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Fireman Ed: Activated From The PUP

Maxman

By Maxman
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Maxman

Maxman

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The Jets made a minor roster move today. They activated Ed Anzalone from the Physically Unable To Perform List. Ed, who missed the entire 2007 season, is the Fireman who typically leads the J E T S chant on game day.

Randy Lange provides more details in an article on NYJets.com:

Chant After Me: Fireman Ed Is Back-Back-Back

One of the chief off-the-field elements missing from the Jets attack all last season was the absence of the man with the stern visage, the fireman's hat and the No. 42 green jersey sitting atop another fan's shoulders and uniting 78,000 fans as one in a legendary chant.

No, Ed Anzalone's season on injured reserve didn't cause the Jets' 4-12 travails. But he was missed.

And now we at newyorkjets.com want to be the first to give you this four-alarm news:

Fireman. Ed. Is. Back.

"I'm going to return, full-fledged. I'm looking forward to it. I'm excited," Anzalone told me the day before the Giants game. "I wasn't there last year. I'm hoping the fans didn't forget me."

Forget him? Hardly. You can love the Fireman, you can hate the Fireman. But to metaphorically remove his headgear and change his neckwear, when Rev. Ed raises his hands up from his lower-tier pulpit, you rise and you open your hymnals:

"J! E! T! S! Jets! Jets! Jets!"

Anzalone didn't create the chant, but since 1985 he has been its caretaker, its public face. It is a sight and sound to behold, as one football observer, unaware of Fireman Ed's power, told me for my book "Stadium Stories: New York Jets":

"It's amazing. Fans are making all kinds of sounds, then one guy stands up and everybody gets quiet and he starts moving his arms, forming letters, and a whole stadium spells out the team's name as one."

If there's one thing that Ed wanted Green & White fans to know in his recent interview, it's that the Jets' record had nothing to do with his absence.

wasn't there last year. I'm hoping the fans didn't forget me."

Forget him? Hardly. You can love the Fireman, you can hate the Fireman. But to metaphorically remove his headgear and change his neckwear, when Rev. Ed raises his hands up from his lower-tier pulpit, you rise and you open your hymnals:

"People think I was giving up, I didn't want to come. It wasn't that, believe me," he said. "Whatever the record was, it didn't matter. I was biting at the bit every Sunday. It was killing me that I couldn't be there."

"I've Still Got That Passion"

Anzalone was hurt fighting a fire. He underwent knee surgery on the eve of the 2007 season, but the injury that kept him away from the crowds was his neck. Doctors wanted to perform surgery but Anzalone decided to "rehab like crazy."

The rehab got him back, but not in time for the season. "I thought I might try to come back for the last couple of games," he said, "but my wife talked me out of it."

This year is different.

"I'm 49. I don't feel 49," he said. "Of course, between me and the other firemen playing ball all those years, the body's getting worn down. But the heart is still ticking. And I've still got that passion, I've still got that burning desire.

"Besides, I'm not the one who's on the bottom."

That would be Bruce, Ed's section mate who a few years back replaced Ed's brother as his foundation from which to lead the chant. And Anzalone, despite his season on the sideline, hasn't forgotten his sense of timing.

"You've got to have a feel for the game," he explained. "When a touchdown is scored, that's obvious. So many other times you have to pick and choose. You don't want to tick people off during the game.

"And the defensive chants are the hardest to come by. You've got to get people up from sitting on their butts. It's a homefield edge. The players feed off that."

Needless to say, the Jets and their fans will be nourished by a number of new additions to the squad over the past eight months or so. Fireman Ed has noticed. He loved what he saw of a certain No. 4 at last week's final open practice of training camp, which he attended incognito (if that's possible for him).

Great Time to Be in Green & White

"Watching Brett Favre that close, he just zips the ball," Anzalone said. "Other guys throw a pass that won't be that tight a spiral. It happens. But it seems like every single pass with him it's a tight spiral. If you wanted to teach a kid how to throw a ball, that would be the guy to show him. And take the gray hair away and that guy is awesome shape, tremendous shape.

