NFL Teams’ History: The New York Jets

There are a lot of great teams in the NFL today, and each has their own history.  In each history there is a beginning and a list of highs and lows throughout the year.  The New York Jets are no different.  They have a very rich history, based from their humble beginnings into a team that almost upset the entire league this last season with a rookie quarterback and a rookie coach making it deep into the playoffs.

The New York Jets started out as an experimental ball club created by Harry Wismer.  The year was 1959, and he was a part of a group of eight successful and aspiring entrepreneurs that started the American Football League (AFL).  Harry started his team and named them the New York Titans.  They played their very first game in the 1960 season and would start off the franchise career with a loss to the Buffalo Bills.  That didn't matter as the New York Titans would see some huge improvements over the next ten years or so of play.

Despite phenomenal play by the Titans for the first few years, they struggled gaining a fan base.  One reason was because of the New York Giants, who were in the National Football League, and their obvious competition.  The Titans played all of their home games in Upper Manhattan at the Polo Grounds and continued to try and get fans.  They formed a team that finished with winning record but were still struggling to make revenue from healthy supporters.

Wisner was eventually bought out in 1964 by Leon Hess and four other men who went in on the deal.  With this purchase, the team was renamed the New York Jets and has been so ever since.  This was a move by these five men to generate new interest in the team and get people talking about it.  They then moved the team to the Shea Stadium in Flushing, New York to prepare for the arrival of a few superstars.  The first came in the form of Joe Namath, who helped lead the Jets to their most successful years in the American Football League.  He led the Jets to the very first super bowl against the NFL's Baltimore Colts.  Namath cockily pronounced they would win the game before it happened and he turned out to be right.  They were the first AFL team to win over an NFL team for the Super Bowl.