By Tom Rock
It's not much of a surprise to anyone who has stuck their head in the Jets merchandise tent this summer, but the Jets will wear throwback Titans jerseys when they host the Eagles on Oct. 14.
The franchise was known as the Titans from its inception in 1960 until they became the Jets in 1963. "Gang Navy Blue and Gold" will also welcome some former Titans players at the game, including Don Maynard and Curley Johnson. They were Titans who also played in Super Bowl III. Mangini joked that they were even looking into playing the game at the Polo Grounds.
Brings up an interesting point, though. Why not have the Jets play one final game at Shea before they blow the mother up? How cool would it be to have the Jets play there in the middle of the 2008 season, after the Mets are done with it so as not to impugn the lovely sod. Say, an early November game against the Dolphins? I know these things take forever to get NFL approval, but it might be worth looking into. It would also endear the Jets further to the LI fans which they will be leaving for their new Florham Park facility.
Pelzman just noted that, if it is indeed throwback day for the Jets, Mangini should publicly disclose injuries just as they did in the 60s.
Let's hear from you fans ... would you want to see the Jets play one last game at Shea?
Comments (21)
they should be playing on the island permenantly to begin with..but yea having one last hoorah at shea would be something
One last game in Shea is a must. Great idea. (they should be in Queens full time)
Since they are leaving the island forever (at least 99 years seems like forever) one last game at shea would be a phenomenal idea!
Here's a question: Why did they allow The Houston franchise to use the name "Titans"?
On the issue of Shea Stadium, the answer is "no."
Shea Stadium is a dump; that's why the Jets left in the first place. No need to revisit that.
Blow it up.
Great idea, but why limit it to one last game? Football at Shea was the best! I'd love to see them move back there permanently - just close in the outfield portion of the stands and it would hold as many fans as Giants stadium. I used to sit in the endzone bleachers at Shea and have been a season ticket holder at Giants stadium since '85. I'm still waiting to have as much fun at a game at the antiseptic Meadowlands as at any of those raucous 1970s - 1980s games at Shea!
Please not play at Shea that place is a sh**hole. Every time I am there, I can't believe how bad a stadium that is. If you ask me, the sooner that place is gone the better.
would love a game at shea. too bad it will never happen.
Vote Yes for one last game at Shea, and don't stop there, one last Giant game at Yankee stadium too. A college football game or two would be nice in either place.
As for the throwbacks, would it not have made sense to wear them against an old AFL opponent?
eh... that would just be teasing us.
Probably can't do it at Shea.
The lower bowl seats that used to move for the football configuration are now permanently in baseball mode ... ever since the Mets raised many of the seats above the wide aisle close to home plate so the sight levels could be better.
For the past 25 years I have thought that they should be playing either a preseason or a reg season game at Shea. Shea a dump? yes, but its probably far more better than it was back in 83. It would be an absolute brillian PR move on the teams part, if they could do it before it becomes rubble. Obviously they would lose on game revenues as the seating is way less than the M'lands, but think about how many bad players and deals they've made over the years. This will cost them far less!
There was nothing like a Jet game at Shea... NOTHING!
what's not to be happy about Nugent? Short kickoffs? Back to Shea!! If u keep this up it's back to Flounder.
No, Tom, what I would actually like is to see the Jets play one last game at the Meadowlands... and then come back to Shea and play many more games there. Somehow Woody Johnson wasn't able to find a stadium in NYC, and yet here's an existing structure that is about to be torn down! Seems to me the Jets are spending a lot more money on building a new GIANTS Stadium (not to mention a new training facility in NJ) then they could have spent renovating Shea into a new JETS Stadium. Don't tell me they couldn't have talked Fred Wilpon into it by offering him a piece of the action.
Unfortunately, this actually makes sense, and these are the Jets we're talking about. Oh well.
