I have loved reading the recent posts about Kenny O and his rocket arm, smarts and not so nimble feet. Born in 77 and first Jet game I remember was a major ass whipping against Miami in Miami, score was like 45-3 but I was hooked. O'brien was my childhood hero and I have about 30 rookie cards. One thing I have not put together is how Pat Ryan's role in the equation. When and what round was he drafted, was there a competition in mid 80's between the two? What happened to Todd, did he go away and Ryan come in and then Kenny was drafted R1 in 83? I know as late as 86 and maybe even 87 Ryan was in the picture. Any clarity around this would be great and would love to hear your favorite O'brien story. To this day I think he was better than Marino and he usually got the better of him on Sundays.
O'Brien was drafted in 1983 after Todd's melt down in the "mud bowl" in the AFC Championship game in January '83. O'Brien rode the pine in '83 while Todd played under first year coach Joe Walton, who was hired to replace Walt Michaels after the Jets' melt down and his supposed melt down in the same mud bowl. Michaels was fired after the '82 season - which was a major mistake by the Jets. The Jets entered '83 with Super Bowl aspirations, but disappointed, going 7-9. Todd was traded in the offseason to the Saints in return for a first round pick. The Jets used that pick to select Ron Faurot, a DL from Arkansas who, of course, never amounted to anything. Pay Ryan was a late round draft pick of the Jets in the late 70's. He was Todd's back up in the late 70's and early 80's after Matt Robinson was traded to the Broncos. He never saw much PT, however. In 1984, after Todd was traded, Ryan was named the starter because it was thought that O'Brien was not ready. After jumping out to a quick start in '84 - 6-2 after 8 games I believe, the Jets faded and O'Brien was handed the job. He was the starter from 85 into the early 90's. Ryan spelled him every now and then, but was never really a threat. Ryan's finest moments came in 1986, when he started the Jets' playoff game against the Chiefs. I can't remember if Ryan started because O'Brien was ineffective of injured. Anyway, Ryan had a big day, including a QB draw for a first down on a 4th down play early in the game that led to a score, and led the Jets to an easy win over the Chiefs. He started the next week against Cleveland in the most disappointing loss in Jet history, but was replaced later in the game by O'Brien. Ryan never played more than spot duty and 1984 was the only year he saw significant time. He was a very good back up QB - gutsy, mobile - but did not have a strong arm (so most people on this board would not have liked him). O'Brein's career came to end when Coslet took over in 1990. He never really liked O'Brien. Even though O'Brien led the Jets to the playoffs in 1991, including a last game of the year OT win over the Fish to get into the playoffs ( albeit with an 8-8 record) Coslet named Nagle the starter in 1992, which did not work out. Then Coslet brought Esiason to the Jets in 93 and O'Brien finished his career in Philly that year and then retired.
Excellent summary. A couple of note though to Kenny007 O'Brien was drafted just ahead of Dan Marino (who most Jets fans wanted the team to select) Walton had decided after trading Todd in Feb of 84 that O'Brien would be the starter for the 1984 season. However O'Brein and Mark Gastineau got involved in that infamous brawl at Studio 54 in NYC just before training camp and Walton changed his mind saying both Ryan and O'Brien would be starting QB's for the 84 season but soon after realized O'Brien wouldn't be ready as much of his attention was in the courts that summer. Jo Willie White Shoes explained how O'Brein eventaully became the starter Also - Pat Ryan and Wesley Walker were Coslet's first two cuts after taking over the Jets job in Feb of 1990.....Ryan then served as a back-up for Rich Kotite in Philadelphia for a year or two.....
Some significant facts about Pat Ryan He was the first Jets QB with a career winning record in more than one start. He did actually win the starting job from O'Brien in 1988 (he started the home game vs. Miami), but lost it soon afterward due to injury. O'Brien was also benched in favor of Kyle Mackey in 1989 at New Orleans...Mackey didn't do too well...
