New York Jets

The Jets lost on a 33 yard field goal by Pittsburgh kicker Jeff Reed, as they fell just short yet again. The telecast was the first ever to receive a TV-M (now TV-MA) rating under the TV Parental Guidelines that had been established at the beginning of that year, and many fundamentalist and evangelical Christian groups stridently objected to the film's being shown on network television at all, due to scenes of nudity and the use of vulgar language which were not edited out of the TV production. This one sailed wide left, forcing the game into overtime. In February of 1997, the film was shown on television in the United States, being carried by NBC in two parts, on consecutive Sunday and Wednesday evenings (February 23 and 26). Brien was saved by an interception of Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger on the next play, and soon lined up for a 43 yard attempt. From the total of nine lists, four were drawn up primarily by Marcel Goldberg, a corrupt Jewish assistant to the SS officer in charge of transporting Jews, Crowe wrote. It fell just short. Oskar Schindler was in jail for bribing the Secret Service commander Amon Goeth when the famous list was being drawn up and had little involvement in it, according to a New York Times report.

With the score tied at 17-17 late in the fourth quarter, kicker Doug Brien lined up for a 47 yard field goal attempt that would have put the Jets up. "Schindler had nothing to do with the list," the author writes in the new biography of the German businessman. While the offense struggled, producing only a field goal, a punt return and interception return kept the Jets in the game. Crowe has questioned in a new book the authenticity of the facts portrayed in the movie. In the divisional round, the Jets hung tight with the heavily favored Steelers. However, the Holocaust historian David M. The game sent the Jets to the divisional round against the 15-1 Pittsburgh Steelers. Following the critical and box office success of Schindler's List, Spielberg founded and continues to finance the Shoah Project, a non-profit organization with the goal of providing an archive for the filmed testimony of as many survivors of the Holocaust as possible, so that their stories will not be lost in the future.

In a classic bout which was a rematch of week 2 the Jets prevailed with a Doug Brien field goal in overtime. It is also considered to be Steven Spielberg's greatest directorial accomplishment by many viewers and critics; the former vote it consistently among the top ten (#6) movies on the Internet Movie Database Top 250, while the latter voted it #9 in the American Film Institute's 100 Greatest Movies series. Herm Edwards' team faced the AFC West champion San Diego Chargers in the opening round, a team that featured Pro Bowlers Drew Brees, LaDainian Tomlinson, and Antonio Gates. In the years since its release, Schindler's List has risen in status to be considered one of the greatest movies of the 1990s, if not of all time. Despite struggling down the stretch, the Jets finished with a 10-6 record and earned a wild card berth. Thalberg Memorial Award. Pennington was healthy again for the start of the 2004 season, and the Jets started the season 5-0 before losing 2 of their next 3. Nominated for twelve Academy Awards, this movie won seven, including the coveted Best Picture and Best Director awards for Spielberg, which many of his supporters felt he had been unfairly denied for prior productions, although he had previously received the Irving G.

The Jets finished 6-10. Critically acclaimed, the film won praise for depicting—often in exceptional, graphic detail—the horrible brutality of the Holocaust. Pennington came back midway through the season, but it was too late. Its tagline was simply, "Whoever saves one life saves the world entire" a quote from the Talmud. Testaverde, thought by many on the downside of his career, was forced to take over. It starred Liam Neeson as Oskar Schindler, Ben Kingsley as Itzhak Stern, and Ralph Fiennes as Amon Goeth. The Jets lost several players to free agency in the off-season (mostly to the Washington Redskins), and a pre-season injury to Pennington submarined the Jets in 2003. It was produced almost entirely in black and white (with a color prologue and epilogue, a red coat in two scenes, and color candle flames in another).

The Jets cruised through the opening playoff game with a 41-0 blowout of the Indianapolis Colts, but collapsed in the second half against the eventual AFC champion Raiders in the divisional playoff. The movie was directed by famed director Steven Spielberg, who later spoke of the making of the movie as affecting him deeply. Pennington threw 22 touchdowns and only 6 interceptions, and a win over the Green Bay Packers in the final week gave them the AFC East title at 9-7. Tagline: Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire. Testaverde was benched early in the season with the team at 1-4, and replaced with Chad Pennington, who proved to be the spark the Jets needed. (www.imdb.com). The AFC East proved to be even more competitive in 2002, with all four teams in the race well into December. Though many believe it to be Director Steven Spielberg, it is actually the shadow of Liam Neeson who portrayed Oskar Schindler in the film.

