Been a Jets fan since 1969 (grew up in NJ). Started as a little boy not long after Joe Namath guaranteed that SB III trophy. In the 54 years since, I haven't had the pleasure of watching them make it back to the Super Bowl.
1999 season: Jets coming off an AFC championship appearance the previous year. Very strong team returning. A favorite for a Super Bowl appearance. Game 1, 1st half, All Pro QB Vinny Testaverde tears his Achilles tendon. Team finishes 8-8. Testaverde never quite achieves the same heights he did in 1998. They get back to the playoffs in 2000, but they aren't as good and are eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.
Bill Parcells semi-retires. Bill Belichick becomes the Jets head coach for one day, resigns promptly after receiving a $1 million bonus, and promptly goes to the NE Patriots. The next year, 2001, Jets linebacker Mo Lewis hits Patriots QB Drew Bledsoe hard (and clean), it knocks Bledsoe to the hospital with internal bleeding. Little known, and unheralded 6th round pick Tom Brady steps in and starts a 20 year dominance of the AFC East and the NFL. Jets are on the outside, looking in, with occasional flashes of competitiveness, but they remain largely in the shadows for two decades.
Fast forward past numerous Jets 1st round draft pick QB misses. 2023, Jets have a very strong, young core of elite players, and a defense that is widely seen as championship capable. They sign 39 year old, future Hall of Fame QB Aaron Rodgers to a 3 year contract. Rodgers, leaving a muddled relationship with Green Bay in the rear view mirror, completely embraces his role as the guy who may finally lead the Jets back to the Super Bowl. Says all the right things. Does all the right things. The team completely falls in behind him. The story is as big as any of the NFL offseason, and expectations are huge.
Cut to Monday Night Football, on 9/11/23. Aaron Rodgers carries the American flag out of the tunnel at the start of the game. The stadium is wild. The entire sports media universe is anxious to see how this goes.
Four plays later, it's over. Aaron Rodgers tears his left Achilles tendon on an otherwise non-descript hit by the Bills LB Leonard Floyd.
It's so very Jets. Probably the most Jets thing ever.
And the wait continues.
1999 season: Jets coming off an AFC championship appearance the previous year. Very strong team returning. A favorite for a Super Bowl appearance. Game 1, 1st half, All Pro QB Vinny Testaverde tears his Achilles tendon. Team finishes 8-8. Testaverde never quite achieves the same heights he did in 1998. They get back to the playoffs in 2000, but they aren't as good and are eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.
Bill Parcells semi-retires. Bill Belichick becomes the Jets head coach for one day, resigns promptly after receiving a $1 million bonus, and promptly goes to the NE Patriots. The next year, 2001, Jets linebacker Mo Lewis hits Patriots QB Drew Bledsoe hard (and clean), it knocks Bledsoe to the hospital with internal bleeding. Little known, and unheralded 6th round pick Tom Brady steps in and starts a 20 year dominance of the AFC East and the NFL. Jets are on the outside, looking in, with occasional flashes of competitiveness, but they remain largely in the shadows for two decades.
Fast forward past numerous Jets 1st round draft pick QB misses. 2023, Jets have a very strong, young core of elite players, and a defense that is widely seen as championship capable. They sign 39 year old, future Hall of Fame QB Aaron Rodgers to a 3 year contract. Rodgers, leaving a muddled relationship with Green Bay in the rear view mirror, completely embraces his role as the guy who may finally lead the Jets back to the Super Bowl. Says all the right things. Does all the right things. The team completely falls in behind him. The story is as big as any of the NFL offseason, and expectations are huge.
Cut to Monday Night Football, on 9/11/23. Aaron Rodgers carries the American flag out of the tunnel at the start of the game. The stadium is wild. The entire sports media universe is anxious to see how this goes.
Four plays later, it's over. Aaron Rodgers tears his left Achilles tendon on an otherwise non-descript hit by the Bills LB Leonard Floyd.
It's so very Jets. Probably the most Jets thing ever.
And the wait continues.
