Fill in the following two blanks: The Best Offensive Player in New York Jets History is __________________ . The Best Defensive Player in New York Jets History is __________________ .
Wow U must be 15 or less if U did not name JWN as the offensive player & when it comes to the D try Johnny Sample instead of DR
Namath is the greatest offensive player we have ever had. Not the best, there is a difference. C Martin and Revis.
Offensive player: 1 - Curtis Martin 2 - Don Maynard 3 - JWN I think I would even put Maynard at #1. I have Curtis bias though. Defensive player: 1- Revis 2 - Mark Gastineau
Funny enough...I'm almost as old as you Champ! But nowhere near as bitter. Maybe I should change my vote to Klecko on defense.
While Sample was good, Freddie Bilitnakoff would torch him on occassion. - AFL Championship game: 7 catches, 190 yards and a TD - 'Heidi' Game' : 7 catches, 120 yds. and a TD. I'd take Revis over him along with some others such as Philbin, Klecko, Grantham, etc..
Offense: Joe Namath Defense: Joe "I'm a probowler at ALL DL positions and why the fuck am I not in the HOF" Klecko
I'm not gonna pretend I've seen them all, I hate these all time lists, they're impossible to do. Especially with how the game has changed, the athletes today, the scheming and whatnot. All that was garbage 50 years ago, on a high school type level compared to today, the players didn't have the same physique, the same opportunities etc. so you have to consider all that. That said, I'll just throw 2 guys out there that I've seen play regularly and who I think are the best (of my time): Offense: Curtis Martin Defense: Darrelle Revis Santana Moss could have been in there, had he stayed, and Chrebet obviously. As for Revis, I doubt anybody is going to surpass him anytime soon, or even in 50+ years.
Offense- Don Maynard, Freeman McNeil Defense- Lots of choices....Al Atkinson, Ralph Baker, Larry Grantham, Joe Klecko, Lance Mehl, Kyle Clifton
Offense - Joe Willie Namath and Don Maynard are probably the top two. Wesley Walker and Al Toon are not that far behind. If John Riggins had stayed a Jet longer , Freeman McNeil could have stayed healthy, or George Sauer, Jr. had played longer, they would have been right up there. Defense - Joe Klecko. It's not even close. Revis, Philbin, Mehl & Clifton round out the top 5 imo, but I'm not sure of the order of #s 2-5.
O - Namath D - Revis Other names I was considering are Curtis Martin & Klecko/Gastineau/Clifton. If Toon could've avoided the concussions and played with a better QB, I think he would've been a HOF receiver. My favorite Jet will always be Toon.
If sustained excellence is the main criteria- On offense, I'd go with Don Maynard. His 10 year run as a premier deep threat from '60- '69 can't be beat and he played 3 more decent seasons. I'd say that he was the 2nd best receiver in the AFL's 10 year history, behind Lance Alworth. Defense: the premium defenders in team history have almost always had their careers shortened by injuries. I'd have to go with Joe Klecko, one of the few who excelled for at least 10 years. Look at the team's W-L record prior to his arrival. It's fair to say his emergence as a tough as nails team leader directly led to the short period of time we didn't have to be ashamed of being Jets fans, 1981- '86. They built a good defense with Mehl, Buttle, Crable and Gastineau but to me, no Klecko > no playoffs. I'd say he's nearly as important in team history as Namath. If they'd made it to the Super Bowl (as we KNOW they would have) they'd have had equal status in team history IMO.
