Losing Nick Mangold really hit me hard. He represented the last era of exciting NYJ football, and he managed to somehow make the losing years still fun. He was a great player, a great Jet, and a great human. He was too young. It got me to asking myself, when we walk into that stadium how are we reminded of Nick and frankly all our former greats? How are we reminded of the great moment’s we’ve had over the years? There’s nothing but Bud Light ads everywhere, and a digital “ring of honor” that disappears the moment the game is over. It’s embarrassing. The stadium should be such an amazing memorial to all our past players. If Joe Klecko, Ken O’Brien, Al Toon , Namath, Maynard, Wayne Chrebet, Vinny T, D’Brick, Revis, Curtis Martin…. Etc walk into our stadium they should be overwhelmed by the love and honor within the building. Their families should always be reminded in our stadium how much we love and remember them. Nick’s kids should be able to walk into our stadium in 20 years and look up in complete awe saying “that’s my daddy” up there. Not digital screens, not shitty roller poster boards that change from Jets to Giants and end up malfunctioned and looking like shit in no time. Permanent, large poster monuments, busts and statues, tv’s replaying moments like the monday night miracle, the guarantee, O’Brien throwing 5 TD’s…. We’re not cursed from Joe Namath’s guarantee, we’re cursed because we have absolutely no regard for our history and our players. I don’t care about the problems of sharing a stadium. Tell the Mara’s to fuck off and deal with it, or leave the stadium and find our own. From the gray seats to the gray corridors it’s depressing and an absolute embarrassment of how we’ve totally forgotten our players who’ve bled green and put their bodies on the line. If you want players to “play like a Jet” you need to show them how important it is to the organization to be a Jet. Whether we share a stadium or not, our home should be a constant reminder to our former players of how much we loved them, how much they mean to us, and our promise to preserve their efforts so when they walk into the stadium after their playing days are over they are overwhelmed by the love and honor. Start there Woody, maybe a little less focus on current gameday uniforms and more focus showing love to the guys who bled for us.
Was this inspired by the recent Bill Simmons podcast? He was talking about how the best baseball teams do a good job of memorializing their past within their stadiums. It's a nice idea but by far our biggest problem is just that Woody knows nothing about football and doesn't care to learn anything about it. He's also a dweeb and is easily fooled by coaching/GM candidates who are good at selling themselves. His lack of football knowledge makes it impossible for him to differentiate between guys who sound smart and guys who are actually smart. It's really that simple. We won't get better unless we get profoundly lucky or ownership changes hands.
I don’t think you can ever really achieve this when you share a stadium that’s transformed to a different teams colors every other week. If you go to Yankee Stadium for the Pinstripes bowl, you still walk through the halls and see all the Yankee greats for the most part. You’ll never achieve that then the Giants are playing next week. All the more reason they should’ve built the West Side stadium.
The Bengals fixed their piece of shit franchise with a good QB and a couple good receivers. They’re still the cheapest organization in the game. They made their players rent TV’s at training camp and pay for their own transportation across a highway to get to the field from the hotel in August. But they made a couple good decisions.
My guess is there will be rotating logos like those court side ads in the NBA, just superimposed on the field for the TV viewers. Make more money that way.