The results were different in the playoffs, with the Raiders cruising to a 38-24 win. In a final shot, a man places a flower on the grave, and stands contemplatively over it. The team managed to salvage a wild-card with a 53-yard game-winning field goal against the Oakland Raiders in the final minute, forcing a rematch with the Raiders in the opening playoff game. The camera pans, revealing a long line of people. Under new coach Herman Edwards, the Jets were streaky through the 2001 season in a highly competitive AFC East. The actors portraying the major characters in the film pass by the grave, and place stones on it, while the actual persons they portrayed walk beside them doing the same. Groh resigned after his first season to coach the University of Virginia team. The film ends in Israel, at the grave of Oskar Schindler, in the present day.

It was the highlight of the season, but they only won 3 of their last 9 to finish at 9-7 and out of the playoffs. The next morning, a Russian dragoon arrives, and announces to the Jews, "You have been liberated by the Soviet Army!". Down 30-7 entering the fourth quarter, the Jets exploded for 30 points in the last 15 minutes, and John Hall kicked the winning field goal in overtime. One more person." He then leaves. The Jets won 6 of their first 7 games, capped by the biggest comeback in Monday Night Football history against the Dolphins. He would have given me one.. The team finally settled Al Groh to lead the team for the 2000 season. I could have gotten one more person for this.

His handpicked successor, Bill Belichick also resigned after one day on the job and ended up taking the job with the Patriots. He pulls the Nazi Party pin from his lapel, and cries, "This is gold. Parcells resigned his coaching position in early 2000 after disagreements with owner Woody Johnson. They give him a letter, explaining to others that he is not a criminal, and they also give him a ring, engraved with the Talmudic quotation, "Whoever saves one life saves the world entire." Schindler is wracked with guilt, seeing his car, and realizing he could have bribed ten more people from Goeth for it. The Jets collapsed to an 8-8 record. He packs a car in the night, and bids farewell to his workers. The Jets' hopes for the 1999 season were dashed in their first game against the New England Patriots, when Testaverde injured his Achilles tendon. As a German, a Nazi, and a "profiteer of slave labor" (his words), Schindler must flee the oncoming Soviet Army.

Testaverde threw two late interceptions and Denver running back Terrell Davis burned the Jets for 167 yards and a touchdown, and the Broncos won 23-10. He runs out of money just as the war in Europe comes to an end. New York looked bound for the Super Bowl with a 10-0 lead in the third quarter of the AFC Championship against the Denver Broncos. Once the workers arrive in Czechoslovakia, Schindler institutes firm controls on the Nazi guards assigned to the factory, permits the Jews to observe the sabbath, and spends the rest of his fortune bribing Nazi officials. Earning a first-round bye, the Jets survived a scare from the Jacksonville Jaguars in their divisional playoff game, winning 34-24. Those who went to Auschwitz were soon returned by a train which was sent to Schindler's camp, after Schindler bribes another Nazi official. The Jets won 10 of their last 11 games and finished the season 12-4. Except for a railway mishap, in which one of the trains carrying women was accidentally redirected to Auschwitz, all the people on Schindler's list arrive safely at the new site.

Both paid immediate dividends: Testaverde threw 29 touchdowns, Martin ran for 1287 yards and 8 touchdowns, while both Keyshawn Johnson and Wayne Chrebet had 1000 yards receiving. This list of "skilled" inmates was Schindler's List, and for many of the inmates of Plaszow camp, being on the list meant the difference between life and death. Parcells grabbed Patriots running back Curtis Martin and Baltimore Ravens quarterback Vinny Testaverde in time for the 1998 season, which turned out to be the most successful for the team since the 1960s. So that his workers can be kept off the trains to the killing centers, Schindler, with Stern, assembles a list of his workers. The Jets finished 9-7, but still out of the playoffs. Goeth acquiesces, for a payoff in the order of millions of Reichsmarks. Neil O'Donnell, formerly of the Pittsburgh Steelers, threw for 17 touchdowns in his only full year as the Jets' starting quarterback, and Adrian Murrell ran for 1000 yards. Goeth remarks sarcastically, "It will take about four weeks for me to do the paperwork -- that ought to be fun." Schindler prevails upon Goeth to let him keep his workers, so that he can move them to a factory in his old home of Zwittau-Brunnlitz, Czechoslovakia, away from the Holocaust - now fully underway in Poland.