"But you know what's more refreshing than anything with Favre? I'm just amazed at his humbleness. A guy with all those accolades, at that level for so long a time, to be as humble and grounded as he is ... We went from a guy like Chad [Pennington], who just represented the organization so well, to another guy who's on the same level, even a better, more accomplished guy."

Anzalone admires not only Favre but all the other additions to the roster, all the on- and off-field happenings that have given the Jets, at least in the minds of their closest followers if not yet the local and national media, some extra juice heading into the coming season.

And the juice will be flowing at the Meadowlands on Sept. 14, when we hear the first Fireman Ed-led chants, at his first appearance since the Oakland game on New Year's Eve 2006, before the kickoff at the home opener against the Patriots.

"The stadium for New England is going to be in a frenzy," Anzalone said. "Man, I'm so fired up. I can't wait.

"This is a great time to be a Jets fan."

Many things will have helped make that so, including the presence of the man with the stern visage, the fireman's hat and the No. 42 green jersey sitting atop another fan's shoulders and uniting 78,000 fans as one in a legendary chant.

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Maxman

Maxman

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Welcome Back Ed. You were missed.

One thing, don't do the chant when Jen Sterger is talking or else Woody is going to be pissed. Also if you want more info about Jen you can read her wikipedia page. Although somebody has to update it to say that she now works for the Jets. Here is Jenn's bio:

4CA9iydF4xM

Other than that -- everything is the same. :) Glad that you are going to be there Ed.

Go Jets!!!

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BP

BP

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I will repeat -a lot of Jet fans seem to wait on him for their making any noise- I think overall it is positive to get the crowd going at times again.

I think Jet fans are reactive. there was not much to cheer about last year.

I remember going to the Jets/Bills playoff game in 1981 at Shea stdium, that was one of the loudest crowds I can remember, right up until the Jets fumbled the opening kickoff for a touch down.

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Maxman

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NICE!!!

He was really missed last year.

J! E! T! S! JETSJETSJETS!!!

BZ

This Jets team, the organization, they do seem to handle things differently. Last year as crazy as it sounds they didn't seem to know that Ed wasn't going to be there.

This year? They leave nothing to chance. Good job all around. They finally seem to have their act together.

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faba

faba

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Lol

No he blew off my daughter (who was wearing a Jets jersey) in New England, he is dead to me. And if he really wanted to help the Jets, he should try getting some of the fans to make some noise when we are on D.

All right I got your back -dissing your daughter is uncalled for.

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gg

gg

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Chant After Me: Fireman Ed Is Back-Back-Back

One of the chief off-the-field elements missing from the Jets attack all last season was the absence of the man with the stern visage, the fireman's hat and the No. 42 green jersey sitting atop another fan's shoulders and uniting 78,000 fans as one in a legendary chant.

No, Ed Anzalone's season on injured reserve didn't cause the Jets' 4-12 travails. But he was missed.

And now we at newyorkjets.com want to be the first to give you this four-alarm news:

Fireman. Ed. Is. Back.

"I'm going to return, full-fledged. I'm looking forward to it. I'm excited," Anzalone told me the day before the Giants game. "I wasn't there last year. I'm hoping the fans didn't forget me."

Forget him? Hardly. You can love the Fireman, you can hate the Fireman. But to metaphorically remove his headgear and change his neckwear, when Rev. Ed raises his hands up from his lower-tier pulpit, you rise and you open your hymnals:

"J! E! T! S! Jets! Jets! Jets!"

Anzalone didn't create the chant, but since 1985 he has been its caretaker, its public face. It is a sight and sound to behold, as one football observer, unaware of Fireman Ed's power, told me for my book "Stadium Stories: New York Jets":

"It's amazing. Fans are making all kinds of sounds, then one guy stands up and everybody gets quiet and he starts moving his arms, forming letters, and a whole stadium spells out the team's name as one."

