention fan but I have seen highlights of the the game. That must have been epic. Was teetering between this and 09 D and while I was at opening day in 09, Gastineau, and the rest of the Sack Exchange was such a dominant force and a highlight of this team for its history.
Curtis was in Beast Mode in 2004, as was the controlled chaos of the "D" in 2009, but my vote has to go to opening day 1997...... simply because that was the day the JETS escaped the depths of football hell. :jets:
I dont know about opening day performance but the Foley against the 49ers game was great. Even though we lost you could feel good things were going to happen after that game. You could feel the Kotite era drifting away in tuna's second season.
Chad Morton in 02 was epic.It was a great win but I remember every one on here was more concerned about Herm's defense which showed alot of holes
O'Donnell has to be #1. Coming off a 1-15 season, starting a new era, and completely dominating the Seahawks, throwing 5 TD's. No brainer here!
The Morton game for the reason that no player in the history of the NFL had done what he did that day. It's not every day we get to say a Jet player did something in a positive way that nobody had ever seen before. When you combine the OT kick return with the one earlier it really was a special performance. One of those once in a lifetime days for Jet fans. My 2nd choice would be Foley... I think after that game we all thought Glen Foley was leading us to the AFC Title and nobody ever anticpated that Vinny would take us one half away from the SB.
Jets D vs Texans. I was a huge Keyshawn Johnson fan when I was younger but don't remember a lot of the games.
