When did you become a Jets fan?

[DLJ]

1997

[CTM]

Never

I'm a jets fan fan

[Untouchable]

‘74

When Namath was literally on his last legs.

So basically, I’ve witnessed the sh*tshow from the beginning.

[Bungaman]

1 minute ago, Jetlife33 said:

Awesome topic btw, really nice to see everyone’s story. Seems like for most if not all, it started at a very young age. Incredible how sports can do that to you. 

Part of it is that with no recent success, there's no "bandwagon" effect, like recent Cheats fans, or GS Warriors fans, etc. It would be like jumping on this wagon ...  Jets bandwagon

[More Cowbell]

Was during the Richard Todd playoff run that led to the Mud Bowl.  

[peebag]

37 minutes ago, Bungaman said:

1970, age 13. After the SB, just in time to see Namath tear up his knee in the Lions' preseason game. Went ballistic when they let Riggins walk because Weeb was too cheap. Favorite player: Klecko. 

Knicks fan, too - went to the Garden during the losing playoff runs wrapped around the championship years. Favorite player: Anthony Mason. Rooting for them has been even more painful than being a Jets fan.

Marginal fan of all the other area teams - don't hate any of them. Often depended on who they played - rooted for everyone playing the Deadskins (lived in DC and hated their fans. They haven't yet suffered enough - though Danny give Dolan a run for the title of worst franchise owner in all sports.) 

Sigh. 

This man has known suffering.  god bless.

[celtasnake]

Around 1985 ....Was living in London and the NFL started to get popular thanks to Channel 4.

Everyone in my school were Bears, Dolphins or 49´ers fans, but i just didn´t like them.

One day i bought a packet of chewing gums that included some nfl cards, and the first one i opened was one with the Jets logo ....so .....it also helped that i was in love with the city of New York, always buying magazines, maps and everything i could lay my hands on that had to do with the city.

We then moved to Spain around 1989,  and boy was that tough, there was absolutely no information whatsoever about the NFL. The only way to know what was going on was to go to the city center and take a look at the american newspapers they had in some newsagent´s stores.

Luckily enough some years later the internet era changed that, and also the increasing following of the sport in this country. 

 

[SAM SAM HE'S OUR MAN]

2 hours ago, peebag said:

January 12, 1969

How did you know ?

[jgb]

Same way people become crack heads. Take a puff out of curiosity, then WHAM you're on the crazy train of self-destruction until death.

[Jet_Engine1]

1974/'75ish

 

About 4 years old, lived in Queens (Rockaway Beach), my uncle was home from Germany (Army) and gave me a mini Jets uniform (Helmet, jersey, etc) like the one Van Roten tweeted,  but mine was the Namath era version. I knew right then that The NEW YORK JETS were my favorite team in the world, even if I didnt quite understand the game.  When we moved to Florida a couple of years later,  it actually just cemented my bond with them, because it was a way of hanging on to "home"...and I was a contrarian even then. 

 

My Dad and younger brother,  who was born here, are both die hard Dolphins fans.  

[Jet_Engine1]

2 hours ago, Villain The Foe said:

I began to favor the Jets after the "Fake Spike" Marino play at the end of 94. I became an actual Jets fan in 1996 in terms of seriously being invested in the team and following their progression daily.

Also from the Bronx. I grew up a Pacers fan. That was the first ever sports team that I rooted for. My favorite sportsman of all time by far is Reggie Miller. My first time seeing him play was walking into the room where my aunt was recording the 94 Knicks/Pacers playoffs game 5 at the very moment when Reggie began that 25 point 4th quarter complete dismantling of the Knicks and Spike Lee. 

That moment changed my 13 year old life at the time. I remember the next day going to school and all my friends and I were in the gym walking to the spot on the basketball court where Reggie shot that deep 3 on John Starks. It was just unreal to me that performance. 

I pretty much stopped watching the NBA after his retirement from the game. 

There is something profoundly wrong with you. 

LOL

[docdhc]

I’m 62. When I was really little I liked Fran Tarkenton and Homer Jones on the Giants.  Once Joe Namath emerged I was hooked on the Jets. The AFL championship game at Shea was blacked out on NY television. I listened to the game on radio and then watched the replay on channel 11 at I think 2am. I was 11 and begged my parents to let me set my alarm and do that and looking back on it I can’t believe they did. My father liked football but was never a diehard fan like I became. He probably thought I was crazy. Anyway , after the super bowl I was set for life. I moved to the philly area for work 30 years ago and never changed my allegiance but my son became a huge eagles fan. I was happy for him to get his super bowl but I would sure like to enjoy another for the Jets before I die. 

[peekskill68]

Mid 1960's for me.  Met a number of the guys from the SB team. My Dad moonlighted as a bartender back when the Jets had training camp in my hometown (pre-Hofstra).  He poured a lot of Red Label for #12 back in the day...

[Jets0712]

Mud Bowl game. Full fledged however in 85.


Sent from my iPhone using JetNation.com mobile app

[Savage69]

1960 Titans saw them beat the Bills 27-3 at the Polo grounds.. Harry Wismer owned the team then and players had to run to the bank to cash their checks because a lot of them bounced..

