59 Fun Facts About New York Jets

Where did the Jets franchise play its first seasons, as the Titans of New York, before moving to Queens in 1964?

Polo Grounds: the Titans were a box-office disaster in the ageing Manhattan ballpark and went bankrupt within three seasons; a year after being sold and renamed, the team left for a new stadium.

Why were the New York Titans renamed the Jets in 1963?

Its stadium sat between two airports: the ballpark going up in Queens lay between New York's two biggest, the reason the team's own announcement gave; the name is also said to have appealed because it rhymed with Mets.

How much did Sonny Werblin's five-man syndicate pay for the bankrupt Titans of New York in 1963?

$1 million bought the whole bankrupt franchise; within weeks its new owners had renamed the team the Jets and dressed it in green and white.

Which Flushing ballpark did the Jets share with the Mets from 1964 to 1983?

Shea Stadium: the Mets' lease came first, so the Jets could not play at home until baseball was over; in 1969 they opened with five straight road games while the Mets went to the World Series.

Which New Jersey stadium became the Jets' home when it opened in 2010?

MetLife Stadium opened in 2010 as New Meadowlands Stadium, beside the old Giants Stadium, which was then demolished; the Jets share it with the Giants, as they had shared the old one.

The Jets' stadium staged the first Super Bowl held outdoors in what?

A cold-weather city: earlier Super Bowls in such cities had all been played under a roof, yet the feared freeze never came, with a mild 49 degrees at kickoff and snow arriving hours after the game.

Which team did the Jets beat in Super Bowl III?

Baltimore Colts. The 16-7 upset in January 1969 was the first Super Bowl won by an AFL team, proof that the younger league could compete shortly before the two merged.

Which backup quarterback led the losers' only touchdown drive in Super Bowl III?

Johnny Unitas. Hurt for most of that season, he replaced the struggling Earl Morrall with his team still scoreless, and his fourth-quarter drive came too late to stop the Jets' 16-7 upset.

Where did Joe Namath make his famous guarantee that the Jets would win Super Bowl III?

The Miami Touchdown Club. Namath was at its dinner three days before kickoff when a heckler needled him, and he shot back that the Jets would win, guaranteed.

Which Jets running back scored the team's only touchdown in Super Bowl III?

Matt Snell. He carried 30 times for 121 yards, while Joe Namath was named MVP without throwing a touchdown pass.

Through the 2025 season, the Jets and which other team had won the only Super Bowl they ever reached?

New Orleans Saints. In their lone trip, Super Bowl XLIV, they opened the second half with a surprise onside kick, recovered it and went on to win 31-17.

Joe Namath's record-breaking rookie contract in 1965 lured him to the Jets from which college?

Alabama. The NFL's Cardinals drafted Namath too, but he signed with the AFL's Jets the day after the Orange Bowl, the upstart league's biggest win in the bidding war.

Joe Namath's 4,007 passing yards in 1967 stood as the record until which quarterback topped it in 1979?

Dan Fouts. He threw for 4,082 yards with the Chargers, but he had a 16-game season to do it, while Namath set his mark in only 14.

Joe Namath modelled which women's product in a 1974 TV commercial?

Pantyhose. The Beautymist ad panned slowly up a pair of smooth legs before revealing that they belonged to the Jets' quarterback.

Joe Namath was born in which Pennsylvania steel town?

Beaver Falls. Several baseball teams tried to sign Namath out of high school there, the Cubs offering $50,000, but he chose college football instead.

In 1968, NBC cut away from a Jets-Raiders game with about a minute left to start which children's film on time?

Heidi. Oakland scored twice in the final minute to win 43-32 while the eastern half of the country watched the film, and later TV contracts required games to be shown to the end.

Don Maynard, the Titans' first signing, retired as pro football's all-time leader in what?

Receiving yards. Released by the Giants and back from a season in Canada, Maynard gained 11,834 of them, nearly all for the Titans and Jets, and retired with the record for catches too.

What nickname did the Jets' feared defensive line earn in the early 1980s?

Sack Exchange. The name is a pun on the New York Stock Exchange, and in 1981 the four linemen were invited there to ring the opening bell.

Which future Super Bowl-winning coach did the Jets fire after a single 6-10 season in 1994?

Pete Carroll. His Jets stood 6-5 until a fake-spike touchdown pass beat them, never won again that season, and he was gone after one year.

Whose 22 sacks in 1984 stood as the NFL record until 2001?

Mark Gastineau. That March the NFL had passed a rule against planned celebrations, aimed mainly at his sack dance, so he set the record without it.

