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New Yorks Jets Franchise History
The New York Jets were founded by Harry Wismer in 1959 when they became part of the AFL. The original name of the team was the Titans of New York and they played their home games at the Polo Grounds. The team was struggling financially after the first three seasons when in 1963 a group headed by Sonny Werblin purchased the Titans for $1 million and renamed the team to the New York Jets. The name was selected from about 500 submissions and was picked over Dodgers, Borros and Gothams. That same year Werblin hired Wilbur “Weeb” Ewbank as head coach and general manager of the team. He had won back to back championships with the Baltimore Colts and was very well respected around the league. The Jets would play one more season at the Polo Grounds before moving to Shea Stadium in 1964.
The Jets signed quarterback Joe Namath in 1965 for $427,000 over three years. Namath didn’t start the first game of the season because he was recovering from knee surgery that he had shortly after the Jets signed him. He saw action in the second game of the season and became the starting quarterback after that. Namath, of course, went on to be a legend in the NFL. The Jets played the Baltimore Colts in the third Super Bowl in 1969 and Namathe shocked everyone by guaranteeing a win. He held true to his promise as the Jets defeated the Colts 16 -7 in one of the greatest upset in Super Bowl history. When the AFL and NFL merged in 1970 the Jets played in the first Monday Night Football game against the Cleveland Browns. Ewbanks retired as head coach after the 1973 season. His son-in-law, Charley Winner, was hired as head coach of the Jets. Winner was fired in 1975 after the Jets lost seven of their first nine games. Lou Holtz was hired as head coach for the 1976 season but resigned before the last game of the season and the Jets would go 3 – 11 for the second consecutive season. The team made the decision to part ways with Namath at the end of season because his knees had become so bad he had become ineffective on the field.
The Jets called Shea Stadium for twenty years but it was shared with the Mets and they had exclusive rights to the stadium until their season end. That meant the Jets had to play their first few games of each season on the road. The situation was even worse when the Mets had long playoff run seasons. In 1977 the Jets announced they would play two home games a year in Giants Stadium during September. They completely moved out of Shea Stadium and into Giants Stadium in New Jersey in 1984. They shared Giants Stadium with the New York Giants until 2010 when both teams moved into MetLife Stadium. This was the first stadium in NFL history to be jointly built by two franchises. Both teams continue to share the stadium today. The New York Jets are one of four teams that make up the AFC East. The other teams are the New England Patriots, the Buffalo Bills and the Miami Dolphins.