[Wonderboy]

1965 they signed Namath. I used to watch Tarkenton and the Giants. They were entertaining. Bob Tucker, Fredrickson, Homer Jones. And the Packers in early mid 60’s were Gods. But when Namath became a Jet it was like the Beatles revolution. 

[32EBoozer]

Summer of '68 at age 5. Went to Hofstra to watch practice. 5 minute drive from where I lived at the time until we moved to North Jersey in '72. I was hooked and even though everyone in my area was a Giants fan, I bled Green & White.

[roscoeword]

I'm 62. When the Jets won the superbowl, the memory is hazy, but somehow, I remember the next year when AFL Chiefs upset the NFL Vikings. They were huge underdogs, like the Jets were the year before. I felt that the AFL was cooler than the NFL and they weren't being respected at all, (kind of like the ABA, which I also loved)  so  loved the AFL Jets more than the Giants, even though I also remember Fran Tarkington and Homer Jones.... but I liked the Jets more somehow...

[Villain The Foe]

53 minutes ago, Jet_Engine1 said:

There is something profoundly wrong with you. 

LOL

Then had the audacity to think following the Browns would fix that wrong. 

 

Shoot me already! 

[Thai Jet]

I'm not. I just post here to bust TOm Shane's balls.

[Savage69]

3 hours ago, Jethead said:

In the spirit of this topic. The Patriots are today's mortal enemy. But for most of history they were just stumblebums. The true most hated team was always the Oakland Raiders! 

+1 Funny thing Ben Davidson always got credit for giving Joe a fractured jaw but it was really Ike Lassiter..

[82nd Airborne]

13 minutes ago, Thai Jet said:

I'm not. I just post here to bust TOm Shane's balls.

Keep up the good work!

[BROOKLYN JET]

2010, what clinched it for me was @ECURB's PSL sales pitch.

[ECURB]

1 hour ago, BROOKLYN JET said:

2010, what clinched it for me was @ECURB's PSL sales pitch.

Solid decision 

[JetsFanShawn]

so did i im from counnicut my dad took me down to a couple of games to the old giant stadium in 200 2001 2002 2003  . its been a while i wanna say back in the early  200s iv been a jet fan

[Gibby]

I didn’t become a Jet fan- I was born one- with two older brothers. Thanks for that!!!

First games I remember were in the 78 season- I remember both of them talking about the new uniforms. I was 7

[static14]

1977 when I was born. I blame my father and older brother. 

[The Gooch]

1991 when Browning Nagle was supposed to be the franchise QB!!!!!

[Philc1]

1995

[shuler82]

First season I remember is 1985 although I was in front of the TV with my dad starting in the early 80s

[Jet Fan RI]

Around 1980, unofficially, at ago 30. Before that I was a baseball fan, primarily. Started watching football only when I was in my 20's. Did not become a Jet fan officially until around 1987, when one of my daughters asked me flat out which football team I was a fan of. I think I knew in my heart it was the Jets well before then, but it took that question to push me over the edge.

[The Crimson King]

Started checking out pro sports in 1963 out of curiosity, included the Mets and Jets at the Polo grounds. I had read a book about Whitey Ford and had become a fan of his but somehow the idea of the Yankees did not appeal to me. Al Moran skimming a HR off the top of the Polo Grounds LF fence somehow did. 

Then on 5/31/64, my Dad took me to Shea and it changed everything forever. Seeing a live game, you get it and it gets you. The Mets were naturally followed by the Jets back then. You rooted for the building not the laundry. I couldn't wait for the Jets season to start

You learned your players and their stats mostly from Topps and Newsday, so I was ready and psyched for the first Jets game at Shea. It was radio only for home games but that didn't matter much back then. I was all ready to sit by that GE AM radio in the kitchen and absorb every word describing the feats of such luminaries as Don Maynard, Matt Snell, Wahoo McDaniel and LaVerne Torczon (he was in the Mets yearbook for a celebrity HR event)  

When the day came, my folks decided to go to the World's Fair instead. I was so disappointed. Still loved the park though, It was heads and shoulders over Freedomland. On the way home late that night, the Daily News early edition was being sold by the exit. This is the one by the LIRR that leads to the boardwalk to the 7th train and Shea (by the bathrooms). The headlines were about the Jets 30-6 win over the Broncos. Matt Snell had a great game (LI native). Man this is going to be great! Love those Mets but this team wins! The next week was a road game at  Fenway. Wood threw 5 INTS's. They recovered a bit and then lost something like 6 or 7 of the last games. So this is sports then, a triumph or two followed by a series of disappointments.  Oh.

Then came the promise of 1965. the Jets drafted a GREAT QB, He won the Heisman believe it or not. I couldn't wait for John Huart's Hall of Fame career. 56 years later, still waiting for it. 

For many years, we would go to the park for a picnic before Mets games. When we passed that spot where the papers we being sold, the memory comes back in detail.  30-6.  What a team. 

[Gastineau Lives]

Hey, @T0mShane

When will you become a Jet fan?

[Jetty]

Boomer Nation in here lol. This explains alot of the takes on this forum. Couldnt imagine living through that many years of mediocrity. 

[johnnyjet]

My first game was Jets vs Giants Yale bowl—aug 1969

i was 4 1/2 

jets beat the giants 

Dad had season tickets and I’ve been going ever since. 1st team I ever hated was the giants, 2nd dolphins.