The results were immediate. To Amon Goeth's considerable consternation, and to Schindler's horror, an order arrives from Berlin commanding Goeth to exhume and destroy all bodies of those killed in the ghetto razing, to dismantle the Plaszow, and to ship the whole population to Auschwitz. Wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson was picked #1 overall, and New England Patriots coach Bill Parcells abandoned that team to take the Jets' coaching job for the 1997 season. With the second appearance of the girl in red, Schindler makes a further transformation into an altruistic angel whose primary motive is not profit, but rather to save the lives of his workers. The draft picks the Jets received set the stage for a quick turnaround in the late 1990s. The first time she appears, Schindler changes from a cold-hearted businessman interested only in profit into a person struggling to do the right thing; he makes his first attempts to covertly assist his workers and save them from persecution and death afterwards. During Kotite's two-year term in New York, the Jets won only four games: a 3-13 record in 1995, and 1-15 in 1996, in both cases the worst in the NFL. Film critics and scholars have suggested the appearance of the girl in the red coat is a "marker" used by Spielberg to denote the transformation of Schindler's personality.

Carroll was fired after only one season, but his replacement Rich Kotite proved to be even worse. The color of the coat stands out, because it is the only object that appears in color throughout the entire film (except for two instances of a candle flame); the rest of the movie is filmed in black-and-white, except for the final present-day coda. The play came to be known as "The Fake Spike," and the Jets never recovered, finishing the season 6-10, last place in the AFC East. It is during the clearing out of the ghetto that Spielberg introduces a character known as "the girl in red": a young girl wearing a red coat. But in a game against the Miami Dolphins, quarterback Dan Marino fooled the Jets into thinking he would spike the ball to stop the clock, then threw the winning touchdown to Mark Ingram for an inprobable victory. Schindler is now, though reluctantly, sheltering people who have very few skills in his factory. Optimism was high for the 1994 season when the Jets started the season 6-5 and played Miami in late November. He meets Goeth, befriends him, and convinces him to let him keep his workers for considerable bribes and payoffs.

Coslet was fired as head coach and replaced by Pete Carroll. But, he now faces the more immediate problem of how to run his factory without his workers. A mid-season winning streak gave Jets fans hope, but they missed the playoffs at 8-8 with a loss to Houston in their final game. Schindler watches the massacre from the hills overlooking the ghetto, and is profoundly affected. With the Nagle experiment over, longtime Cincinnati Bengals QB Boomer Esiason joined the team for the 1993 season. In due course, Goeth razes the Krakow ghetto, sending in hundreds of troops to clear the cramped rooms and shooting anyone who refuses or cannot leave. Remarkably, he walked again within two years. In one scene, he decides not to shoot a young boy for not properly cleaning his bathtub, but then, after reflecting, decides that he must be firm, and shoots him in the back as he walks away.

Tragedy struck the Jets in November when defensive lineman Dennis Byrd was paralyzed in a game against Kansas City. Goeth is the focus of the film's depiction of Nazi sadism and inhumanity, not only taking pleasure in murder and torture, but considering it an integral part of his job, a matter of duty. Browning Nagle took over O'Brien's starting QB job for the 1992 season, but the Jets disappointed fans again with a 4-12 finish. He then, in the next breath, orders that everything she requested be done. In their opening-round playoff game, the Jets fell 17-10 to the Houston Oilers. In one of the most sickening scenes in the film, a Jewish engineer explains that a foundation has been improperly laid, and for this he has her shot in the head. They won a wild-card playoff spot by beating the Miami Dolphins on the final weekend of the season. At this point, an SS officer named Amon Goeth arrives in Krakow to initiate construction of a labor camp, Plaszow, and to take over control of the Ghetto.

In 1991, with Brad Baxter having a career-high 11 touchdown receptions, the Jets improved to 8-8. One old woman exclaims, "We are their work force! Why would they want to kill their own work force?". Ken O'Brien was on the downside of his career, and the team finished 6-10. Where exactly the "unessential" people are sent is a matter of rumor among the Jews; a few suggest that they are taken off to concentration camps, but people hearing this reject the idea as ridiculous. Bruce Coslet, hired to lead the team for the 1990 season, let most of their stars from the 1980s go. Schindler becomes aware of what is going on, and seems embarrassed by the whole arrangement, but takes no action to stop it. The team went into a tailspin in 1989, finishing 4-12 and causing the firing of coach Joe Walton. This last point is key, and Stern uses his considerable skills to make sure as many people as possible are deemed "essential" by the Nazi bureacracy, even children, the elderly, and the infirm - people who would otherwise be rounded up and sent away.

