Engines Falling Off The Jets ‘95 Version Quite Possibly The Worst In 33-Year History Of ‘Other’ New York Team

Dark clouds. Bad vibes. Jinxes.

Welcome to the world of the New York Jets, where anything good can turn bad - even tragic - and where every time it seems the team has sunk into the swamp land near Giants Stadium, it finds another pool of quicksand in which to bathe.

The 1995 version of the Jets is different than many of its predecessors in that it quite probably is the worst outfit the franchise has assembled in its 33-season history. When owner Leon Hess fired first-year coach Pete Carroll last January and hired Rich Kotite, Hess, now 81, demanded quick results.

What he has gotten is a 1-6 record, players with little talent and even less experience placed in starting roles, and an outcry for Hess to sell the team to someone who will revamp the entire organization.

What he hasn’t gotten is even the remotest possibility the Jets will win their first division title since the AFL and NFL merged in 1970. It’s likely the Jets will enter the next millennium saddled with that ignominious tag of being the only team not to have secured at least a division crown in that span.

That’s a long way from the glory of Jan. 12, 1969, when Joe Namath guaranteed a Super Bowl victory and delivered it. That remains the zenith for a franchise that now lies at its nadir.

“I’ve developed a short-term memory,” says linebacker Kyle Clifton, who has the longest term with the franchise of any current Jet. Clifton was drafted in 1984, when Joe Walton was at the helm, and the Jets actually were on the verge of their two best seasons in the last dozen years. “Whatever is happening now is what I remember most.”

Not a good idea, Kyle. What is happening now includes:

A 27-24 loss to Indianapolis in which the Jets blew a 21-point lead.

A 47-10 rout at the hands of Oakland in which Kotite started Vance Joseph, a rookie free agent from Colorado, who was a backup quarterback in college and never had played a game at cornerback. Joseph was toasted all night.

A 29-10 defeat at Buffalo in which inexperienced tackle Everett McIver got the start and was overwhelmed by Bills star Bruce Smith. As an added insult, Smith knocked out quarterback Boomer Esiason with a concussion on a play during which the head linesman blew his whistle too late to call a motion penalty on McIver.

A 26-15 flop at Carolina, the first victory in the expansion Panthers’ history. That one was punctuated by an interception return for a touchdown by Carolina’s Sam Mills - on a shovel pass, of all things.

It promises to get worse. And it’s all in keeping with the annals of the New York Jets.

“I don’t believe in curses,” says cornerback Otis Smith, who was the Jets’ best defender this season until he hurt his ankle late last month and has been sidelined since. “I believe in going out there and kicking butt. There is no cloud over this team. That’s ridiculous. I don’t care about the past. We’re not living in the past.”

Maybe they should - as long as they don’t advance beyond Jets 16, Colts 7 in the third Super Bowl.

Even back then, the Jets were No. 2 in New York, a place they have reserved to eternity behind the Giants. It has gotten worse for them since 1984, when Hess, disgusted with decaying Shea Stadium, moved to the Meadowlands. That further emphasized the Jets’ standing behind their local rivals.

Hess’ loyalty to his hired hands is laudable - except that it gets in the way of progress. It personally hurt the owner to force out coach Walt Michaels in 1983, a month after the Jets lost in the AFC title game. But Michaels’ personal problems made the move necessary.

Until Dick Steinberg was hired as general manager at the end of the 1989 season, the Jets did not have an NFL-trained person in charge since Weeb Ewbank retired in 1973. Steinberg helped build conference champions with the Rams and Patriots, but he never could turn around the Jets.

He got them back into the “loop,” the inner circle of pro football personnel directors, the true brain center of the NFL. He put together a first-rate scouting staff, reorganized the front office from top to bottom, and re-established credibility within the league for the Jets.

Still, the team lost. Last month, Steinberg died of stomach cancer.

The decisions made by Hess and team president Steve Gutman simply haven’t worked. Hess readily sought Kotite to take over the team last winter after Kotite lost his final seven games in Philadelphia, losing control of his players in the process. Neither he nor Gutman ever expressed interest in Jimmy Johnson, easily the most qualified coaching prospect out there.

As with any floundering franchise, poor draft choices and bad luck have contributed to the Jets’ multiyear malaise. Consider such first-round busts as Johnny “Lam” Jones (No. 2 overall in 1980), Russell Carter and Ron Faurot (1984), Mike Haight (1986), Roger Vick (1987) and Blair Thomas (second overall in 1990). The top picks of 1992 and ‘93, Johnny Mitchell and Marvin Jones, have been injury-prone.

To be fair, such fine players as Clifton (third round, 1984), Mo Lewis (third round, 1991) and Adrian Murrell (fifth round, 1993) came on later selections.

The Jets were victimized by career-ending injuries to two of their best players, Dennis Byrd (neck) and Al Toon (post-concussion syndrome), days apart in 1992. Neither has been adequately replaced.

One thing this franchise never has achieved - and a dubious honor it would be - is having the absolute worst record in the league. The Jets never have picked first in the draft.

Wait until spring. That, too, seems to be coming. To which some Jets fans respond, “Yeah, and they’ll screw that up, too.”