Pat Ryan Quarterback Ht/Wt: 6-3, 210 Born: 9/16/1955 College: Tennessee Drafted: 1978, round 11, by the New York Jets +---------------------------------------+-----------------+ | Passing | Rushing | +----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+ | Year TM | G | Comp Att PCT YD Y/A TD INT | Att Yards TD | +----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+ | 1978 nyj | 2 | 9 14 64.3 106 7.6 0 2 | 0 0 0 | | 1979 nyj | 1 | 2 4 50.0 13 3.2 0 1 | 0 0 0 | | 1980 nyj | 14 | 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0 | 0 0 0 | | 1981 nyj | 15 | 4 10 40.0 48 4.8 1 1 | 3 -5 0 | | 1982 nyj | 9 | 12 18 66.7 146 8.1 2 1 | 1 -1 0 | | 1983 nyj | 16 | 21 40 52.5 259 6.5 2 2 | 4 23 0 | | 1984 nyj | 16 | 156 285 54.7 1939 6.8 14 14 | 23 92 0 | | 1985 nyj | 16 | 6 9 66.7 95 10.6 0 0 | 3 -5 0 | | 1986 nyj | 16 | 34 55 61.8 342 6.2 2 1 | 8 28 0 | | 1987 nyj | 13 | 32 53 60.4 314 5.9 4 2 | 4 5 1 | | 1988 nyj | 16 | 63 113 55.8 807 7.1 5 4 | 5 22 0 | | 1989 nyj | 7 | 15 30 50.0 153 5.1 1 3 | 1 -1 0 | | 1991 phi | 4 | 10 26 38.5 98 3.8 0 4 | 1 -2 0 | +----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+ | TOTAL | 145 | 364 657 55.4 4320 6.6 31 35 | 53 156 1 | +----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+ POSTSEASON STATS Year Opp Result | CMP ATT PYD PTD INT | RSH YD TD ---------------------+--------------------------+----------------- 1985 nwe L,14-26 | 10 17 84 1 1 | 0 0 0 1986 kan W,35-15 | 16 23 153 3 0 | 2 30 0 1986 cle L,20-23 | 6 11 103 1 0 | 0 0 0 ---------------------+--------------------------+----------------- TOTAL | 32 51 340 5 1 | 2 30 0 http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/RyanPa00.htm
all this talk about what could've been if we drafted Marino over O'Brien...Marino would've thrown for a trillion yards as a Jet and won exactly zero Super Bowls, the same amount we won with O'Brien. I was never a big Pat Ryan fan...he was like a good pinch hitter or bench player. He'd be good in spurts but could never be a starter in this league. He threw way too many picks when he played and underthrew the ball alot. Too much of a sandlot passer at times.
How do you know that? Marino retired in 99. Didn't Parcells get here in 97, bring in Curtis in 98, and build a pretty good D in two years? Marino could have gone out a lot like Elway.
1998 would've been his only chance, and Vinny pretty much had a better season for US that year than Dan had for Miami...and it still wasn't good enough. By 1999 Marino was finished.
What is this infamous Obrien and Gastineau brawl at Studio 54 the summer of 84? What happened and is this really why Obrien didnt start that year?
I was at the playoff game in 86/87 when Pat Ryan subbing for an injured O'Brien crushed the Chiefs. Sadly in 26 years of being a Jet fan that's the only home playoff game I've ever attended. My best Kenny O moment was the shootout with Miami when he threw 3 TD passes to Walker and we won 51-46 in OT. I still think that's the best Jet game I ever attended although the game to keep the Giants out of the playoffs in 88 was pretty sweet. I think Kenny O was coaching at a high school in SoCal but I don't remember which one.
four TDs to Walker in that game interesting O'Brien tidbit- he holds the dubious NFL record for most career rushing attempts without scoring a touchdown
Another thing about Kenny was that the Jets OL become pretty crappy at pass protection and he got the crap beat out of him in games. It affected his play. He became a bit shell-shocked, and would start looking to bail at the first sign of trouble. The problem was he had those lead feet and couldn't escape. That 51-46 OT game was incredible!!! I didn't see it live, but saw every snap on TV.
Great summaries of that era in Jets History. I was aware but not a maniacal fan like I am now. Not to derail the thread but the only home playoff game I was at was the 41-0 drubbing of the Colts. That was a sick atmosphere. I can only imagine what that Chiefs game was like.
all that needs to be said about this immobile statue is that our Morons drafted him and could have drafted Dan Marino instead followed by more than a decade of living with this massive error
Be careful. There are some people on this message board who believe O'Brien was a better QB than Marino.
If No Ring Marino had to play behind the same OL that OB had, he would not have been a winner! OB had a terrible OL to contend with. Yes he was not nimble but he was a QB with a great arm and a desire to play QB as it should be played. No Ring was a gifted QB with a penchant for compiling statistics imo. I saw OB beat Marino in Miami to after No Ring threw an INT from the 4 yard line rather then allow the team to run it in for the sure TD. OB rallied the team and went on to beat the BLOWFISH after being humiliated most of the game.
it's not even close and never will be you could give Marino the Jets anything and the immobile sack of potatoes statue the Dolphins anything for their whole career and Marino would still be millions of miles better sadly the Jets screwed the pooch with the worst draft mistake in their entire history in 1983 and saddled their franchise with this stiff when they could have had, arguably, the best QB in NFL history. Nothing we can do about it now but for the Ken O Brien Fan Club and Flat Earth Society to pretend that this immobile stiff was any good is quite an excellent example of revisionist history
