If Jets fans were looking for yet another reminder about how the Patriots have owned them over the years, Julian Edelman was happy to oblige.
Edelman, the former Patriots great who is now an analyst on Sunday’s “Fox NFL Kickoff,” appeared on “The Herd” on FS1 on Friday, and razzed Colin Cowherd’s co-host Jason McIntyre about his Jets fandom.
“I’m a Jets fan too,” Edelman laughed.
McIntyre was confused, asking, “What?”
And Edelman hit him with the stomach punch.
“Well any time we played, you’d get your best stats and a win,” Edelman teased. “And it’s like two wins because it’s a division win [which count extra in playoff tiebreakers].”
The Patriots’ pummeling of the Jets began when Bill Belichick resigned as head coach of the Jets, submitting his decision in writing on a napkin, days after accepting the job, in early 2000.
“Essentially the problem I had with the whole arrangement eventually was when all of this transpired there was no owner,” Belichick said in ESPN’s “The Two Bills” documentary.
Belichick had been defensive coordinator on the Jets’ staff under his longtime mentor Bill Parcells and explained why he spurned the idea of being the successor.
“Mr. [Leon] Hess passed away before the ’99 season. There were two potential owners and that was [Woody] Johnson and [Charles] Dolan,” Belichick continued in the documentary.
“I hadn’t spoken with either one, but I had issues with both, and it wasn’t Mr. Hess anymore, which was the original agreement or the original context we talked about. That whole ownership configuration at that point in time was a major factor in my decision much more than a personal relationship.”
In recent years, the Patriots have beaten the Jets 14 times in a row and 17 times out of 18.
The Jets, who host the Pats on Sunday, are well aware of the streak.
Star wideout Garrett Wilson called the years of torment “unacceptable” in a radio interview earlier this week, while cornerback Sauce Gardner emphasized the need to turn it around.
“Of course that’s something we think about. It’s a whole streak we haven’t beat them. Fourteen games or something?” Gardner said. “I wasn’t here. I don’t think none of the coaches, none of the players were here for all 14. We can’t really feel for the whole 14 but it’s just like the perception. We want to look at the positive. We want to end that.”