The 1981 New York Jets had absolutely everything, they played in beloved Shea Stadium from the heart and soul of the Big Apple in New York City, they had great wide receivers, tight ends, a very conservative running attack that included Bruce Harper averaged five yards a rush, quarterback Richard Todd and the big daddy of them all, the New York Sack Exchange and they do earn the football title crown as the Talk of the Town of 1981!!!
@@joedimaggio6261 it was amazing, because we were finally winning, and in 2 years a game from the SB. after alllll that losing. That was amazing to me and fun, I was 15
Possibly my favorite NFL season of all time. She had such great character and the game vs Miami at home was the best I ever saw in person. The subway back to midtown was a big party.
Klecko and Gastineau--and both "juiced" to the gills on steroids--so essentially their sacks mean nothing and shouldn't be counted as any kind of record
That early eighties Jets team with that d-line "the New York Sack Exchange" Klecko, Lyons. Salaam, Gastineau, decent offense: walker, McNeil, Jones, Toon ,they should've reached the SB ,I believe the AFC title game in Miami where they let the field get drenched and they end up playing in ankle deep mud.
When Richard Todd threw that fateful interception, in the corner out of camera view, was a wide open receiver! Poor Todd, never quite got over the hump.
Besides Mike Webster, Cincinnati Bengals offensive lineman Anthony Munoz said on the day he retired, he said Joe Klecko was the quickest, strongest and the toughest son of a bitch lineman I have ever faced during my career and it was from the 1981 NFL season!!
Great excerpts of the radio broadcasts. Brooklyn’s Spencer Ross had that distinctive voice. Great memories. I just wished the Jets could have pulled off the mud bowl game before a delirious Jets crowd. Probably my favorite Jets team.
I was at the the game when they put the beat down on the Giants. I believe had Shula had not pulled that stunt in Miami in 1982. The Jets would’ve beaten the Dolphins and the Redskins in the Super Bowl. That Jets team was tough to handle.
Ain't no way the forecast says 80% chance of rain for the weekend and you don't tarf the playing field, I watched that game, they were actually ankle deep in mud, that bs was orchestrated. The AFL rivals like that in big games use all kinds of advantages: snow plows on the field, failure to tarf field, smdh, since 1968 imho the NY Sack Exchange was the best team they've had that should've made/won SB and that explosive offense, excellent lb corps, Blinka, Mehl
Todd was an interception waiting to happen. 1981 was his best and only good year..And while he rallied them vs the Bills in the playoffs, he also tossed 4 picks in that game..
O'Brien was not a leader. Also, one of the most frustrating things about him was that when he took off and had a reasonable head of steam towards a first-down/touchdown, he would se one player even from the other side---where, normally, even if he got hit slightly he would certainly make it to a first-down/touchdown, he would unnecessarily and to a ridiculous degree, impede his own momentum and and fall short of the target. He would do this if he has already run 15 yards or 3 yards---each with a fair head of steam. So it is, obviously, psychological. So, I would start anticipating his pussy loser's attitude and know that, no matter what advances he made in a given rum, the sight of a defender would make him, in essence, backpedal.
Since 1968 the only real thing the Jets have had to brag about is Joe Namath,s Jersey. However they have more Superbowl victories than Minnesota, Chargers, Browns, Bengals, Bills, Phoenix, Lions and Oilers-Titans. Have tied Chicago and Seattle for a Silver Football. God I miss the Twin Towers.
Joe Klecko. My favorite Jet. If he wasn’t injured in ‘82 who knows how that would have changed Jets lore. I would like to think they would have at least faced the Redskins in the Super Bowl. But then Riggins may not have had one of the best single plays to ever grace our eyes .
Klecko and Gastineau "juiced" which makes them cheaters and hence any records they had were meaningless. Gastineau is now in the throes of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease and has admitted he wished he had never played football
Back then, the two conference teams that finished FIFTH in their divisions played a two-game home-and-home series the following season. The scheduling system was worked out by former NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle (RIP)...A MUCH BETTER commissioner than Roger Goodell.
I was at the game where they made the playoffs by beating Green Bay and was on the field when they tore down the goalposts! I was also at the playoff game where they lost to effing Buffalo. 😡
They were both playing with the "last place schedule" which existed from 1978-95. If you finished in last place (only the 4 divisions with 5 teams, the other 2 at the time which was the AFC Central & NFC West got shafted) in one year you got that last place schedule the next year and you would play the last place team from the year before at home & on road as well as play the 2 last place teams in the other conference in the 5 team divisions, one at home and the other the road. Those 4 games would replace the normal 4 games you had against the other conference division your division would play. A bit convoluted how I said it here but that's how it was before the expansion in 95 w Jacksonville & Carolina coming into the league.
I am amazed at how many Jet fans hate Richard Todd. I wasnt born until 1986, looking at it on paper he led a mediocre team to the AFC playoffs twice and to an AFC title game one of those years. He never had the skill set of a Montana, Elway or Steve Young, some of that is God given. But Todd won a lot of ballgames.
