Yeah, he pretty much did suck. Remember, he was beaten out for the starting job in 1979 in training camp by Matt Robinson. He was done at that point. However, Robinson got into a wrestling match (with Marty Lyons?) before opening day against Clevelnad and broke his thumb, went out and played crappy in a loss and lied about it to Walt Michaels. Todd got the job back. Look, Todd is a good guy. I met him on numerous occasions. His biggest problem was he didn't lead the Jets to better things, the team brought him along. Terrific offensive line, dynamic running game, talented receivers and a game breaker as well and a defense that got the offense back on the field. With all that the Jets were as talented as any other team. Todd played small in big situations and cost them playoff games.
First off, Todd led them to two monumental wins in the playoffs. He first beat Cincinnati 44-17, on the road, against a Cincinnati team who was led by Ken Anderson into the Super Bowl the previous season. Then he beat a Los Angeles Raider team, 17-14, on the road again. A tremendous Raider team that only lost one game all season, led by Jim Plunkett who was a fantastic playoff QB. In fact, it was Plunkett's only playoff loss until his last playoff game in 1984. This Raider team won two Super Bowls, sandwiched around this Jet loss. So to imply Todd was a player who cost them playoff games is unfair. He lost two playoff games. The first one, vs. Buffalo, Todd was outstanding, throwing for close to 400 yards. Yes, he got picked off at the end and yes, it was a horrible throw. But he wasn't the reason they lost that game. They went down' 24-0. The game starts with Bruce Harper fumbling the kickoff, Buffalo picking it up and going up 7-0 in a blink. The Jets were horrible in that game till Todd got hot. The second playoff loss, to Miami, Todd played horribly on a drenched field. But to imply he wasn't a good playoff player, is just focusing on the bad. As far as the Matt Robinson stuff, Todd was better then Matt Robinson and it showed in years 1981 and 1982. In 1981, Todd was the Jets MVP. He was a Pro Bowl Alternate. He completed 56.1 % of his passes for 3,231 yards, 25 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Then in 1982, he completed almost 59% of his passes, threw 14 tds, 8 picks, in a 9 game strike shortened season. In 1983, he threw for almost 3,500 yards and completed almost 60% of his passes. He threw for over 20,000 yards in his career. Matt Robinson never did anything close to that. And don't overrate the OL back then. They would get called for a million holding penalties, almost every game.
If Robinson was so good, why didn't he ever catch on anywhere else? His overall body of work was nothing compared to Todd's.
Forget Todd, he was a mediocre QB. The real star on the Jets offense back then who was always overlooked is Wesley Walker.
Robinson was a flash in the pan in 1978. He did nothing with the Bills he was horrible and the Jets got a first round draft pick for him. What a steal! Robinson wasn't even good in the USFL and that's where he ended up. I'm sick of the bad rep Todd gets. I have positive memories of Todd. The fans were always unfairly harsh on him because he was Namath's successor. Remember who his rookie coach was…Lou Holtz. What a joke of a pro coach he was. He ran the option with Todd on running downs and brought Namath in on passing downs. In Todd's first five seasons he had 4 different coordinators. He came up big in 1981 leading the Jets to the post season for the first time in 13 seasons. None of the young people on this board have any clue about being a fan of a team with that long a post season drought. Even though the Jets lost the playoff game that season, it wasn't Todd's fault. He didn't fumble the opening kickoff for a TD, he didn't put the team in a 24-0 hole. He did however nearly bring us back from that deficit. In 1982 he lead the Jets to two HUGE wins on the road in the playoffs. The Jets were underdogs in both games. He had a very bad game against Miami in the championship game, but he wasn't the only one. The burden was also on the coaching staff in that game. The downfall for Todd was the minute Joe Walton became HC. Walton's mindset completely changed when he became HC, he was no longer the innovative offensive coach, he became conservative and always played not to lose. Walton was one of the worst cancers to ever hit the Jets. He helped set the franchise back by decades. His first move as HC was to take Ken O'Brien in the first round. What are you trying to say to your current QB when you do that? My memory of 1983 was that idiot Walton berating Todd constantly in front of the team and the TV cameras. I think with all the nose picking Walton did he slowly picked his brains out of his head. I would vote Todd in front of O'Brien. O'Brien never won a postseason game and he never had to put up with the ridiculous expectations Todd did.
