When I first saw this I thought it said, "That was great....fu for posting!" Hahahaha, that would've been the best typo ever. In fact, I'm deeply disappointed. : (
Meet Johnny Sample, the NFL's first angry black man. And it was a 1000% justified. Sample had a huge chip on his shoulder against Baltimore for ridiculous indignities that he suffered there. The difference between Sample and Jack Tatum was class. 'They Call Me Assasin', screw that hump, go jump in a lake. One thing about dopey Namath, locker room racial tension was zero. He had a true handle on it, and seriously didn't give a shit if you were fuschia, purple, or orange. He looked out for people, stood up for people, diffused nonsense, and had the respect of every black player on that team - including Sample. But yeah, agreed, the intent to maim has got to go. I was actually kind.of surprised that Al Toon allowed his son to play.
Yeah I'm right there with you with Miami hatred. I remember that hit on Boldin it was beyond scary cause he was out cold.
O'Brien was a human statute. I don't know how many times he held onto the ball only to take a sack. Me screaming at the TV to just throw it away stop giving up yards. In my view it was the Miami shootout with Marino and that was it. I don't see him as the 2nd best QB. He was a big arm and that was it, his release was pedestrian. Here are the Jets looking at something similar in Allen.
353 sacks and 3 losing playoff games out of 3. Everyone kills Gastineau for the loss to Cleveland in the 86 playoff game. Kenny took 6 sacks and completely disappeared down the stretch. The guy had All Toon, Walker and Freeman. He couldn't move at all and became amazingly indecisive in big spots and couldn't get the ball out. At times he looked like an old boxer who couldn't throw the jab anymore.
Ever hear of Jerry Rice? Well our idiot GM at the time picked Toon over Rice. The rest of history even without ATs concussion Rice was so many levels better then Toon
Ken O'Brien was the inverse of the Sack Exchange. THROW THE BALL AWAY. No. Already mentioned, I didn't hate the guy. Our crap O-Line didn't help things, but what about throwing the ball away did he NOT get?! I would've been OK if he kept intentional grounding it every time. A 5 yard penalty is better than losing 30, so yeah, my jokes still 'stand'. ; )
I don't recall all the specifics but I do recall constantly being frustrated with his play--short dunks most of the time and putting the receiver into harms way are two memories. Also seem to recall that Pat Ryan replaced him at some point and everyone was happy with that. Also, gotta disagree with your 2nd best qb statement--Pennington IMO >>>>KO
If Chad didn't take that header against Buffalo, my life would be gravy! Slide, slide, slide, but no! Remember that game where Pennington and that Miami puke Fiedler both went down in the same game? Pennington had a 17.93 passing percentage in that game! I could've done that with my foot! It was the curse of having Miami stink Fiedler on the team! I can't even remember who the Jets threw out there after that, because my mind is still trying to protect itself from further brain damage! Go Ricky Ray! Signed, -Mrs. championjets69
The choice between Pennington and O'Brien to my mind goes back to the classic "peak value" versus "career value" choice, with "what might have been" mixed in. In terms of peak value, to me it's not even close - Pennington pre-shoulder injury was IMO vastly better than O'Brien ever was, but it was a very short time. After that he was never much better than pedestrian for the rest of his career, including his very successful year in Miami. His arm was just too limited. With O'Brien, on the other hand, what you saw was what you got - big arm, bad decision making. He teased us in 1985, but it was a mirage. Like Pennington, for most of his career he wasn't at all special, but unlike Pennington it wasn't because of injury. Pennington might have become a star; O'Brien was never going to. The fact that Namath remains the only Jets QB who has put together more than one excellent year is the saddest thing you can say about Jets quarterbacking. By the way, the peak value versus career value thing is directly relevant to this thread. In terms of peak value Toon was the #1 Jets WR, and Sauer was #2. In terms of career value, Maynard was by far #1, and Walker was probably #2. Who was "best" depends completely on which value you consider.
Good point. Some of that blame has to go on Walton. He was an offensive HC for crying out loud. He could have designed plays where the ball had to come out sooner. You can't tell me that Toon, Walker, Freeman, Shuler, and Hector couldn't get open quickly. He seemed content to keep running slow-developing plays and letting Kenny O just stand there and hold the ball. Heck, if need be, he could have benched him for a series or two or even a quarter. Pat Ryan was a decent enough backup that he could have played a few series or a quarter while Kenny O got to sit on the bench and think about throwing the ball away.
Utter nonsense. Al Toon was an absolutely amazing college athlete. Besides being the best WR in that class coming out based on his play. He held the big 10 record in the triple jump and qualified for the olympic team in both high hurdles and triple jump. He was absolutely the No. 1 WR prospect coming out that year. He was an incredible WR in college and an off the chart athletic freak. Eddie Brown went 2 picks before Rice in that same draft. Rice was a terrific college player but he went to a small school and wasn't near the polished diamond Toon was coming out. Who knows what Toon would have been with Bill Walsh and Joe Montana? Who knows what Rice is on the Jets with Joe Walton and Ken O'Brein? Rice played with arguably the greatest offensive minded coach in NFL history along with one of the 5 best NFL QB's in history. Joe Walton may very well have destroyed Rice. I have no doubt that Bill Walsh would have made Toon a 1st ballot HOF WR.
Pennington post shoulder injury could barely get the ball down the field outside the hashmarks. He still figured out a way to take a very mediocre Jets team to the playoffs with Mangini as the HC. I hated Pennington's arm and at times couldn't believe he was an NFL QB. The guy had so much more game in him than O'Brien, who had a great arm. If O'Brien had half the desire, will and smarts that Pennington had he would have been a very good to great QB. Pennington in his own way was very special. It's not often you see a guy who doesn't have a great skill set step into a big void and create wins out of thin air. Vinny had a great year in 98 but Pennington is probably the 2nd best Jets QB to suit up.
They were not the same at all. Lam Jones wasn't sure handed in college and he was a sprinter. We also traded up to get him. He wasn't close to as good a WR as toon in college or the pro's. We also didn't give up 2 first to move up to get Toon. They aren't remotely comparable. One was a huge reach the other was taken exactly where he should have been taken and was one of the greatest players this team ever had.
