I Guarantee It: Can New York Jets Relive Their 1969 Mojo Over the Colts?

The last time the Jet’s and Colt’s squared off for a game this important, it was Super Bowl III.

Joe Willie Namath, the toast of New York town by way of Beaver Falls, PA and Tuscaloosa, AL, famously said “I guarantee it” when asked if the  16 point underdog Jetsies would win. Utilizing their short passing game, inside running from Emerson Boozer, and underappreciated defense, the Jets did in fact go on to win that game, bringing instant legitimacy to the then fledging AFL.

Can they do it again?

Then , like now, we were embroiled in a foreign war.  But overall, it is a different world now than 1969. 

People drive their kids to school even when they only live a couple of blocks away, due to a combination of paranoia and laziness.  Drinking and driving are no longer tolerated, but you won’t go to prison for toking a doobie.  The advent of personal electronics mean that we are constantly connected…and have to listen to the details of some strangers kidney stone surgery and such in public places, while never allowing us to really take a vacation. There's no draft now.  Beards are once again out of fashion.

In the NFL, football linemen look like Sumo wrestlers instead of athletes.  Quarterbacks don’t get to call their own plays, reflecting the increasing corporatization and command and control structure in overall society.  Rules have been liberalized to encourage more and more scoring.  The cost of going to the game is spiraling out of reach for the regular Joe Sixpack fan.  And the Colts are in Indiana-no-place, while the Jets are toiling in Jersey rather than Queens.

Back in the 60's, the game also epitomized the cultural warfare of the time.  The Colts, led by Johnny Unitas and their young coach Don Shula (both products of Western PA mills towns, and of Slovak ethnic heritage like Joe Willie) represented stability, old school, establishment values in a changing world.  Unitas famously wore a flat top hair-do with old fashioned high top cleats.  They were the toast of ‘Balmor’, a gritty, blue collar working class seaport and steel mill town that exuded Colt pride.

Led by Joe Willie, in his white shoes and long hair, the Jets represented the new age.  Hip, young and brash, they played hard and partied hard, reflecting the mores and values of  the Big Apple….nightlife, pretty girls, assorted celebrities and other “fast movers” who inhabited the city that doesn’t sleep.  Groovy.

So what of next week?

The Colts once again are favored.  But ol’ Johnny U must have been spinning in his grave when they tanked the last two games of the regular season this year after clinching home field advantage through the playoffs.  If they hadn’t done this, no Jets in the playoffs.

Me thinks that they may have made a mistake.

We’ve got a Jetsie team on a roll.  Their running game has been very effective, and they have a defense that has stepped up to the plate and has done a very good job of shutting down some high-flying opponents.

Plus, there’s karma. 

Bad karma. The spirits of football past, including Johnny U, Saint Vince, Slingin' Sammy Baugh, and Coach Weeb can’t be pleased by the Colts' tank job (not to mention the fact that they are in firggin' Indiana).  It was, as my dad used to say, "Just not right."

Jets 17, Colts 9. 

Same as it ever was.