1968 New York Jets season

1968 New York Jets season
Head coach	Weeb Ewbank
Owner	Leon Hess
Home field	Shea Stadium
Results
Record	11–3
Division place	1st AFL East
Playoff finish	Won AFL Championship (Oakland Raiders, 27–23) Won Super Bowl III (Baltimore Colts, 16–7)

The 1968 New York Jets season was the ninth season for the team in the American Football League (AFL). The team had the most successful season in franchise history. Trying to improve upon their 8–5–1 record of 1967, they won the AFL Eastern Division with an 11–3 record. They defeated the defending champion Oakland Raiders in the AFL championship game, and earned the right to play in Super Bowl III against the NFL champion Baltimore Colts. In a stunning upset, marked by fourth-year quarterback Joe Namath's famous "guarantee" of victory, the Jets defeated the heavily favored Colts 16–7. The Jets have yet to return to the Super Bowl and makes them along with the New Orleans Saints and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the only teams to have been to just one Super Bowl and win it. On April 2, 2007, NFL Network aired America's Game: The Super Bowl Champions, the 1968 New York Jets, with team commentary from Joe Namath, Gerry Philbin and Don Maynard, and narrated by Alec Baldwin.

Offseason

On May 21, Sonny Werblin sold his shares in the Jets to his partners Don Lillis, Leon Hess, Townsend Martin, and Phil Isselin. Lillis became the president on May 21, but died on July 23, and Isselin was appointed president on August 6.^[1]

Draft

1968 New York Jets Draft

RD	Selection	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	17	Lee White	Running back	Weber State
2	44	Steve Thompson	Defensive end	Washington
3	72	Sam Walton	Tackle	East Texas State
4	101	Gary Magner	Defensive tackle	USC
5	128	Lee Jacobsen	Linebacker	Kearney State
6	155	Allocated to the Cincinnati Bengals.
7	182	Oscar Lubke	Tackle	Ball State
8	200	Bob Taylor	Running back	Maryland–Eastern Shore	Acquired from the Miami Dolphins for Archie Roberts.
	210	Jim Richards	Defensive back	Virginia Tech
	214	Karl Henke	Defensive tackle	Tulsa	Acquired from the Houston Oilers for rights to Rich Marshall.
9	236	Gary Houser	Tight end	Oregon State
10	264	Mike D'Amato	Defensive back	Hofstra
11	290	Henry Owens	Wide receiver	Weber State
12	318	Ray Hayes	Tackle	Toledo
13	344	Tom Myslinski	Guard	Maryland
14	372	Harvey Nairn	Running back	Southern
15	398	Ronnie Ehrig	Defensive back	Texas
16	426	Tom Bilotta	Guard	Adams State (CO)
17	452	Myles Strasser	Running	Wisconsin–Oshkosh

Standings

AFL Eastern Division
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	PF	PA	STK
New York Jets	11	3	0	.786	7–1	419	280	W4
Houston Oilers	7	7	0	.500	5–3	303	248	W2
Miami Dolphins	5	8	1	.385	4–3–1	276	355	L1
Boston Patriots	4	10	0	.286	2–6	229	406	L2
Buffalo Bills	1	12	1	.077	1–6–1	199	367	L8

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Regular season schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Game site	Attendance
1	Bye
2	September 15, 1968	at Kansas City Chiefs	W 20–19	Municipal Stadium	48,871
3	September 22, 1968	vs. Boston Patriots	W 47–31	Legion Field[2]	29,192
4	September 29, 1968	at Buffalo Bills	L 35–37	War Memorial Stadium	38,044
5	October 5, 1968	San Diego Chargers	W 23–20	Shea Stadium	63,786
6	October 13, 1968	Denver Broncos	L 13–21	Shea Stadium	63,052
7	October 20, 1968	at Houston Oilers	W 20–14	Astrodome	51,710
8	October 27, 1968	Boston Patriots	W 48–14	Shea Stadium	62,351
9	November 3, 1968	Buffalo Bills	W 25–21	Shea Stadium	61,452
10	November 10, 1968	Houston Oilers	W 26–7	Shea Stadium	60,242
11	November 17, 1968	at Oakland Raiders	L 32–43	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	53,318
12	November 24, 1968	at San Diego Chargers	W 37–15	San Diego Stadium	51,175
13	December 1, 1968	Miami Dolphins	W 35–17	Shea Stadium	61,766
14	December 8, 1968	Cincinnati Bengals	W 27–14	Shea Stadium	61,111
15	December 15, 1968	at Miami Dolphins	W 31–7	Orange Bowl	32,843