the guy was our QB for many years and only had 2 winning seasons and he only had 2 seasons where he didn't throw more INts than TDs. he was good in '81 and '82 but did cost us against Buf and Miami and the man as a Jet threw 110 TDs and 138 INTs- you can see where folks could have a negative remembrance of him? you say he didn't put us in a 24-0 hole but he did contribute, he leads the O and he didn't lead us to points. Freeman and the D carried us in Cincy, Todd was never as good as he should have been. he had all the tools to be a top QB and never was.
You know, I think I would too. Everyone had such a hard-on to get O'Brien in there, it was kind of like now with Clemens. That was Todd's team which got old around O'Brien, so that move really fucked both of their careers. If we still had Todd in 1985 and 86 perhaps we would have gone to or won a Super Bowl. We actually did get him back in 86 but he was a spare part because O'Brien was hot at the time. With Walton as head coach, though, maybe not.
We actually got Todd back in '86, he was a backup for a few weeks. Kenny injured his shoulder late in '86 and was never the same. If both were healthy I take O'Brien.
Yeah, I had mentioned that. I turned into a big O'Brien fan, too, but that was Todd's team. He had been to the playoffs and won on the road, O'Brien was pretty raw on a veteran team. I wish we hadn't traded Todd when we did, especially for a draft pick that turned out to be Ron Faurot.
How many big games did O'Brien help the Jets win? He was a first round pick (we could have had Marino) and he NEVER won a playoff game. His signature game was the 51-45 OT win over Miami, but it was the third game of the season and Miami stunk that year. The only important game O'Brien won was against Miami in 1991 to clinch the playoffs. But if I remember correctly, Johnny Hector was the reason the Jets had a chance in that game, not O'Brien. Also, that was a bit of a dubious playoff appearence for the Jets as they were battling to be 8-8. Todd played 8 seasons for the Jets and helped lead them to two post seasons and they came within a game of the Super Bowl in one of those. O'Brien played 10 seasons for the Jets, never won a post season game and only started two post season games total, his backup Pat Ryan was elected the starter in the other two PO games played during O'Brien's tenure. I'll still take Todd. Todd wasn't a great QB, but he was good enough. It's unfortunate that he was drafted when the Jets were at one of their lowest points in 1976. Both he and the team matured and were ready in 1981-82. It's just unfortunate that Walton became the coach in 1983.
Todd had much better teams around him. The Ol was terrible w/ him, Freeman was always hurt, the D was aging and injured. Given the same talent and w/ both healthy i'd take O'Brien but I did like Todd as a kid I just don't think his entire body of work was a good one. as far as big games O'brien did lead us over NE in a showdown for 1st place in '85, led us to our first win over Miami since '81 in the '85 season, led us to our 1st ever win against Seattle, beat Cle to get us into the playoffs in '85, crushed a good seattle team at the kingdome in '86, beat up Den(though i think he relieved Ryan in that game). he had some big wins, he also had us in the title game if the D doesn't blow it in '86 and I know Freeman carried the O but he did so in '82 at Cincy for us too and o'brien himself wasn't the main culprit in playoff losses unlike Todd in '81 and '82.
Nyjunc - Your comments about having only a couple good years and how many interceptions were thrown.....I thought you were talking about Joe Namath for a moment. I knew this would be a half and half vote on Richard Todd. If you understand everything that was going on those years it is easier to vote favorable. Namath's last 5 years and Todd's first 4 years or so were very DARK years in our history. I think Todd did well later on considering all the crap he dealt with. People like to live and die by statistics...if that was the case Pennington (whom I like BTW) should have won us a couple Super Bowls and be heading to Canton after he retires. And other than SB III (one game) why should Namath (whom I also like BTW) be in Canton? Our Jets were a sad excuse for a team in the 1970's.
