Maawae was a great player for us for many years, I hope he makes it to the Hall and at some point he should be in our ring of honor.
We had a nice run from 1967-69 but that was really it. We were near the top of the league almost every season (only have 2 losing seasons) during Mawae's tenure here. While the SB was won in the '68 season, I was referring more to our most sustained success.
5th if you count John Riggins. (I'm assuming you are referring to Namath, Maynard, and Martin before Mawae).
Couple of things: 1) Mawae is a hall of famer. If he doesn't get in on one of his first few years of eligibility then there's something wrong with the system. 2) I don't even think his time is up, and there are surely teams that could use him. However, being President of the Player's Union, in a year where both teams' captains walked out on the field with their pointer fingers in the air just after the National Anthem of the first game, he had to know he had a big red X on his name in every GM office across the league.
I'm not saying Mawae is great anymore, but he's still pretty good, and I'd venture to guess he could beat out many teams' first stringers. He didn't even receive a passing notice from anyone this offseason. No one even asked him to come around for a look. The end of his career was due to his union status, I'd bet money on it and I never bet.
Great player. Probably a HOFer, especially given the diminished stds for HOF. Hopefully he'll enjoy a healthy retirement and isn't too torn up. 16 yrs in the NFL trenches is one heckuva run.
Actually Tony, we have done well over history at center. Going back to Joe Fields and Jim Sweeney. Both long time, good centers to go along with Mawae and Mangold. Too bad we haven't been nearly as consistant at other positions.
Chrisp22 "Actually Tony, we have done well over history at center. Going back to Joe Fields and Jim Sweeney." Loved Schmidt and Fields. Mawae was a smart C setting up blocking. When you saw him in the LB area you knew the RB's had yards. My recollection said that he had little straight ahead drive on the goal line pushes from the 1-3 yd line. Kinda got man-handled by NT's. i didn't miss him when he was cut.
It's true, this team ahs had some very good centers over the years. Schmitt, Fields, Mawae and Mangold. Not sure I'd put Sweeney in that group. Mawae had a rep as dirty player though, that might hurt him with the HoF voters a little. He'll still get in, but there may be some resistance. Mawae got traded for ONE reason. He was percieved as being too much of a locker room lawyer, a little too militant as a player rep. The FO saw him as a distraction. C'mon man! He's 40 years old! He's been a great C, but he's finished. There were murmurs that came from TN players who said he was done last year. I'm sure he'll find a job within the NFLPA.
This echo's my sentiments. I would say that signing Mawae was the best free agent move this franchise has made in my 25+ years watching the Jets.
Yeah Alio, thats what I was thinking also. I mean, somebody out there could've used a center for at least one year until they picked up someone in the draft (though the draft pool looks pretty weak). I dunno, being the pres. of the players union has to have played a significant role in this.
Bingo, Alio. You can say what you want about Mawae's skills diminishing; it's true. But the fact of the matter is that this man played sixteen games last year and blocked for a 2,000 yard rusher. He's still got something left in the tank. You can't tell me that Mawae is as over-the-hill as Flozell Adams when he signed with Pittsburgh this year or Orlando Pace when he signed with Chicago last year. Teams want to get younger, yes; but they want to win first and foremost. No franchise is going to invite the NFLPA President into their locker room during hostile labor negotiations. You can call it blackballing; I call it prudent business. If Mawae had gone to a couple of teams and heard "sorry, you're washed up" or "sorry, we can't make you a starter," that'd be one thing. But he didn't even get a look. That's telling.