Gastineau shocked the team by retiring midway through the 1988 season, one in which the Jets finished 8-7-1, short of a playoff spot in the competitive AFC wild-card race. Workers in Schindler's factory are allowed outside the ghetto, and are certified as "essential workers," guaranteeing that they will not be rounded up at night by the Gestapo. In 1987 the Jets again stumbled through December, but this time they missed the playoffs with a 6-9 record. Schindler gets his money and starts the factory; he keeps the Nazis happy and enjoys his new-found wealth, while Stern actually operates the factory and uses his position to help his fellow Jews, who have now been confined to a ghetto within Krakow. A late comeback by the Cleveland Browns in their divisional playoff matchup led to a double-overtime winning field goal by Mark Moseley that broke Jets' fans hearts. He takes particular pleasure in telling them that they must take him at his word, and that no court would ever uphold a contract between a German and a Jew. Pat Ryan was named the starting quarterback for the playoffs, and they defeated the Kansas City Chiefs handily in the first round. Schindler makes the Jewish businessmen a deal they cannot refuse: they will loan him the money for the factory, and he will give them a small share of the pots and pans produced.

The team slid through December, losing five straight to finish 10-6. He hasn't the money to buy it, and his administrative skills are dubious at best, but he finds through his contact Itzhak Stern, a functionary in the local judenrat (Jewish Council) who in turn has contacts with the now underground Jewish business community. Wesley Walker caught 12 touchdowns, with second-year player Al Toon catching 8. With his military sponsors in his back pocket, he sets out to acquire a factory for the production of enamelware, mainly cookery. The Jets looked to improve on that mark for the 1986 season, with the team winning 9 straight games to start the season at 10-1. He becomes a friend to the SS and Police Leader of Krakow, Julian Scherner, and quickly calls in favors as Schindler begins to establish himself as a businessman in the Krakow region. The Jets made the playoffs with an 11-5 record, but were stunned in the first round by the cinderella New England Patriots. Schindler makes a very good impression with the occupation authorities early on, being a member of the Nazi Party and lavishing gifts and bribes upon the army and SS officials now running southern Poland.

In 1985 O'Brien threw 25 touchdowns (seven to Mickey Shuler and five to Wesley Walker) and eight interceptions, and four different rushers combined for 18 touchdowns on the ground. Schindler, a heretofore unsuccessful businessman from Germany, has come to Poland with the hope of using the now abundant slave labor force of Jews and Poles to manufacture goods for the German Army. In addition to a new stadium, Ken O'Brien took over at quarterback; but the team stumbled to the same 7-9 record. As this is happening, a newcomer has arrived in Krakow; his name is Oskar Schindler. In 1984 they moved from Shea Stadium (where they were second fiddle to baseball's New York Mets) to the Meadowlands of East Rutherford, New Jersey (where they played second fiddle to the New York Giants). The film's action starts with crowds of Jews from all over the country, hasidic, assimilated, rich, and poor, detraining in Krakow, and submitting their names to German officials waiting on the station platforms with typewriters and lists. Joe Walton was the new coach for the 1983 season, and he led the team to a 7-9 season. Jews living in occupied Poland are ordered to relocate to population centers.

The Dolphins won 14-0, and Walt Michaels took a job in the short-lived United States Football League. The Polish Army has been defeated by the German Army in the initiating event of World War II in Europe. In a strike-shortened 1982 season, the Jets finished 6-3 and upset the defending AFC champion Cincinnati Bengals in the first round of the playoffs, followed by another upset of the Oakland Raiders in the second round. In the AFC Championship against the rival Miami Dolphins, Richard Todd's reputation of throwing costly interceptions came back to haunt him: he threw three. The movie begins with a depiction of a Jewish prayer. A late comeback in their first playoff game, against the Buffalo Bills, was stopped when Todd threw an interception deep in Bills territory in the final minute, and the Jets went home empty-handed. The title refers to a list of the names of 1,200 Jews whom Schindler hired to work in his factory and kept from being sent to the concentration camps. Finishing 10-5-1, the team made the playoffs for the first time since 1969 on Richard Todd's 3231 yards passing and 25 touchdowns, most of them to Wesley Walker and Jerome Barkum. The movie, directed by Steven Spielberg, relates the tale of Oskar Schindler, a German entrepreneur who was instrumental in saving the lives of over one thousand Polish Jews during the Holocaust.

