by Noah Eisenberg
“You play to win the game.” The famous words of former Jets coach Herm Edwards still remain iconic to this day, following a blown 18 point lead to the Tim Couch-led Cleveland Browns in 2002. Flash forward 23 years later, and the Jets find themselves at 3-9, having already clinched their tenth straight season with a losing record. This would be rock bottom for nearly any NFL franchise, but for the New York Jets, rock bottom simply has the comfort of home.
The Jets have not won the AFC East since that fateful 2002 season, trailing only the Cleveland Browns for the longest divisional drought in the NFL. Heck, even the Indianapolis Colts, who are currently in the AFC South, have won the AFC East, more times than the New York Jets. The team with the longest postseason drought in all of American sports, approaching 15 years now, finds itself in a position so dire, yet all too familiar, and it can be hard to pinpoint the source of the blame.
To start, one can blame the players. Specifically at QB, every “era” has its own tale of dysfunction and tragedy. At times there was hope; A 10-6 Ryan Fitzpatrick-led team that missed the playoffs in the final week following a collapse against a lowly Bills team, or the Hard Knocks-fueled Rodgers era that got cut short three plays in. Then there were the failed projects, the Darnolds and Genos, who managed to revive their careers when escaping Jets purgatory. Then there’s the names of Bryce Petty, Christian Hackenberg, and Zach Wilson; those guys just stink.
But how about the coaches? While the Adam Gase hire has few redeeming qualities, guys like Todd Bowles and Robert Saleh have found success outside the Jets organization, but didn’t have what it takes to right the ship with the ever-broken rudder. While Rex Ryan provided the last glimmer of hope, his notable crash-and-burn culminated in leading the Bills to sink the Jets at the end of that infamous 2015 season.
Well, you may ask, if the Jets stink so bad every year, don’t they always have a high draft pick? Surely they have had the chances to pick up talent in the draft? That’s the thing that separates plain ol’ ineptitude from the Jet ineptitude. The Jets somehow have found a way to lose more than any team in football over the last 10 years, yet they still couldn’t even lose right.
Take the 2020 Jets season for example: COVID year, no fans in the stands, players ruled out left and right, football sucks. But for Jets fans, sitting at 0-13, football really sucks. But at least they are in position to draft heralded, “generational QB prospect” Trevor Lawrence with the number one overall pick in the upcoming draft.
Walking into a matchup with the 9-4 Los Angeles Rams in the midst of a playoff push, Jets fans were bracing themselves to become the third team of all time to go 0-16. However, in Jets fashion, led by a ghost-sighted Darnold and a “he’s still in the league?” Frank Gore, the Jets came out victorious, and followed that up with a home win against the Browns, losing out on the number one pick. And with the second overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, the New York Jets select, Zach Wilson, BYU…
Losing when you want them to win, winning when you want them to lose, that is the true nature of Jets fandom. This season has been no different: An 0-7 start followed by a mass exodus of star players in return for draft picks. Time to focus on the draft, right? For most teams, yes, but for the Jets it is the perfect time to win three of the next five games to improve to 3-9! The only person more thrilled than Jets fans is Heisman favorite Fernando Mendoza, as the Jets have now dropped out of contention to draft him.
The Jets have been the laughingstock of the league since the turn of the 21st century. No matter who is in the building, the Jets have been stuck in a perpetual cycle of pain and suffering. It almost seems unfathomable that a team can be so bad, so rotten to the core across multiple generations of players and coaches. But when you piece it all together, there is one common thread in all of the chapters of the Jets’ story: The owner, Woody Johnson.
Woody Johnson has pioneered every regime, with dysfunction following every step of the way. He infamously let his son, Brick in the locker room to notify Coach Saleh of his players’ poor Madden ratings. Recently, Woody made headlines in making a pitch to eliminate the NFLPA player report cards, labeling them as “bogus.” To be fair, I wouldn’t be pleased if I received an F owner grade from my players every year.
A guy who is hated by everyone who works for him, quite the figurehead for the worst franchise in American sports. But it’s good to know their product on the field won’t stop him from increasing season ticket prices next year! Jets owner Woody Johnson: The man who gets paid regardless of if the Jets lose, or if they lose.
Regardless of who you want to blame, the Jets have been, and will continue to be the laughingstock of American sports. And as a kid who hasn’t seen the Jets make the playoffs since he was six years old, and is now about to graduate college, there is still no end to the drought in sight. Yet, I will continue to watch the games and root on my favorite dysfunctional team in the hope of it all paying off one day. But for now, we Jets fans might just be stuck as the world’s biggest cult of masochists.
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