I'd give anything for those days again. One guy describes the action only, one guy analyzes only and silence otherwise. These current guys must get paid by the word. It kills me to have that "expert" Joe Buck criticize a play call even before it's run. If he's so good let HIM be the analyst- or a coach. Same thing with baseball. Maybe he's trying to show he's as smart as McCarver or Aikman? A little advice, Joe- you're not! There are good reasons why Barber and Pat Summerall are in the Broadcasters HOF.
I wouldn't be surprised at that. I don't think anyone on the team could stand him. He was nowhere near the player Klecko was, but he got all the pub because he was photogenic, self- promoting and talked to the press (probably because his teammates wouldn't talk to him). His antics led to all the crap we now have- DBs gloating over receivers, DLinemen pounding their chests, Holmes signaling first down after catching a 6 yard pass, etc. Some games it seems like we're watching pro wrestling. Sadly, I'm still just a football fan.
Klecko is the man. I wish they could inject his greatness into the ass cheeks of every down lineman on the Jets defense. Wait...that didn't come out right.
You are wrong about Todd and 1977 and I am almost positive the "flip the fans the bird" incident happened during the season opening win at home against the Dolphins in 78. Todd was not beloved in 1977. Namath had been traded to the Rams and Todd was now the starter. The Jets and Todd were terrible in 1977, going 3-11 and Todd only completed 50% of his passes and threw far more picks than TDs. The fans did not embrace him and it was, of course, hard for him to step in and replace Namath. He was booed often. Todd had a great game in the 78 opener agains the fish, throwing for 3 TDs and the Jets won big. My memory is that Todd ran off the field after a TD pass or at the end of the game flipping the fans the bird. Then Todd got hurt later in the season, Robinson led the team to some wins and the controversy you referenced began in the 78 season. The Jets went 8-8, losing some hearbreaking games late in the season that might have put the Jets in the playoffs with wins - I remember an awful loss to the Pats and an OT loss to Cleveland. Robinson was the starter as the 79 season opened. The fan base was split between Todd and Robinson. The Jets lost a heartbreaker to Cleveland in the 79 opener. It may even have been in OT. Then I seem to remember that Robinson injured his thumb on his passing hand after that game and the rumors were that it was in a fight in the locker room or in a bar (can't remember). Todd took over and had a decent season, but the Jets had to win their last 3 to finish 8-8. The Jets traded Robinson in the offseason to Denver before the 1980 season. Robinson went on from there to do nothing. His career bright spot was 1978. The Jets were awful in 1980, going 4-12 and losing to the winless Saints. 1981 started off badly with a loss at Buffalo, a tough loss to the Bengals in the week 2 home opener, and then a thumping they took at Pittsburgh in week 3 (sound familiar?) when the Steelers ran for something like 300 yards. The Jets then went on a tear from there,,mainly on the backs of a defense led by the Sack Exchange and a great year from Todd. They unexpectedly beat Houston (with Ken Stabler and Earl Campbell) at home in week four - chasing Stabler all over the field. They tied Miami at Miami next ( a game they should have won) and then lost only two games the rest of the year - both to the lowly Seahawks. Back then, there were three divisions in each conference - two five team divisions (East and West) and one four team division (Central). The 5th place teams in each conference played each other twice back then. The Jets then lost the wildcard game to the Bills at home in one of the best games I have ever seen in person. The Jets were clearly a SB caliber team in 81 The Jets and Todd were SB caliber in 82 also. Then game the disastrous decision by Hess to fire Michaels and promote Walton to head coach for 1983. The Jets were favored to win the AFC in 83. The team and Todd had bad seasons, finishing 7-9. The OT game against the Rams was early in the season. Todd was traded to the Saints after the 83 season for a first round draft pick and Ken O'Brien was given the QB job in 84.
Wasn't that when Walt threw his SB ring on his desk and berated all the reporters for ripping his coaching decisions, basically saying in his rather colorful way that how did he have a SB ring if he was such a bad coach?
Richard Todd unmistakably flips off the Shea faithful at exactly 2:50:38. You should really watch this whole game, but just to set things up: The Rams have just tied the game and kicked off. Jets now have the ball at their own 27 with 26 seconds left and only 1 TO. They kneel, obviously. The way the game was going, this was the completely obvious decision. But the crowd hates it. lol. Todd has been smashed around all game, and he shrugs like, "WTF do you people want?" Then he flips us off. Hilarious. Summerall and Madden don't notice, needless to say. edit: Just look at the legends that walk out for the OT coin toss. Damn. What a great YouTube channel. The full 1981 playoff game vs. Buffalo was just uploaded as well. I know, what a nightmare. But I brought myself to watch it again. What a sick game. The football is so pure.
