1968 New York Jets season

1968 New York Jets season
Head coach	Weeb Ewbank
Owner	Leon Hess
Home field	Shea Stadium
Results
Record	11–3
Division place	1st AFL East
Playoff finish	Won AFL Championship (Oakland Raiders, 27–23) Won Super Bowl III (Baltimore Colts, 16–7)

The 1968 New York Jets season was the ninth season for the team in the American Football League (AFL). The team had the most successful season in franchise history. Trying to improve upon their 8–5–1 record of 1967, they won the AFL Eastern Division with an 11–3 record. They defeated the defending champion Oakland Raiders in the AFL championship game, and earned the right to play in Super Bowl III against the NFL champion Baltimore Colts. In a stunning upset, marked by fourth-year quarterback Joe Namath's famous "guarantee" of victory, the Jets defeated the heavily favored Colts 16–7.

Offseason

On May 21, Sonny Werblin sold his shares in the Jets to his partners Don Lillis, Leon Hess, Townsend Martin, and Phil Isselin. Lillis became the president on May 21, but died on July 23, and Isselin was appointed president on August 6.^[1]

Standings

AFL Eastern Division
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	PF	PA	STK
New York Jets	11	3	0	.786	7–1	419	280	W4
Houston Oilers	7	7	0	.500	5–3	303	248	W2
Miami Dolphins	5	8	1	.385	4–3–1	276	355	L1
Boston Patriots	4	10	0	.286	2–6	229	406	L2
Buffalo Bills	1	12	1	.077	1–6–1	199	367	L8

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Regular season schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Game site	Attendance
1	September 15	at Kansas City Chiefs	W 20–19	Municipal Stadium	48,871
2	September 22	vs. Boston Patriots	W 47–31	Legion Field[2]	29,192
3	September 29	at Buffalo Bills	L 35–37	War Memorial Stadium	38,044
4	October 5	San Diego Chargers	W 23–20	Shea Stadium	63,786
5	October 13	Denver Broncos	L 13–21	Shea Stadium	63,052
6	October 20	at Houston Oilers	W 20–14	The Astrodome	51,710
7	October 27	Boston Patriots	W 48–14	Shea Stadium	62,351
8	November 3	Buffalo Bills	W 25–21	Shea Stadium	61,452
9	November 10	Houston Oilers	W 26–7	Shea Stadium	60,242
10	November 17	at Oakland Raiders	L 32–43	Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum	53,318
11	November 24	at San Diego Chargers	W 37–15	San Diego Stadium	51,175
12	December 1	Miami Dolphins	W 35–17	Shea Stadium	61,766
13	December 8	Cincinnati Bengals	W 27–14	Shea Stadium	61,111
14	December 15	at Miami Dolphins	W 31–7	Orange Bowl	32,843

Roster

New York Jets roster
Quarterbacks 12 Joe Namath 15 Babe Parilli Running Backs 32 Emerson Boozer 31 Bill Mathis 41 Matt Snell 30 Mark Smolinski 35 Billy Joe Wide Receivers 13 Don Maynard 83 George Sauer, Jr. 29 Bake Turner 23 Bill Rademacher Tight Ends 87 Pete Lammons		Offensive Linemen 67 Dave Herman 75 Winston Hill 52 John Schmitt 61 Bob Talamini 66 Randy Rasmussen 71 Sam Walton 74 Jeff Richardson Defensive Linemen 86 Verlon Biggs 80 John Elliot 81 Gerry Philbin 72 Paul Rochester 50 Carl McAdams 87 Steve Thompson		Linebackers 62 Al Atkinson 51 Ralph Baker 63 John Neidert 56 Paul Crane 60 Larry Grantham Defensive Backs 46 Bill Baird 45 Earl Christy 48 Cornell Gordon 22 Jim Hudson 24 Johnny Sample 42 Randy Beverly 47 Mike D'Amato 43 John Dockery 26 Jim Richards Special Teams 33 Curley Johnson 11 Jim Turner Rookies in italics

Season summary

Week 3: at Buffalo Bills

This game, won by the Buffalo Bills at the old War Memorial Stadium (known as the rock pile) in Buffalo was the only win for the Bills all season. A win over the eventual Super Bowl champions.

Week 8: vs. Buffalo Bills

1 2 3 4 Total Bills 7 0 0 14 21 • Jets 3 13 3 6 25 Date: November 3 Location: Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York Game weather: 58°F, wind 8 mph Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com

Scoring summary 1 BUF Haven Moses 55-yard pass from Kay Stephenson (Bruce Alford kick) Bills 7–0 1 NYJ Jim Turner 32-yard field goal Bills 7–3 2 NYJ Johnny Sample 36-yard interception return (Jim Turner kick) Jets 10–7 2 NYJ Jim Turner 9-yard field goal Jets 13–7 2 NYJ Jim Turner 32-yard field goal Jets 16–7 3 NYJ Jim Turner 27-yard field goal Jets 19–7 4 BUF Paul Costa 10-yard pass from Kay Stephenson (Bruce Alford kick) Jets 19–14 4 BUF Hagood Clarke 82-yard punt return (Bruce Alford kick) Bills 21–19 4 NYJ Jim Turner 35-yard field goal Jets 22–21 4 NYJ Jim Turner 21-yard field goal Jets 25–21

Week 10: at Oakland Raiders

The 1968 season also saw the Jets involved in one of the most notorious incidents in television history, an incident that would change the way television networks carried sporting events for decades to come. On November 17, 1968, just before 7:30pm Eastern time, the Jets scored late to take a 32–29 lead over the Oakland Raiders with 1:05 left. NBC cut to a commercial, and then everywhere but the West Coast showed the movie Heidi, a show which NBC had promoted extensively for the sweeps period. Outraged fans bombarded NBC headquarters in New York with phone calls demanding the game be restored; so many phone calls were made that they eventually knocked out the NBC switchboard. Even though a decision was made to carry the game to conclusion, this decision could not be communicated, thus resulting in the movie starting on schedule.

