PITTSBURGH — J . . . E . . . T . . . S.
Jets! Jets! Jets!
I’m in. I’m on the Jets bandwagon. I’ve been carrying Fireman Ed on my shoulders all over Pittsburgh, and let me tell you, he’s heavier than he looks.
The Jets are fun. The Jets have a coach who says what he thinks without regard for the consequences. The Jets lack self-importance. They do backflips in the end zone.
Oh, and the Jets have fans who have suffered for years, just like Red Sox fans up until 2004.
If you are a Patriots fan still smarting from the shocker last Sunday, you should be rooting for the Jets tonight. The better the Jets do, the more the Patriots will be driven to beat them. If the Jets win the AFC Championship at Heinz Field, perhaps the Krafts will be inspired to spend a little more money on payroll next year (are we supposed to feel good that the Patriots have the third-lowest payroll in the NFL?).
Maybe New England will stop trading down to get “value’’ for high draft picks. Maybe New England will seek more talent. Maybe the Patriots will go for broke next year, while Tom Brady is still at the height of his powers.
So, yes, the Jets are my team. I hope they go on to win the Super Bowl in Dallas in two weeks. Perhaps that will motivate people back at Patriot Place.
Imagine the noise next year when the Super Bowl champion Jets come to Gillette Stadium. That game will be so big Wes Welker might actually get to start.
What’s not to love about Rex Ryan? The big fella wears sleeveless sweater vests and his heart on his sleeve. He is a man with no filter. He tells his players they are the best. He tells them they are champs, even after they sometimes play (and behave) like chumps. If Rex coached your Little League team, you know he’d take everyone out for ice cream after every game, win or lose.
Here’s the headline Sports Illustrated slapped on last week’s Jets-Patriots game story: “Fun Marches On.’’
That’s right. Fun. The Jets are all about fun. And now they have a chance to go to the Super Bowl for the first time since Joe Willie Namath guaranteed victory in Miami in 1969.
How can you root against a team with a general manager who was a Needham Rocket and a UMass Minuteman? Mike Tannenbaum grew up watching Bob Lobel on Channel 4 and reading Bob Ryan on these pages. He is one of us.
How can you root against a team with Dennis Byrd? The former Jets defensive end was temporarily paralyzed during a 1992 game, but he returned to deliver a motivational speech in Foxborough last weekend. His tattered jersey hangs in the Jets locker room. Byrd will accompany Jets captains to midfield tonight for the ceremonial coin toss.