Raise your hand if you were at the 1980 Saints game and the 1983 Rams game. One was better than the other. One had warmer weather than the other.
Thanks for digging that up. I wasn't at that game because I had moved to Los Angeles a year earlier. So many memorable players on that fucked up field... the brawl at 1:49:50 was great.
My memory is not that good but think I was at the Saints game, unfortunately I was also at the 81 playoff game against the Bills
Yeah... I was there as well. Todd sucked thru three quarters and came alive in the 4th... only to revert to his true self at the end.
Yup. My ass just met my seat when Harper coughed up the opening kickoff right in from of me in Loge Section 2 Row J. I was at all the Shea games '79 - '83. Actually I went to the final '78 home game too. AMA
I don't remember the actual seats but we were lowers on the closed end about 2 yards into the end zone so at least I was far away from the int at the end of the game
We were near each other then. I was one level up, over your shoulder. From 100 yards away I can still visualize Todd's pass, a Jets WR in the end zone, and Bill Simpson popping up to intercept it between the two. It was the perfect, traumatic view. From that distance he was tiny, but he just popped up like a puppet. Now I won't sleep tonight. Had the Jets completed the comeback, at that time it would have been the greatest playoff comeback in NFL history. The Warren Moon in Buffalo disaster was still several years off.
I remember watching that Jets-Colts game. I believe it was Bob Costas' 1st NFL game. Jets won....I believe it was right after the epic Miami game where Todd hit Jerome Barkum with a last-second TD and Sports Illustrated's Paul Zimmerman had the 1st story entitled "IN TODD THEY TRUST." 10 minutes of diversions was nothing, we had an entire game broadcast in 1980 without announcers !! Final game vs. Miami, I believe (I watched it in college).
I'm not sure about the Bird Flipping incident but I recall Todd throwing for 400 yards and a bunch of TDs vs. Oakland (?) and the Jets losing on a Pat Leahy missed PAT. I distinctly remember a sports reporter writing "Jets fans are WILD about Richard Todd" -- back then, 55% pass completion was excellent (I believe only 2 or 3 QBs were over 60% in 1978 or 1979). Matt Robinson hurt his thumb BEFORE the Game 1 1979 season opener. Yes, they lost in OT -- bad roughing penalties on Gastineau. Robinson was fooling around with another Jet. He lied to Walt Michaels about the injury which had multiple repurcussions. I believe Jim Kensil was afraid of losing Joe Walton who was THE hot asst. coach entering the 1982 off-season. My Jets contact at that time told me it was Kensil who led the charge to tell Hess about Walt's drinking and also that they would lose Walton and be stuck with a drunk -- so Leon made the change. Hess trusted Kensil implicitly, given his credentials from the NFL and Pete Rozelle. I asked Walt Michaels directly about this at a Jets preseason game in the 1990's and he wouldn't confirm this version exactly but I did hear him mutter "son of a bitches backstabbing" which I think was a reference to the situation with the front office whom he did NOT like. The FO didn't want to get rid of John Idzik as OC (Walt did for some reason, I think because Idzik helped cover up Robinson's injury) and also overruled the draft team on taking Anthony Munoz at #2 instead of Lam Jones.
I remember sending away for this to show to my college dorm. The Jets didn't charge or ask for any deposit...it was one of those film reels and we borrowed a projector to show it on someone's wall or maybe borrowed a screen from the AV Dept. at my upstate NY college. I remember we had 2 guys from Cyprus who watched it, and remember telling them that the film was about American "football" not the soccer one from Europe !! Kept it a week or so and then mailed it back. Wow...different era.
Does anybody remember Steve Serby's infamous column, "Mr. Loser"? I think it ran from about 1984 to the late-1990's or early-2000's. Funniest one was when he went through his littany of bad Sunday losses and bemoaned his fate and ended his column with "Next thing you know, they'll be telling me that Richard Todd is back !!" And he was...the Jets (and Joe Walton) broughtTodd back in 1986 I believe for a few games as a backup !!
Simpson nabbed 2 of Todd's 4 ints. that day. I had just taken the last swig out of a brandy flask when Todd threw that last interception. Brandy has never touched my lips since...