Which Jets lineman made the Pro Bowl at three positions: defensive end, defensive tackle and nose tackle?

Joe Klecko. No one else has made the Pro Bowl at all three spots on the defensive line, yet he had to wait until 2023, more than 30 years after retiring, to enter the Hall of Fame.

Which team beat the Jets in the January 1983 AFC title game remembered as the Mud Bowl?

Miami Dolphins. Their field was left uncovered through days of storms, and in the mud Richard Todd threw five interceptions, three of them to the same linebacker.

Which head coach went 3-13 and then 1-15 with the Jets in 1995 and 1996?

Rich Kotite. He announced he was stepping down two days before the last game of 1996, and under Bill Parcells the same franchise reached the AFC title game two seasons later.

Which quarterback led the 1998 Jets to a 12-4 record and their first division title since the merger?

Vinny Testaverde. Released by the Ravens that summer, he opened 1998 as Glenn Foley's backup, then went 12-1 as the starter and threw 29 touchdown passes.

Which running back, brought from the Patriots by Parcells in 1998, became the Jets' top rusher?

Curtis Martin. Parcells pried him loose with a poison-pill offer sheet the Patriots declined to match, and the Jets gave up first- and third-round draft picks for him.

Which Jets lineman, paralysed in a 1992 collision, walked again within a year?

Dennis Byrd. He broke a vertebra in his neck that November, yet less than a year later he walked to midfield as honorary captain at the Jets' 1993 home opener.

Who quit as Jets head coach after one day in 2000, writing 'I resign as HC of the NYJ'?

Bill Belichick. He turned his own introductory press conference into a resignation, and the Patriots then had to give the Jets a first-round draft pick for the right to hire him.

Which Jets coach delivered the 2002 press-conference line 'You play to win the game!'?

Herm Edwards. He snapped it out the week a loss left his team 2-5, and the Jets went on to win seven of their last nine games and take the division.

Which undrafted Hofstra receiver made the Jets as a walk-on in 1995 and became their 'Mr. Third Down'?

Wayne Chrebet. He opened camp 11th of 11 on the receiver depth chart, and a security guard at the gate would not let him in on his first day.

Former Jets quarterback Chad Pennington was the first player to win which NFL award twice?

Comeback Player of the Year. Pennington won it in 2006, a year after two operations on his throwing shoulder, and again in 2008 with a division rival, months after the Jets released him.

What did the Packers receive when they traded Brett Favre to the Jets in August 2008?

A conditional fourth-round pick. That modest price bought a single season: the Jets started 8-3, lost four of their last five with Favre nursing a torn biceps tendon, and missed the playoffs.

Which quarterback did the Jets trade for in March 2012, then let throw only eight passes all season?

Tim Tebow. Denver had just signed Peyton Manning, so the quarterback who won it a playoff game two months earlier went to the Jets, who cut him after one season.

Which HBO series followed Rex Ryan's Jets through training camp in 2010?

Hard Knocks. Rex Ryan swore so freely on camera that former coach Tony Dungy criticised him publicly, and the two later met in person to settle their differences.

Which Jets cornerback, drafted 14th overall in 2007, had his side of the field nicknamed an 'Island'?

Darrelle Revis. The Jets traded him away in 2013, he won a Super Bowl with the rival Patriots the next year, and then he came straight back to the Jets.

Which Jets quarterback ran into his own lineman's backside and fumbled on Thanksgiving night in 2012?

Mark Sanchez. He slid into guard Brandon Moore, the Patriots ran the loose ball in, and it was one of three touchdowns they scored in 52 seconds on the way to a 49-19 win.

Which ESPN show's viewers voted the Butt Fumble 'Worst of the Worst' for 40 straight weeks?

SportsCenter. Its 'Not Top 10' reel pitted the play against each week's worst blooper for nearly ten months, until producers retired it in September 2013 to start fresh.

Which Jets superfan, leader of the J-E-T-S chant, walked out of the 2012 Thanksgiving loss and quit the role?

Fireman Ed. Ed Anzalone, a New York City firefighter, left at halftime and gave up the role, saying confrontations with other fans had become too common, then came back in 2015.

Which Hall of Fame running back played his final two NFL seasons with Rex Ryan's Jets in 2010 and 2011?

LaDainian Tomlinson. Released by San Diego after nine seasons, he ran for 914 yards in 2010 as the Jets fell one win short of the Super Bowl.

Which 2018 Jets third-overall pick was caught on a mic saying he was 'seeing ghosts' against the Patriots?

Sam Darnold. ESPN aired the remark during a 33-0 loss in 2019, and six seasons later he beat the same opponents in the Super Bowl as Seattle's quarterback.

