Couldn't agree more....Clearly Hess's biggest flaw was his lack of recognition of the changes that had occurred in the business and future deviousness of being an NFL owner. Odd considering his business accumen. He never adjusted to, for example, the Oakland Raiders owner's employing cheating tactics. It became a new age of eavesdropping, stadiums and cities becoming partners, a little later. Id say Hess moved too early. But bless the man as an example of a benevolant owner...a rare commidity these days, as we'd all agree.
As regards the famous decapitation incident...It was a halftime remote controlled airplane that flew into the crowd, I do believe.
sorry...missed the post as regards the remote controlled airplne incident...I always tell new JetFans about it...Twas one of our greatest halftime moments...to ranked against the College Marching Band salute to the HotDog or the dogs catching frisbees...or even the Meadowlands Pampers Baby Crawl-off!
The September 24 game was at Memorial Stadium. The Jets won 44-34. Namath threw for 496 yards and Unitas threw for 376 yards. The teams combined to pass for 822 yards. Eddie Bell had 197 yards receiving and Richard Caster had 204. On October 22, the teams met at Shea Stadium. The Jets won 24-20. Namath was 5 of 16 for 228 yards. Namath vs the Colts in 1972: 20 completions 44 attempts 724 yards 16.45 yards per attempt 36.2 yards per completion 8 touchdowns 4 interceptions
I guess Dad was very excited at home watching late broadcast. A childhood is what anyone wants to remember of it. It leaves behind no fossils, except perhaps in fiction.
My favorite Shea story: December 12, 1982, Tampa Bay vs. NYJ. I was thirteen and I get to go to my first Jets game. It was snowing and there was lots of snow in the stands. The Buccaneer players were miserable because of the cold and blustery wind, but even worse for them, every time the Jets drive down to the goal line at the open end of the stadium, Jet fans eager to help the offense pelted the Buc defensive backs with snowballs. The activities in the stands were even more amusing. We were on the upper deck, and drunks rained snowballs down on the people below. I may have tossed a couple myself. Fans set fires - big fires that engulfed individual seats - with the cardboard trays that you got at the concession stands plus any other trash they could find to keep warm. The best part was when I went to the bathroom. The whole restroom smelled like piss. The lightbulbs had been knocked out so it was very dark and drunks were pissing in the sinks rather than waiting for a urinal. I couldn't believe it, and I have to confess that I loved all of the mayhem. And the Jets won! Who wants to tell the story of what happened to the bleachers during the final game at Shea? (Jets-Steelers, IIRC). TBTF
Well i don't know what happened in the stands since I wasn't there, but it was another classic "Jets rollover and die when they still have a shot" epic. They just beat the Colts 10-6 (typical Jets/Colts score) in the 2nd to last Baltimore Colts game at Memorial stadium. They were 7-7 and still had a shot at the wild card. Steelers murdered them that day, 34-7.
That he was BUT we sucked nearly every year, I'll pay higher prices if we win. In 1990 when i started going to every game the ticket prices were $185/ticket for the year- $22.50/gm and no preseason. As late as '97 it was only $240- $30/gm w/ no preseason then in '98 it started an incline and hasn't stopped since. In '98 the tix went up to $40/per and we had to buy preseason so the total was $400 and now it's almost double that price.
I have that game on DVD, my lasting memories as a kid were of John Madden in a snowball fight w/ Jet fans. That was terry Bradshaw's last start I believe(or at least his last win as a starter), we also opened the Meadowlands w/ a game against Pitt(a Thursday Night game) and we lost that one to.