If there's one thing that Ed wanted Green & White fans to know in his recent interview, it's that the Jets' record had nothing to do with his absence.

wasn't there last year. I'm hoping the fans didn't forget me."

Forget him? Hardly. You can love the Fireman, you can hate the Fireman. But to metaphorically remove his headgear and change his neckwear, when Rev. Ed raises his hands up from his lower-tier pulpit, you rise and you open your hymnals:

"People think I was giving up, I didn't want to come. It wasn't that, believe me," he said. "Whatever the record was, it didn't matter. I was biting at the bit every Sunday. It was killing me that I couldn't be there."

"I've Still Got That Passion"

Anzalone was hurt fighting a fire. He underwent knee surgery on the eve of the 2007 season, but the injury that kept him away from the crowds was his neck. Doctors wanted to perform surgery but Anzalone decided to "rehab like crazy."

The rehab got him back, but not in time for the season. "I thought I might try to come back for the last couple of games," he said, "but my wife talked me out of it."

This year is different.

"I'm 49. I don't feel 49," he said. "Of course, between me and the other firemen playing ball all those years, the body's getting worn down. But the heart is still ticking. And I've still got that passion, I've still got that burning desire.

"Besides, I'm not the one who's on the bottom."

That would be Bruce, Ed's section mate who a few years back replaced Ed's brother as his foundation from which to lead the chant. And Anzalone, despite his season on the sideline, hasn't forgotten his sense of timing.

"You've got to have a feel for the game," he explained. "When a touchdown is scored, that's obvious. So many other times you have to pick and choose. You don't want to tick people off during the game.

"And the defensive chants are the hardest to come by. You've got to get people up from sitting on their butts. It's a homefield edge. The players feed off that."

Needless to say, the Jets and their fans will be nourished by a number of new additions to the squad over the past eight months or so. Fireman Ed has noticed. He loved what he saw of a certain No. 4 at last week's final open practice of training camp, which he attended incognito (if that's possible for him).

Great Time to Be in Green & White

"Watching Brett Favre that close, he just zips the ball," Anzalone said. "Other guys throw a pass that won't be that tight a spiral. It happens. But it seems like every single pass with him it's a tight spiral. If you wanted to teach a kid how to throw a ball, that would be the guy to show him. And take the gray hair away and that guy is awesome shape, tremendous shape.

"But you know what's more refreshing than anything with Favre? I'm just amazed at his humbleness. A guy with all those accolades, at that level for so long a time, to be as humble and grounded as he is ... We went from a guy like Chad [Pennington], who just represented the organization so well, to another guy who's on the same level, even a better, more accomplished guy."

Anzalone admires not only Favre but all the other additions to the roster, all the on- and off-field happenings that have given the Jets, at least in the minds of their closest followers if not yet the local and national media, some extra juice heading into the coming season.

And the juice will be flowing at the Meadowlands on Sept. 14, when we hear the first Fireman Ed-led chants, at his first appearance since the Oakland game on New Year's Eve 2006, before the kickoff at the home opener against the Patriots.

"The stadium for New England is going to be in a frenzy," Anzalone said. "Man, I'm so fired up. I can't wait.

"This is a great time to be a Jets fan."

Many things will have helped make that so, including the presence of the man with the stern visage, the fireman's hat and the No. 42 green jersey sitting atop another fan's shoulders and uniting 78,000 fans as one in a legendary chant.

what has happened to jetnation????? an hour and no one picks up on this???? :shock::shock: Oh the humanity...!! these are the kind of statements that JN was built on... and yet not one of you so called "men" made a joke?? not a comparison to thor?? cmon.. sigh.... i am disappointed...

on the other hand... i am happy that fireman ed is back ( other then the dissing of CH's daughter ) he roused the crowd a lot more then the young woman in the pink jersey and cowboy hat.