If you look at Todd year by year, he seemed to be getting into his prime just as they traded him. 1976: Namath still there, Todd a rookie, Lou Holtz's veer offense, a disaster 1977: Total rebuilding year, new staff, Todd pretty much his first year, goes 3-11. Missed a few games with a knee 1978: Started 2-0 with 2 division wins, broke his collarbone with the team 2-2, missed the rest of the year 1979: Won his job back, spotty year but the team went 8-8, 8-7 with Todd. 1980: Big step back. Todd called his own plays, threw 30 INTs, team went 4-12 1981: Finally got top RB with McNeil, D came of age, went 10-5-1, lost wild playoff game 1982: Dominant team, Todd at the helm, wins two playoff games on the road, goes to AFC title game 1983: Walton takes over, team and Todd both inconsistent, finish 7-9. Disappointing but not in need of rebuilding. They traded him at 30 years old.
Todd was not the main culprit in losing the game to the Bills. Did you see that game? Todd had big games also. From 1978 to 1981 he never lost to Miami, the Jets main rival. Previously the Jets lost 8 out of the previous 10 games to Miami. Beat Miami w/ a broken rib and sprained ankle to put the Jets in first place in 1981. Todd was the first Jets QB to beat the Browns. First Jets QB to win a game on Monday Night Football. Leads the team to the playoffs for the first time in 13 seasons. Leads the team to first ever road playoff win(s). Todd did not have a better team than O'Brien in his early years. It's the complete opposite. The Jets were pathetic in 1976-1977. Todd missed most of 1978 and the team finally matured by 1981. O'Brien started out with pro bowlers and mature players in his first year as a starter in 1984.
Agrred with just about everything you said. In my opinion, Todd got a real raw deal, Walton never forgave him for his performance in the mud bowl and traded him after the 1983 season. Walton failed to adjust the game plan in the mud bowl, he is the one who should have been blamed. Todd had all the physical tools, he lacked in self-confidence, and had an awful lot of bad luck between injuries and strange play-calling.....
I didn't vote because my overall opinion of Todd is neutral. He had a very hard hand to play coming into the NFL. He was heir to a legend and tied much too closely to that legacy. Both he and Namath came out of Alabama. Both of them were big-armed leaders who tried to win games deep. Both of them threw too many interceptions on bad gambles. Namath won a Super Bowl and Todd never got there. It could just as easily have been the other way around. So the background was skewed against Todd. His performance however was not what you want out of an NFL QB, and when he was done 1981 was the only season that stands out as a good one.
Very supportive of Todd but a couple of comments are wrong: 1) when they traded him to New Orleans after the 1983 season, he wasn't entering his prime. His game was past it's prime and he only was the starter their one season. 2) The 1983 season for Todd was a major step backwards, from what he had become in 1981 and 1982. He had great games in 1983, beating the Rams in overtime, beating the Joe Montana 49'ers in SF, beating Fouts and the Chargers in SD but he also reverted back to his early years form of throwing way too many picks. 3) Walton's play calling was attrocious that first season as Head Coach which didn't help. Todd was good, not great. Don't over do the interceptions. As I stated above, which obviously got ignored, the game and rules for db's on Wr's were different back then. Numerous star QB's got picked alot more then Td's, not like todays game. The guy beat Miami with a broken rib. That alone gives him a favorable vote.
Not to split hairs here, but he had more than one good season. 1982 was actually better than 1981. Here are the stats. 1981 first, 1982 below it. (sorry if the numbers aren't readable) Comp Att Comp % Yds Y/Att TD Int Rating 279 497 56.1 3231 6.50 25 13 81.8 153 261 58.6 1,961 7.51 14 8 87.3
