Jets fans possess an unusual sense of deprecation towards their own team. While fans of teams more pathetic than Gang Green (I'm reaching to find a few) delude themselves with statements of "this is our year," Jets fans are renowned for their pessimism, or perhaps realism, summed up by three words:
SAME OLD JETS
The Jets are the team that play themselves into the playoff discussion, giving fans the slightest sliver of hope, only to lose out and dash those hopes.
SAME OLD JETS
This past season, they beat the Pats and made many a non-believer believe that this might be a decent team. The following week they lost to the Bengals 49-9. But hey, any given sunday, right? Later that season, they beat the Saints. The following week, they got trounced by the Bills 37-14. They are the team that is consistently inconsistent and reliably unreliable.
SAME OLD JETS
And thus you have a franchise mired in mediocrity. Were it not for the one Superbowl, the Jets could very well rank as the worst franchise in the NFL. While other franchises have had more atrocious stretches, such as the Saints and Buccaneers, they have also had seasons that rank amongst the best in NFL history.
Still, there was something comforting about the Jets quiet mediocrity. That was until about five years ago. The Jets became the NFL's three ring circus. You had an animated players' coach, a hot-shot QB from SoCal, and a lively locker room environment that was open to the public via HBO. At first, I myself was thrilled by this new-look Jets squad. Finally we were receiving attention not just from our loyal fans, but from the league as a whole. We embraced this upstart, boisterous image hold-heartedly. We were like the frumpy, plainish girl who sprouted breasts and put on makeup. She starts to get a bit of attention, and runs with it, regardless of what it does to her reputation.
And it worked for the first two years. The Jets made two AFC championships. Some thought the Jets should have gone all the way, but anyone who really knows the Jets knows that we overachieved. We were still that same average girl, and you can't jump from middle of the back to queen bee in two years. 2011-2013 was proof of that. We were who they they thought we were. You simply weren't that good that you could build a team on flashy, high-profile free agents to fill in the so-called holes. Most of your team was the hole. The locker room culture soon began to self-destruct and we all know Tim Tebow did nothing to fix that.
Last season, the Jets cleaned house and brought in a new GM, John Idzik to try to right the ship. In spite of the ups and downs of last season, I consider it to be a relative success. 8-8 with an erratic rookie QB with few weapons surrounding him seems like something of a triumph. It appears that Idzik might be the stabilizing force we need for long term success, as opposed to the Jets flash in the pan experiment.
Many view this offseason as a crucial moment for the Jets moving forward. Will they fall back into bad habits and go for a few overrated high-profile players or will they address their much needed positions and try to build slowly? Many Jets fans out there think this new Vick signing is evidence that the Jets have regressed, or relapsed rather, by falling into old habits. I wholeheartedly disagree. While it may seem that way, these are not the same old Jets.
This was a calculated risk-reward decision with only upside. The best case scenario is the Jets have a quality QB, something they have not had for too long. It does not matter if that QB is Vick or Smith. The worst case scenario is that neither pan out, in which case, the Jets are back where they were, but a few million dollars poorer for just one season. I still am inclined to believe that Vick has a few good years left in the right system, which he just may in, as he will be reunited with his same offensive coordinator from his best years in Philly. I am not saying that Michael Vick will solve all of our problems. I will not proclaim a Superbowl or bust season. I won't even go so far as to promise the playoffs. For me, this signing was more a testament to the new front office than to the players.
To those who think that this signing represents a continued era of loud players, flashy signings, and unrealistic expectations, you are quite wrong. I will say no more. To take from the great Dennis Green, I say let them think we are who they thought we were.
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