You know, I was thinking this very same thing last Friday. The Mrs. and I went to see Maroon5 at the Golden1 Center, in Sacramento, which is the home of the Kings. Basically the NY Jets of the NBA. As the useless opening act was playing (some 18yr. old "Tik Tok Sensation that couldn't sing her way out of "you name it"), I was looking around the building and they had jersey's hanging from the rafters and everything...EVERYTHING was in purple and white. From the moment you walk through the doors you know you are in the Sacramento King's building. Whether or not you are an NBA fan or a Kings fan you are struck by it. It sets a tone. Then I thought about our Jets. While, yes, I agree, it doesn't "fix" what's wrong with the team it sure as hell doesn't hurt. To be bathed in Jets green, regalia and memorabilia. When the players walk into "their" building and down "their" halls everything should be J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets... It sets a tone. Fosters an attitude. As some of you aptly pointed out, the sport has become so homogenized because of flippin' money that it's not funny. Billionaires selling out to other billionaires and on and on. You really have to sit back and ask when's enough enough. However, I digress. The Jets have been an also ran "side show" in NY since, well, damn near forever. The bitch of it is, that region could EASILY support THREE NFL teams and THREE different stadiums but somehow it gets rationalized away. Damn, with TWO stadiums, you get double the concerts, double the convention space on and on. I know I'm beating a dead horse here but the lack of "heart" that building has is palpable. Especially when fans, such as my self, go right in the middle of Sacramento downtown to watch a Kings game (or concert) or right off the water front in San Francisco to catch the Giants. THAT stadium is B-E-A-utiful! Shame the Jets always have to be so....so....sterile, yeah, that's the word I'm looking for. Sterile.
This is an interesting discussion and a very good idea. I don't think Woody cares about the Jets legacy. I actually believe the online theory that he plans to move the Jets to London.
No, I hadn’t heard it. It’s just that it makes me sad that in 5 years or so you’re barely gonna know who Mangold was except for his name on a temporary digital ring of honor. Do our younger fans really know anything about Wesley Walker, Al Toon, Kenny O, the sack exchange? And if any of those guys come to the game with family, how are they reminded of and honored for what they gave on the field? No, I don’t think it’s some instant karma fix. I look at the state of the Jets more in an analogy of someone terribly depressed laying in a dark bed with laundry all over the floor, dishes in the sink, and hadn’t showered in days. The first step in getting back up is to dust yourself off, take a shower, clean up, and start taking pride in yourself. The Jets need to clean their act up and start showing some self love, start showing love to the guys who played here, and start showing love to the fans that have been showing up through all this. You don’t win all the time. All things being equal, you only have a 3% shot to win a SB each year. I understand this, and I’m not looking for miracles. I’m looking for a little pride and respect from ownership to share in the memories of what was good, to be immersed in the Jets experience when I show up to a game, not to just have my entire day hinging on a win or loss.
Preach, this is what it's going to take to turn this around. Not draft, FA or coaching. There is a stink in that building that needs to get rectified before we can truly be great.
This and there's also the fact that the Yankees have a better history to tell. Their franchise legends are some of the best players ever to play the game. The Jets would seem a little weird for a monument of Al Toon, And I loved Al Toon. But there is a massive difference between what he brought to the sport and what Joe Dimaggio brought to his sport
I’m not saying build a statue of Al Toon or other non HoF players. I’m saying line the walls with huge images of them, images of big plays like Jumbo Elliot’s catch at the Monday Night Miracle. Have a section similar to the canyon of heroes that celebrates our greats with facts about their history. What I’m saying is to make the stadium experience something that any past player could walk into our stadium and feel pride for having been a part of it. And honestly the shared stadium is no excuse, you have to be able to celebrate your brand in your own home.
Talk about a word that is distinctly DEVOID of meaning for this organization. Pride results in performing your craft to the point where you aren't penalized multiple times a game. Pride is knowing your assignments so you aren't over running a play and missing a tackle. Pride is NOT doing a fucking dance after a routine play when your ass is getting tuned up on the score board. PRIDE is hating losing so much that winning is all you can think about and work towards. Hell, if some of the guys in that building, including our shithead owner, had some pride in what they do the NY Jets wouldn't look this bad, this often and for this long. Period!
I'm convinced that Joe Namath sold, not his soul, but the soul of the NYJ for the SB III win. The curse can only be broken when he dies.