Although he tried to take Manhattan, Woody has broken his promise to Jets fans (one he stated to me personally in the Meadowlands parking lot his first season as owner) to bring the team back from exile in New Jersey. To agree to permanent second team status in a jointly built stadium in New Jersey was a stab in the back to fans like me who were there when they were the Titans. They should have pursued a twin stadium with Citi Field.
Goodbye Pete, you suck.
Jimmy are you schizophrenic or are there two Jimmy's? First Jimmy (who must be from NJ and Mike from Manhattan - Shea is a great place with great memories. The state of NJ is a dump and a Sh**hole! Ican't wait to get out of it and move back to NY
Great idea, but probably won't happen, since Shea, even with added temporary stands holds less people than the Meadowlands, some season tix holders would get shut out of the game. Also, don't know if a football field would fit properly because field level seats can't be moved anymore. And a preseason game or summer scrimmage is out because Mets wouldn't want their field messed with next year. And I assume once '08 season is over, they will start to tear down Shea immediately to get parking ready for Citifield...so
'09 is out for the Jets too. Maybe they could do a Jet ceremony along with all the Mets hoopla I'm sure will occur during Shea's last year.
It's a shame, but I don't think that Jets management of the past or the present ever really understood their fans true feelings for Shea as their home. Much like if the Knicks or Rangers did not play at the Garden. I also recognize that there are now new generations of Jets fan who never saw/knew/or cared that they played at Shea. Politics and sports just don't always mix well.
To "Ray in NJ"
YOU SAID:
Jimmy are you schizophrenic or are there two Jimmy's? First Jimmy (who must be from NJ and Mike from Manhattan - Shea is a great place with great memories. The state of NJ is a dump and a Sh**hole! Ican't wait to get out of it and move back to NY
As to the suggestion that New Jersey is a dump, I'll note:
(1) That New Jersey routinely competes with Connecticut for the title of highest per-capita income in the country. Further, its land values are the highest in the nation.
I suppose that gives rise to another question: Why does the average New Jerseyan earn more money than the average citizen in the other 48 states (excluding Conn.)? Because it's home to a disproportionately large number of highly educated people.
But then again, seeing as how you use apostrophes to create plurals and don't seem to understand that independent clauses need to be separated by commas, I get the sense that you don't put very much stock in that.
(2) You CLEARLY do not live in New Jersey.
(3) Shea Stadium was--and is--a terrible venue. The Jets moved out of Shea precisely because the infrastructure of the stadium was crumbling---and that was in 1983, when the stadium was still relatively new. It was built in 1964, and by 1983, it had become untenable.
A lot of history revision going on here. Shea wasn't falling apart when the Jets left for Jersey. The Jets had asked the city for land to build a stadium after they won a super Bowl the mayor, John Lindsay at the time (said that why can't they just share Shea Stadium with the Muts. The Jets (and Titans) use to play in the Polo Grounds vacated after the MLB Giants left for San Francisco. The Jets (like the Brooklyn Dodgers) did not see going to Queens as the option where majority of there fans could would have longer trips to get their with higher traffic. Also in the late 60's and early 70's the Mets were reaching the post season consistently. That meant that the Jets often played the first 2 Months of the Football season before the field was fully covereted to football (sod the infield and remove the mound). By the end of September the field was so chewed up neither tenant was happy. The bare infield and the Shea open end made the field a dust bowl on a cold dry day. I remember even Namath had passes blown down against Kansas city in 1970 playoff. The city did not think they had to compete for the Jets and Giants. They were wrong, just like they were on the former NY Giants and Brooklyn Dodger Baseball teams. I doubt anyone was running to city hall to say 'please raise our taxes and do whatever it takes to keep the teams here'. Shea refused to put in turf to make the Stadium more able to handle the wear. The Mets refused so the Jets left. I'm sure the YAnks had similar problems playing in Yankee stadium.
I'm not an outsider. I was in High school in Brooklyn in 1969. I wore #77 to wear the same number as my favorite player the Jets Left Tackle Winston Hill. I miissed not being able to take the #7 train to the game but it's a business. Get over it. they are not coming back to the Island