Which Jets cornerback in 2022 became the first rookie at his position since Ronnie Lott named first-team All-Pro?

Sauce Gardner. He was Defensive Rookie of the Year too, yet in November 2025 the Jets traded him away in mid-season for a receiver and two first-round picks.

Which Jets receiver won 2022 Offensive Rookie of the Year with 83 catches for 1,103 yards?

Garrett Wilson. He set the Jets' rookie records for catches and yards even though three different quarterbacks started for them that season.

Aaron Rodgers tore his Achilles on which snap of his Jets debut on September 11, 2023?

Fourth. Leonard Floyd's sack ended Rodgers's season minutes into the game, yet the Jets still beat Buffalo in overtime on Xavier Gipson's 65-yard punt return.

After the Jets released him following the 2024 season, Aaron Rodgers signed with which team?

Pittsburgh Steelers. Rodgers kept the number 8 he had worn with the Jets and led his new team to the AFC North title in his first season there.

Who became Jets head coach in 2025, returning to the franchise where he once played cornerback?

Aaron Glenn. The Jets drafted him 12th overall in 1994 and he made two Pro Bowls with them, but his first season back as head coach ended 3-14.

The 2025 Jets made unwanted NFL history by becoming the first team to go a whole season without what?

An interception. Every team had managed at least one each season since the NFL began recording them in 1933, but all four of the Jets' takeaways in 2025 were fumble recoveries.

Who outbid Charles Dolan to buy the Jets for $635 million in 2000?

Woody Johnson. The Johnson & Johnson heir later left his brother Christopher to run the team for four seasons while he served as US ambassador to the United Kingdom.

In which New Jersey town have the Jets trained since 2008?

Florham Park. The Jets had played their home games in New Jersey since 1984 but kept training at Hofstra University on Long Island until this base opened.

Who gradually bought out his partners in the Jets to become the team's sole owner in 1984?

Leon Hess. The oil-company founder moved the Jets to New Jersey that same year, and his will directed that the team be sold after his death, which came in 1999.

Which center did the Jets draft from Ohio State in the 2006 first round?

Nick Mangold. The Jets spent both of their first-round picks on linemen to rebuild their blocking, and Mangold started all 16 games as a rookie in place of the released Kevin Mawae.

Rex Ryan's 2010 Jets won road playoff games at Indianapolis and where before losing the AFC title game?

New England. Six weeks after losing 45-3 on the same field, the Jets went back and beat the top-seeded Patriots 28-21.

In the 1983 draft, the Jets took Ken O'Brien while which future Hall of Fame quarterback was still available?

Dan Marino. He went three picks later to a division rival, so the Jets had to face the quarterback they passed over twice a year for 17 seasons.

What were the original colours of the Titans of New York?

Navy blue and gold. The syndicate that renamed the team in 1963 dropped both for kelly green and white, and the Jets brought the old colours back only as a throwback uniform in 2007.

Which businessman founded the Titans of New York, the AFL charter franchise that became the Jets?

Harry Wismer. A well-known sports broadcaster, he explained the name by saying that titans are bigger and stronger than giants, a dig at the city's NFL team.

Which Hall of Fame quarterback coached the Titans of New York to 7-7 in each of their first two seasons?

Sammy Baugh. He had coached against Don Maynard in college, so he made the Giants castoff the new franchise's first signing, and both men ended up in the Hall of Fame.

Which Jets linebacker's 2001 hit on Drew Bledsoe opened the door for Tom Brady's career?

Mo Lewis. His sideline tackle sheared a blood vessel in Bledsoe's chest, and the sixth-round backup who took over never gave the job back, winning six Super Bowls with the Patriots.

Which future Super Bowl MVP running back spent his first five seasons, 1971 to 1975, with the Jets?

John Riggins. He left as a free agent straight after running for 1,005 yards in 1975, when Washington offered him $1.5 million, far more than the Jets had paid.

Which college coaching great quit the Jets with one game left in 1976, his only NFL season?

Lou Holtz. He walked out at 3-10 with one game left to take the Arkansas job, and twelve years later he won a national title at Notre Dame.

Joe Namath briefly retired from football in 1969 rather than sell his share of which Manhattan nightclub?

Bachelors III. Commissioner Pete Rozelle ordered Namath to sell because gamblers drank there, and he quit football over it before giving in and selling weeks later.

The Jets' failed West Side stadium plan of 2005 was the centrepiece of New York's bid for which event?

The Summer Olympics. The stadium was voted down a month before the vote on the 2012 host, London won the Games, and the rail yards the Jets wanted became the Hudson Yards development.