Meet the Jets M ost football teams are remembered for their great players and thrilling games The New York Jets have had plenty of both but they will forever be linked to one amazing victory more than 40 years ago On that day in just the third Super Bowl the Jets proved that a team with confidence and heart could accomplish anything Jets fans don’t expect their team to win the Super Bowl every year But they do demand that the players give a championship effort every time they take the field Over the years win or lose this is what has made Gang Green a special team This book tells the story of the Jets Their players have big dreams and big personalities They have a way of making fans jump out of their seats and cheer as one When you root for the Jets you always need to be ready for takeoff Quarterback Mark Sanchez congratulates the defense on a job well done The Jets make big plays on both sides of the ball 5
Glory Days T he popularity that professional football enjoys today began in the 1950s Back then millions of fans began watching National Football League NFL games on television In 1960 a group of businessmen decided there was room for a new league The American Football League AFL was born Most of the AFL clubs began in cities where the NFL did not play However in New York City a team called the Titans bravely took on the Giants one of the best teams in all of football The Titans hired Sammy Baugh as their first coach Baugh had been one of the NFL’s most successful quarterbacks Naturally his teams loved to pass The Titans had two great receivers in Don Maynard and Art Powell They became the first teammates to each gain 1,000 receiving yards in the same season The Titans were fun to watch but the Giants had far more fans and remained the most popular team in New York It 6
took three of the smartest people in football to save the Titans Leon Hess and Sonny Werblin bought the team and changed the name to Jets They hired Weeb Ewbank to coach the team Ewbank was well known to New York football fans He had led the Baltimore Colts to the NFL championship twice both times over the Giants Hess Werblin and Ewbank worked together to build a team around stars such as Joe Namath Larry Grantham Al Atkinson Winston Hill and Matt Snell Namath was the most important player for the Jets They signed him to the largest contract in football in order to keep him from joining the NFL’s St Louis Cardinals By 1968 the Jets were the top team in the AFL Namath broke many of the league’s passing records He teamed with Maynard and a group of young stars to give New York a great offense The defense led by Grantham was also very good New York won the AFL championship and met Baltimore in Super Bowl III The Jets shocked fans everywhere by beating the powerful Colts The victory LEFT Art Powell ABOVE Joe Namath hands off to Matt Snell They helped the Jets soar to a championship 7