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Green DNA

Green DNA

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"You've got to have a feel for the game," he explained. "When a touchdown is scored, that's obvious. So many other times you have to pick and choose. You don't want to tick people off during the game.

Hey Ed, maybe you should try not starting a chant when we are about to snap the ball in the red zone. Just a suggestion. This "feel" must have been something he developed during his absence.

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Lil Bit Special

Lil Bit Special

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Ed's a great guy, and the fans need him

There were all sort of idea's how to get the chant going last year, and nothing worked

He's back, and so is the chant

Glad he's back

because no one had the courage or balls to humiliate themselves in front of 70,000 like Ed does.

Its not like when he started the whole stadium did it with him. It started off small, but he kept at it. I give him credit for that.

But he needs to learn when to do it. He needs to coordinate himself with the TV guy better. He needs to realize fans are a bunch of lemmings and will follow his lead. He should do more defense chants. He needs to quiet the crowd on offense/

BTW, we have cheerleaders. They should be leading the chant, not a fan. I'd rather see our "crew" doing the Jets chant instead of their silly dancing.

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Lil Bit Special

Lil Bit Special

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what has happened to jetnation????? an hour and no one picks up on this???? :shock::shock: Oh the humanity...!! these are the kind of statements that JN was built on... and yet not one of you so called "men" made a joke?? not a comparison to thor?? cmon.. sigh.... i am disappointed...

on the other hand... i am happy that fireman ed is back ( other then the dissing of CH's daughter ) he roused the crowd a lot more then the young woman in the pink jersey and cowboy hat.

I saw that, but Im growing tired of all the obvious "mods are gay" jokes.

I like the more subtle ones.

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Green DNA

Green DNA

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because no one had the courage or balls to humiliate themselves in front of 70,000 like Ed does.

Its not like when he started the whole stadium did it with him. It started off small, but he kept at it. I give him credit for that.

But he needs to learn when to do it. He needs to coordinate himself with the TV guy better. He needs to realize fans are a bunch of lemmings and will follow his lead. He should do more defense chants. He needs to quiet the crowd on offense/

BTW, we have cheerleaders. They should be leading the chant, not a fan. I'd rather see our "crew" doing the Jets chant instead of their silly dancing.

Fireman Ed did not start the Jets chant. The chant was started at Shea Stadium and carried over to the Meadowlands by the upper deckers who eventually faded away and passed the mantel to Ed.

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DMaynard

DMaynard

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Fireman Ed did not start the Jets chant. The chant was started at Shea Stadium and carried over to the Meadowlands by the upper deckers who eventually faded away and passed the mantel to Ed.

Some of us are still alive ... gasp ... choke ... wheez ... damnit. ;)

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Jetkid94

Jetkid94

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How sad is it that an entire fanbase relies on one douchewaffle in a fireman hat to rally the entire crowd?

We had it in shea, but when he came he took it over in the meadowlands. Its not sad, I mean we do have one of the louder stadiums in the NFL.

Ive been to NE and we have a louder stadium.

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raffyD

raffyD

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Good to have Ed back, glad he is feeling better. I know game day will be better this year because he is back, no question about it. Last year the chants were just too disorganized.

My only concern is the long term: Ed won't live forever so I think a plan needs to be put in place so that we will always have the chant led by a fan. Maybe Ed should start taking applications for an apprentice he can groom.

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Alk

Alk

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My only concern is the long term: Ed won't live forever so I think a plan needs to be put in place so that we will always have the chant led by a fan. Maybe Ed should start taking applications for an apprentice he can groom.

:rl: For real? Other team's fans have been able to organize a cheer on their own without one goofball holding their hands. I'm not even talking about Patriots fans because they suck out loud when it comes to making noise. The Chiefs fans managed to orchestrate the tomohawk chop without a conductor and it was much more complex. They actually had to make the sound and make hand motions at the same time.

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