The funny thing is — well, maybe “funny” isn’t the right word — all across Jets fandom, they could see what was about to happen before it actually happened.
Already I’ve heard from dozens of Jets fans — friends, family members, readers — who knew, just knew, the very moment Tim Boyle’s halftime Hail Mary dropped into Jevon Holland’s arms at the 1-yard line, that something nutty was going to happen.
In real time, this from a group thread I’m on:
Friend 1: I’d take a knee here.
Friend 2: You absolutely have to take a knee here.
Friend 3: Why are they doing this?
Friend 1: No! No! Nooooooo!!!!!
A few minutes later, after snapping out of an extended catatonic state, Friend 2 wrapped things up nicely: “The Jetsiest thing I’ve ever seen in a lifetime of seeing Jetsiest things.”
on Thanksgiving night on Nov. 22, 2012? This, Jets fan memorialized it
by making it the name on his jersey.
Now, a disclaimer: Every fan of every team can list their top-five heartbreaks, their top-five weird moments, their top-five hard-to-believe plays.
No fan base has enjoyed more success than Yankees fans, and even they can recall — fairly, I might add — 5 or 10 or 15 moments when it was quite apparent that the sporting gods had officially turned on them.
Still ….
Jets fans, at the least, have the most eclectic variety of moments such as these.
Let’s revisit a few along the way, listed chronologically but ranked from one to five Benignos — in honor of the man who’s seen, and suffered through, all of them.
fourth quarter in the Jets’ crushing 17-14 loss to the Steelers in the AFC divisional
round in 2005.
I’m pretty sure the NFL would’ve flexed this Giants-Patriots game to Tuesday at midnight if they could have.
As French buzz goes, I have to say I’m hearing a lot more favorable reviews surrounding Victor Wembanyama than “Napolean” so far, for what it’s worth.
This was supposed to be a part of my Thanksgiving column, and somehow I forgot to type the words. But they remain true as always: Few things sound better to these ears than Chris Carrino and Tim Capstraw doing a basketball game together.
Every time I see Patrick Mahomes (bottom left) doing Patrick Mahomes things in Kansas City, and Tyreek Hill (right) doing Tyreek Hill things in Miami, I can’t help but think that was the most depressing breakup since Lucy and Desi parted ways.
Jerry Jacobs: Can’t wait for James Dolan to pull a Gregg Popovich and threaten to clear out the Garden for booing him.
Vac: I envision J.D. seeing that and feeling what Ben Franklin’s contemporaries felt like when he discovered electricity.
Joe Napoleone: As a newspaper man, maybe you can confirm the rumor I’ve been hearing that both the Giants’ and Jets’ offensive lines are about to be indicted for involuntary manslaughter?
Vac: Can confirm.
@eluvah: Happy Thanksgiving, Mike. I am thankful for Sam Rosen calling Rangers games for all these years and would like him to take a bow instead.
@MikeVacc: I am as well, and it was a profound oversight on my part that I omitted Sam and Kenny Albert both from my Thanksgiving Day list of local kids who made good behind the mic. That’s a five-minute major penalty by me.
Vincent Ruggiero: Sadly, your list of Jets quarterbacks only further emphasizes how underwhelming the position has been over five decades and counting. Zach Wilson can take a minuscule measure of comfort in knowing he has a lot of company in that regard.
Vac: I’m not sure what was more surprising: that Ray Lucas checked in at No. 10 on the list … or that I didn’t receive a peep of complaint that Lucas was No. 10 on the list.