— Shea Stadium Doomsday Clock —

The Mets continue their classy remembrances of Shea Stadium history. On April 28, they will honor the New York Jets and their vaunted legacy in Queens. Here is what the first Jet game looked like at Shea:
Jets.jpgWe have written a bit about the Jets days at Shea Stadium. Here is the press release from the Mets on their plans for April 28th:

For a quarter-century now, Shea Stadium's image has revolved around baseball and baseball alone. After the National Football League's Jets skipped town in 1984 to move west across the Hudson River, Shea has hosted the Mets and little else.

For one night in April, that will change.

In yet another nod to the past, the Mets will honor the Jets on April 28 with a pregame salute to the team that once spent 20 seasons playing at Shea Stadium. Former Pro Bowlers Joe Klecko, Wesley Walker, Greg Buttle, Randy Beverly and John Schmitt will return to their old home for the final time in Shea Stadium's history. The Jets Flight Crew cheerleaders will be on hand, along with the team's traveling, interactive JetsFest.

Jets season ticket holders will have an opportunity to meet and greet the former Jets stars in attendance at a pregame event at Shea Stadium's picnic area.

The event comes with plenty of precedence -- a throwback to the days when the Jets stalked these grounds alongside the Mets. The pinnacle of that Queens era came in 1969, when both teams won largely unexpected championships -- the "Miracle Mets" beating the Orioles in the World Series, only nine months after the Jets pulled off one of pro football's greatest upsets in Super Bowl III. Quarterback Joe Namath guaranteed that his Jets would beat the heavily favored Colts and then made good on the boast, leading his band of underdogs to a 16-7 victory and giving the American Football League more legitimacy than ever in its final year of existence. Namath was named the MVP.

Fourteen years later, the Jets moved out of Shea Stadium, leaving for the football-centric confines of Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. Yet the Mets have not forgotten their former friends, choosing to honor them during the final season of Shea's history.

The Mets will move into their new stadium, Citi Field, next April, and the Jets will soon follow suit, leaving the Meadowlands for a new stadium within the same complex.


 



[April 18, 2008 1:42 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Mike said

I hope Joe Willie is going to be there!

[April 18, 2008 2:23 PM]  |  link  |  reply
The Mets Police said

Very cool. Too bad the NFL couldn't schedule Colts-Jets for November (at Shea) but I guess it's best that the final event will be a Mets game, unlike certain stadiums that want to end with a hockey game.

[April 18, 2008 6:04 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Anonymous said

A couple of interesting things in that photo - you can see how the field level seats were able to be moved so as to be parallel to the football grid. Also, the goal posts were then on the goal line, instead of 10 years back like today.

Despite the warm and fuzzy press release, the Jets were not happy campers at Shea. There was no doubt that the Mets were the primary tenant and the Jets were poor cousins. The Mets had veto power on when the Jets could play their games, and so they didn't allow the Jets there until the Mets' season was over. As a result, the Jets were forced to open their seasons with four road games, practically guaranteeing a poor start each year. Finally, the Jets had enough and went to Jersey, where ironically they once again were poor cousins, this time to the Giants.

[May 27, 2008 5:34 PM]  |  link  |  reply
No New Jersey Jets said

NOTE TO WOODY JOHNSON...

MOVE THE JETS BACK TO QUEENS!!!
Spring Training 08







Site Map | Contact Us | About Us | Advertise With Us