IMO . When a team has to share a stadium with another, one if not both will for ever loose their identity. There is no pride of ownership when your stadium is not your home. Is like living with your in laws
I get the sentiment, but this franchise doesn’t have much to be proud of. Its highest achievers are a mix of home grown talent and hired guns. Kind of pathetic when all your passing leaders/record holders were FA’s that only played a couple seasons. Closing in on 60 years since its last Super Bowl appearance/victory. Sub .500 win percentage. Long playoff droughts. Short list of truly elite players with storied careers. They’ve fielded one championship team and a few very good teams that had short windows which they failed to capitalize on. Those teams were fun to watch, but they’re also a reminder of the futility this franchise and its fanbase have had to endure.
So just to get the futility argument out of the way- reasonably speaking the odds of winning a SB are 1 every 32 years all things equal. Factor in how much a franchise level QB suddenly creates dynasties, the odds of winning a SB go down substantially when you don’t have one. We haven’t had one since Namath. SB or bust is a silly way to decide you’re going to enjoy football or not. Contrary to what you’re saying, we have a wealth of past players that are worthy of honoring throughout the stadium. We have a wealthy of moments worthy of honoring throughout the corridors of out stadium. When you walk through the corridors there’s no reason not to see large poster images/plaques of players like Chrebet, Keyshawn, OBrien, Toon, Walker, Buttle, Maynard, Parcells, Mawae, Herm, Mangold, Klecko, Gastineau…. I mean I could sit here for another hour still naming players and moments on and off the field. Sure we stink right now, but that’s no reason to not celebrate the good players, good moments, and good times this team has had. Our practice facility in Florham Park has huge poster signs all over the wall that our current players obviously see daily, but nothing for the fans or former players. I think the stadium alone should be a reason to go to the game, especially during these lean years. In terms of the curse- from a former player’s perspective to walk into our stadium and see himself up on our walls as a reminder of our love and appreciation, for their kids and grandkids to be able to say “wow” when they come to a game and see that…. Not just for Jets games, but concerts and events. It creates an energy and sends a message that this organization loves its players, past and present, regardless of the overall success of the team they’re on. Current players know their efforts will not be forgotten when they put their heart and soul into being a Jet. Woody should tell the Mara’s to fuck off and just do it, or leave this god forsaken hell hole. We have had over 5 decades of not having a place to truly call home. Even renters get to decorate the walls in the home. We’re a 1/2 owner and we can’t do anything to make it look like we live their? Preposterous.
Apologies. Not saying the Jets shouldn’t honor people who have had success in the organization. I’m saying that there’s Steelers level of success, Patriots level of success, Packers level of success, then much further down the list there’s the Jets level of success. A bit better than the Carolina Panthers, who have 8 less playoff games to their credit than the Jets who were founded 35 years before them. The jets have already shat on the 1/32 odds you’ve posited. To explain why is no different than explaining the makeup of a bad franchise. No doubt the fan experience needs improvement. I remember when the team was competitive and when it was highly competitive. Highlighting those teams and players wouldn’t be a bad thing. I just don’t think it changes the product on the field. FWIW I get that the curse is a running joke for NFL fans, but it’s been running for so long that it’s tired at this point, and there’s only one way to give it a rest.
To Break a Hex: If you feel that you have been hexed, this should break the link and return it to them: You will need: A sprig of rosemary A piece of paper A red pen Scissors A piece of red cloth Paprika or chilli pepper Red cotton Keep the rosemary on your person whilst you work this hex. Write the name of the person who has hexed you on a piece of paper, if you don’t know who did it just write “enemy mine”. With the red pen, draw a doll shape around the name and cut it out. Lay the paper doll face down on the red cloth and sprinkle it with paprika or chilli pepper. Tie the cotton around the middle of the doll then wrap it in the red cloth, hold it in your hands and say: Enemy of mine your power is gone The hex is broken, the spell undone Enemy mine go away So shall it be from this day This spell will last until your apology sets you free by me This is my will, so mote it be Perform this chant for seven nights in a row, then unwrap the doll, tear it into 9 pieces and burn it. Scatter the ashes somewhere away from your home and dispose of the red cloth. Happy Halloween.
