Mark Cannizzaro - Tales from the New York Jets Sideline: A Collection of the Greatest Jets Stories Ever Told

Copyright 2004, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Mark Cannizzaro

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by Tom Lau

Cover photo: AP Images

Interior photographs by Al Pereira

ISBN: 978-1-61321-959-1

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-61321-956-0

Printed in the United States of America

To my wife, Carolyn.
For putting up with my nonsense .

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

IF YOUVE TAKEN THE TIME and effort to open to this page, chances are you are one of them.

You know who you are. Youre a tortured, teased, and tantalized New York Jets fan. Youve endured a lifetime of disappointment with only a speckle of joy sprinkled in but not without experiencing a kaleidoscope of emotions.

Youve lived through the angst of playoff-less seasons, one after another after another. Youve suffered through the stinging disappointment of heartbreaking playoff losses in the very few times your beloved J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets have actually qualified for postseason play.

Youve absorbed the embarrassment of 115. Youve watched in horror as defensive end Dennis Byrd, one of the more popular players in team history, suffered spinal damage and was paralyzed afterof all thingshe collided with one of his own teammates while trying to sack the quarterback.

Youve watched in sadness as former general manager Dick Steinberg, always a classy, dignified, good man, succumbed to cancer.

Youve watched in amazement while one player, offensive guard Carlton Haselrig, went missing for weeks and the team could not find him.

Youve watched with bewilderment as team owner Leon Hess, while vacationing in the Bahamas, decided one winter morning that Rich Kotite was the answer to his teams annual ailments.

Youve watched in anger as Bill Parcells, after bringing the troubled franchise to the brink of the Super Bowl, walked away without finishing the job, leaving the organization in a similar condition to the one it was in when he arrived three years earlier as the saviorin a state of disorganization.

Bill Belichicks tenure as the teams head coach, which lasted some 12 hours, followed. And then, after Belichicks stunning and memorable resignation on the very day he was to be named as head coach, Al Groh was soon in control. That, of course, lasted only a year before Groh fled for the security of the college game at his alma mater, Virginia.

Following the death of Hess and the introduction of Woody Johnson as the new owner of the franchise came Herman Edwards. And with Edwards, the fiery, motivational machine, arrived new hope for Jets fans.

The Jets made the playoffs in their first two seasons under Edwards, losing a first-round wild-card playoff game at the end of his first season after dramatically propelling themselves into the postseason with a last-second victory on the final game of the regular season and then winning the AFC Eastern Division and winning a playoff game. His third season was a step-back season foiled by the preseason injury to starting quarterback Chad Pennington.

Jets fans are waiting to celebrate a championship after all of the heartache and close calls they have endured.

Despite having no titles to show for his five seasons (2001-05), Edwards did lead them to the playoffs three times.

Edwards, a highly perceptive type, became well acquainted with the passion of the Jets fan, truly a unique breed.

Theyre very passionate, Edwards said. Historically, the fans of this organization have been very, very supportive of this football team, particularly considering the fact that the team has led somewhat of a nomad life. The franchise started off as the Titans in New York 40-some years ago and then was at Shea Stadium and then was out of Shea and then was playing in the Meadowlands. The fans have just kind of followed them along from place to place. The team goes, and there go the fans with them.

Whats unique about it is there are so many people in the past 25 years that have left New York but are still big Jets fans. Theyre all over the country. Wherever you go, youve got Jet fans. When were in Miami, almost half the stadium is filled with Jets fans.

Based on the fact that the team has not won a lot of championships, it makes you wonder why they stay so loyal. With Dallas, for example, there are so many Cowboys fans because they won so many world championships. Well, the Jets havent won but one. The Jets fans are waiting on their day to come. Theyre waiting on their day of deliverance.

BRUCE COSLET

WHEN THE JETS BROUGHT in Dick Steinberg as general manager and Bruce Coslet as coach, it seemed they were moving into the 20th century after being stuck in the Joe Walton era.

Coslet, however, proved to be too meteoric in his dealings with the team. He, too, came off as a coach who thought he invented the game, often patronizing reporters and chastising them for having no idea what they were talking about.

All the while, though, Coslet failed to win enough games to support his arrogance. In fact, he coached the Jets for four seasons and never produced a single winning year, making the playoffs once with an 88 record and quickly bowing out in a wild-card loss to the Oilers in Houston in 199192,

Most telling of Coslets downfall was his inept offense, which produced only 36 points in the final six games of the 1993 season. Coslet had arrived as a supposed offensive guru after having been a successful offensive coordinator with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Bruce Coslet had all the answers for why the Jets couldnt win. In the end, the result was his firing.

BRUCE, WHY?

After his third game as an NFL head coach, Bruce Coslet refused to make his way down from his second-floor office to the press room on the first floor for an interview the day after a 307 loss to the Buffalo Bills. Instead, he conducted a conference call from his office to the press room.

The entire scene made for a rather humorous moment as nine beat writers hovered around a small speakerbox talking to the head coach who was in his officeno more than a 20-yard field goal away.

The first question, which came from Peter Finney Jr., then the beat writer for the New York Post, was: Bruce, why are you doing this?

Coslet explained that he was too busy to come downstairs for a press conference, claiming that because the Buffalo game was a Monday night game, he had no time on a Tuesday for a press conference.

Its because I dont have time to deal with you guys today, Coslet said. Im in the middle of a game plan. I got my whole staff in my office, and were working on New England, our next opponent. Were a day short, thats the reason. Next question.