Fans' ire was further fueled when they discovered that NBC's cutting away from the game denied them from seeing live a dramatic finish. On the Raiders' second play from scrimmage on the next drive, Daryle Lamonica threw a 46-yard touchdown pass to Charlie Smith, giving the Raiders a 36–32 lead. On the ensuing kickoff, Earl Christy of the Jets fumbled at the 10-yard line, which the Raiders' Preston Ridlehuber converted into another touchdown, ultimately giving the Raiders a 43–32 victory. Much of the country learned of this final outcome only via a bottom-of-screen crawl line shown during the movie. This incident, dubbed the Heidi Game, resulted in most television networks and sports leagues amending their television policies to ensure that games in progress would be broadcast to their conclusion, no matter what, even if it meant delaying or canceling the rest of the network's lineup, and even if the game's outcome seemed assured.

Postseason

• On December 29, Weeb Ewbank became the first coach to win titles in the National Football League and in the American Football League. Ironically, his former team, the Baltimore Colts won the 1968 NFL Championship on December 29 as well. The Colts defeated the Cleveland Browns by a score of 34–0.^[3]

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Game site	Attendance
AFL Champ.	December 29, 1968	Oakland Raiders	W 27–23	Shea Stadium	62,627
SB III	January 12, 1969	Baltimore Colts	W 16–7	Orange Bowl	75,402

AFL Championship

1 2 3 4 Total Raiders 0 10 3 10 23 • Jets 10 3 7 7 27 Date: December 29 Location: Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York Game weather: 42 °F (6 °C), wind 18 mph (29 km/h) Television network: NBC

Scoring summary 1 NYJ Don Maynard 14 yard pass from Joe Namath (Jim Turner kick) Jets 7–0 1 NYJ Jim Turner 33 yard field goal Jets 10–0 2 OAK Fred Biletnikoff 29 yard pass from Daryle Lamonica (George Blanda kick) Jets 10–7 2 NYJ Jim Turner 36 yard field goal Jets 13–7 2 OAK George Blanda 26 yard field goal Jets 13–10 3 OAK George Blanda 9 yard field goal Tie 13–13 3 NYJ Pete Lammons 20 yard pass from Joe Namath (Jim Turner kick) Jets 20–13 4 OAK George Blanda 20 yard field goal Jets 20–16 4 OAK Pete Banaszak 5 yard run (George Blanda kick) Raiders 23–20 4 NYJ Don Maynard 6 yard pass from Joe Namath (Jim Turner kick) Jets 27–23

^[4]

Super Bowl III

The Guarantee

In January 1969, the Jets would reach the pinnacle of their existence and provide the moment that would indicate the AFL's coming of age. Under Namath's guidance, the Jets rose to the top of the AFL, defeating the Oakland Raiders in a thrilling AFL championship game, 27–23. The win qualified them to represent their league in a game that was being referred to for the first time as the Super Bowl (and referred to retroactively as Super Bowl III). They were pitted against the champions of the NFL, the Baltimore Colts. At the time, the AFL was considered to be inferior to the NFL, and most considered the Jets to be considerable underdogs and treated them as such. That would change three nights before the game while Namath was being honored by the Miami Touchdown Club as its Player Of The Year. Namath took exception to a heckling Colts fan and used that moment to lament the lack of respect his team had gotten to that point. He then said "The Jets will win Sunday. I guarantee it." His audacious remark proved correct, as the Jets created one of the greatest upsets in football history by defeating the Colts 16–7. This victory showed that the AFL was capable of competing with the NFL.

^[5]

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Team	Drive			Scoring Information	Score
			Length	Plays	Time		NYJ	BAL
2	9:03	NYJ	80	12	5:06	TD: Matt Snell 4-yard run (Jim Turner kick)	7	0
3	10:08	NYJ	8	8	4:17	FG: Jim Turner 32 yards	10	0
3	3:58	NYJ	45	10	4:06	FG: Jim Turner 30 yards	13	0
4	13:26	NYJ	61	7	3:58	FG: Jim Turner 9 yards	16	0
4	3:19	BAL	80	14	3:15	TD: Jerry Hill 1-yard run (Lou Michaels kick)	16	7

Media

Local Radio

Flagship station	Play-by-Play	Color Commentator
WABC	Merle Harmon	Sam DeLuca

Awards and honors

• Joe Namath, AFL MVP
• Joe Namath, UPI AFL-AFC Player of the Year
• Joe Namath, Super Bowl Most Valuable Player

References

1. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 283
2. 1968 schedule
3. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p.283
4. Pro-Football-Reference.com
5. He guaranteed it – Pro Football Hall of Fame

External links

• 1968 team stats