Nothing to do with living in NJ. I'm actually in stay in Manhattan a few times a week and whether the stadium is in NJ or NY I can easily get there. The team as been in the swamp for 20 years and looks like 20 more. I don't get the border war, it's all the same in that area. (no attack) do you think it's a better option in Manhattan or the bogs in queens? How many stadiums do we need in the NY metro area? any who.... Jersey Shore (Far North, can see the city from our beautiful crack vile beaches)
All this Shea Stadium history talk and no one bothers to mention the most historic football moment ever to occur at that cold concrete wind tunnel by the bay? Flushing NY - On a snowy December 16, 1973 day at Shea, during the last game of the regular season, a guy by the name of OJ Simpson (remember him?) rushed for 203 yards and became the first player to eclipse the 2,000 yard rushing mark in a season (14 games). Earlier in the first quarter of that same game, Simpson had broken Jim Brown's season rushing record, as the Bills crushed the Jets 34-14. http://www.fansedge.com/ProductDisplay.aspx?pfid=33-46746
The family of a friend of mine had season tickets. He came home with a chunk of a wooden bleacher. Apparently fans tore them up, along with seats, to take home as souvenirs of the last Jets game at Shea. TBTF
I didn't know people actually did that, considering the original plan was to come back to Shea around 88-89 after it was supposed to be fixed up a bit.
Simpson's record setting day unfortunately overshadowed Weeb Ewbank's last game as Jets coach. Too bad Weeb couldn't go out with a win. With Namath hurt most of 1970, 1971 and 1973, Weeb's Jets of the 70s were a dismal bunch. As a kid my stomach was always in knots for fear that Namath would go down with an injury and then I would have to see the horrifying sight of #18 Al Woodall trot onto the field. For all of Joe's injuries in the 70s, he was incredibly durable in the 60s. He never missed a game from 1965-1969.
After his retirement, didn't Weeb appoint his son-in-law Charlie Winner as head coach? I guess the team was so bad at the time that he was able to get away with a weird move like that. As good as the Jets were in the mid to late 60's, they were just as bad in the 70s. As mentioned, Namath's failing knees and lack of durability played a major role in the team's abrupt fall from grace.
Joe Walton If you were one of the few at that game when OJ broke the record, then you would remember the rest of the story. After the record run they gave him the ball and announced the record over the speaker system. He took the ball to the sidelines for safe-keeping and came back in to run again. The DL was pissed and really hit the line hard, breaking into the backfield and stopping him for a 1/2 yard loss. THAT took the record away so the Bills pulled the WR's and TE and filled the line with widebodied FB's and LB's.He ran again getting about 4/5 yards, reclaiming the record and left the field never to return that day. I was one of the about 3/4000 left to see it! It was cold as usual and much of the crowd always left at half-time when we were losing. Had seats in Shea from 70 on and never missed a game or left early! Saw the Lawn-mower game and all the rest including about 12 years in NJ. Retired to Vegas and now only get to see 1 home game a year and an away game at a city I like to visit.
What price those memories coach? Great thread with some great stories. I don't know about most of these because I supported the Jets from '84 -> and back then...no internet. Thank god for the net.
You're right, before the 1973 season, Weeb announced that it would be his last and Charley Winner would replace him. Walt Michaels was so angry about being passed over for the chance at HC that he quit the Jets staff and joined the Eagles coaching staff. Winner started the '74 season 1-7. Then the Jets launched a furious 6 game win streak, which included victories over two playoff bound teams Miami (the defending champs) and Buffalo. During that win streak Namath played as well as he had in a long time and was named NFL Comeback Player of the year. If the Jets had won an earlier close game with the Bills, they would have been in the playoffs instead of Buffalo. Hopes were high for 1975, the Jets swept through the preseason. The Jets were blown out of their first game against Buffalo. The Jets won their next two over KC (100 yards each for Riggins and Carl Garrett) and crushed NE in Shea (Namath's last great game with 4 TDs). After that it was all downhill, going 1-10 the rest of the way. Winner lost the team after a fist fight broke out on the sidelines of a game in Baltimore with the Jets being blown out 52-19. Winner was fired before the season was out. At the end of the year the Jets stupidly hired Lou Holtz for the '76 season. It was a disaster from beginning to end. Namath's skills had eroded and he was surrounded by a poor team. Before the final game Holtz resigned. For the '77 season the Jets then hired Walt Michaels as HC and released Joe Namath. Dawn of a new era.