That 1981 season was the Jets' first winning season since joining the NFL. Schindler's List is a 1993 movie based on the book Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally (the book was later renamed Schindler's List as well). Mark Gastineau and Joe Klecko anchored the "New York Sack Exchange" and combined for more than 40 sacks by 1981. Molen, Steven Spielberg for Amblin Entertainment / Universal Pictures. One of the Jets' bright spots in the late 1970s was their defensive line. Producer: Branko Lustig, Gerald R. Todd imploded with a 30-interception season in 1980 and the team went down with him, finishing 4-12 and last in the AFC East. Editor: Michael Kahn.

Richard Todd took over under center for the 1979 season and did even better, but the Jets again finished 8-8. Composer: John Williams. The Jets were rejeuvenated for the 1978 season, with quarterback Matt Robinson throwing for 2000 yards and the team finishing 8-8. Writing credits: Thomas Keneally (novel), Steven Zaillian (screenplay). Namath left the Jets after the 1976 season, playing one year with the Los Angeles Rams before retiring. Walt Michaels was hired for the 1977 season and stayed with the team for six years. Cast: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Caroline Goodall. After a late-season surge to finish 7-7 in 1974, the Jets finished 3-11 each year until 1977. Director: Steven Spielberg.

The Jets went through three coaches for the next three seasons. After another disappointing season in 1973, coach Weeb Ewbank retired. Namath was back for the 1972 season, leading the team to a respectable 7-7. Another injury to Namath before the 1971 season submarined the Jets that year as well, with Bob Davis and Al Woodall leading the team to a 6-8 record.

In their first season after the merger, Joe Namath broke his wrist in October and had to sit out the rest of the year, with the Jets finishing 4-10. The Jets did not live up to expectations after the AFL and NFL merged in 1970. The Jets' first game in the NFL was also the first-ever Monday Night Football game, a 31-21 loss to the Cleveland Browns. This victory showed that the AFL was capable of competing with the NFL.

In the week leading up to Super Bowl III, Namath famously "guaranteed" a victory and the Jets went on to complete one of the greatest upsets in football history by defeating the Colts 16-7. At the time, the AFL was considered to be inferior to the NFL and most people considered the Jets to be heavy underdogs. They were pitted against the "best team in the NFL", the Baltimore Colts. Under Namath's guidance, the Jets rose to the top of the AFL and in 1969 represented that league in the Super Bowl.

In 1965, the Jets signed Alabama quarterback Joe Namath after the NFL passed on Namath in the amateur draft. When a group including Sonny Werblin bought the team from Harry Wismer in 1963, the team was re-named the New York Jets. The Jets began as the Titans of New York, a charter member of the American Football League in 1960. The team is also being courted by its current landlord, the New Jersey Sports and Exhibition Authority (NJSEA), to remain in the Meadowlands as part of plans to construct a new Giants Stadium.

It would also be the site of Super Bowl XLIV. The NYSCC West Side Stadium project in NYC, still under consideration, would expected to be the home of the Jets by 2010 if built. The New York Jets are a National Football League team that plays its home games in East Rutherford, New Jersey, but is based on Long Island. Johnny Johnson.

Johnny "Lam" Jones. Jeff Lageman. Dennis Byrd. Pat Leahy.

Aaron Glenn. Marvin Jones. Kyle Clifton. Wesley Walker.

Ken O'Brien. Lance Mehl. Freeman McNeil. Sonny Werblin.

Jim Turner. Al Toon. Vinny Testaverde. Bob Talamini.

Matt Snell. Mickey Shuler. George Sauer. Paul Rochester.

Gerry Philbin. Babe Parilli. Adrian Murrell. Erik McMillan.

Wahoo McDaniel. Bill Mathis. Ronnie Lott. Mo Lewis.

Joe Klecko. Keyshawn Johnson. Winston Hill. James Hasty.

Larry Grantham. Mark Gastineau. Boomer Esiason. Verlon Biggs.

Randy Beverly. 73 Joe Klecko. 13 Don Maynard. 12 Joe Namath.

Erik Coleman. John McGraw. Shaun Ellis. Justin McCareins.

Eric Barton. Jonathan Vilma. Chad Pennington. Laveranues Coles.

Kevin Mawae. Curtis Martin. Jay Fiedler. Wayne Chrebet.

John Abraham. Ronnie Lott. John Riggins. Joe Namath.

Don Maynard. Weeb Ewbank.