Roster

New York Jets roster
Quarterbacks 12 Joe Namath 15 Babe Parilli Running Backs 32 Emerson Boozer 31 Bill Mathis 41 Matt Snell 30 Mark Smolinski 35 Billy Joe 34 Lee White Wide Receivers 13 Don Maynard 83 George Sauer, Jr. 29 Bake Turner 23 Bill Rademacher Tight Ends 87 Pete Lammons		Offensive Linemen 67 Dave Herman 75 Winston Hill 52 John Schmitt 61 Bob Talamini 66 Randy Rasmussen 71 Sam Walton 74 Jeff Richardson Defensive Linemen 86 Verlon Biggs 80 John Elliot 81 Gerry Philbin 72 Paul Rochester 50 Carl McAdams 85 Steve Thompson 73 Ray Hayes 70 Karl Henke		Linebackers 62 Al Atkinson 51 Ralph Baker 63 John Neidert 56 Paul Crane 60 Larry Grantham 68 Michael Stromberg Defensive Backs 46 Bill Baird 45 Earl Christy 48 Cornell Gordon 22 Jim Hudson 24 Johnny Sample 42 Randy Beverly 47 Mike D'Amato 43 John Dockery 26 Jim Richards Special Teams 33 Curley Johnson 11 Jim Turner Rookies in italics

Season summary

Week 2: at Kansas City Chiefs

Week 2: New York Jets at Kansas City Chiefs

	1	2	3	4	Total
Jets (1–0)	7	10	0	3	20
Chiefs (0–1)	3	0	10	6	19

at Municipal Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

• Date: September 15, 1968
• Game time: 4:00 p.m. EDT
• Game weather: 71 °F (22 °C), relative humidity 57%, wind 12 mph (19 km/h)
• Game attendance: 48,871
• TV announcers (NBC): Curt Gowdy (play-by-play), Kyle Rote (color commentator)
• Box Score

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP Jets Chiefs 1 Jets Maynard 57-yard touchdown reception from Namath, Turner kick good 7 0 1 Chiefs 33-yard field goal by Stenerud 7 3 2 Jets 22-yard field goal by Turner 10 3 2 Jets Maynard 30-yard touchdown reception from Namath, Turner kick good 17 3 2 Chiefs Punt returned 80 yards for touchdown by Smith, Stenerud kick good 17 10 3 Chiefs 18-yard field goal by Stenerud 17 13 4 Chiefs 22-yard field goal by Stenerud 17 16 4 Jets 42-yard field goal by Turner 20 16 4 Chiefs 28-yard field goal by Stenerud 20 19 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 20 19

Week 3: at Boston Patriots

Week 3: New York Jets at Boston Patriots

	1	2	3	4	Total
Jets (2–0)	14	6	17	10	47
Patriots (1–1)	3	7	7	14	31

at Legion Field, Birmingham, Alabama

• Date: September 22, 1968
• Game time: 4:00 p.m. EDT
• Game weather: 73 °F (23 °C), relative humidity 69%, wind 8 mph (13 km/h)
• Game attendance: 29,192
• TV announcers (NBC): Curt Gowdy (play-by-play), Kyle Rote (color commentator)
• Box Score

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP Jets Patriots 1 Jets Interception returned 68 yards for touchdown by Beverly, Turner kick good 7 0 1 Patriots 31-yard field goal by Cappelletti 7 3 1 Jets Maynard 39-yard touchdown reception from Namath, Turner kick good 14 3 2 Jets 30-yard field goal by Turner 17 3 2 Jets 27-yard field goal by Turner 20 3 2 Patriots Marsh 70-yard touchdown reception from Taliaferro, Cappelletti kick good 20 10 3 Patriots Interception returned 4 yards for touchdown by Witt, Cappelletti kick good 20 17 3 Jets Blocked punt returned 3 yards for touchdown by Smolinski, Turner kick good 27 17 3 Jets Lammons 29-yard touchdown reception from Namath, Turner kick good 34 17 3 Jets 27-yard field goal by Turner 37 17 4 Jets Boozer 1-yard touchdown run, Turner kick good 44 17 4 Patriots Fumble returned 10 yards for touchdown by Philpott, Cappelletti kick good 44 24 4 Jets 48-yard field goal by Turner 47 24 4 Patriots Thomas 1-yard touchdown run, Cappelletti kick good 47 31 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 47 31

Week 4: at Buffalo Bills

This game, won by the Buffalo Bills at the old War Memorial Stadium (known as the rock pile) in Buffalo was the only win for the Bills all season. A win over the eventual Super Bowl champions.

Week 4: New York Jets at Buffalo Bills

	1	2	3	4	Total
Jets (2–1)	7	14	0	14	35
Bills (1–3)	10	10	3	14	37

at War Memorial Stadium, Buffalo, New York

• Date: September 29, 1968
• Game time: 1:30 p.m. EDT
• Game weather: 53 °F (12 °C), relative humidity 71%, wind 7 mph (11 km/h)
• Game attendance: 38,044
• TV announcers (NBC): Jim Simpson (play-by-play), Al DeRogatis (color commentator)
• Box Score

Scoring summary
Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP Jets Bills "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 35 37

Week 8: vs. Boston Patriots

Week 8: Boston Patriots at New York Jets

	1	2	3	4	Total
Patriots (3–4)	0	0	0	14	14
Jets (7–2)	7	3	10	28	48

at Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York

• Date: October 27, 1968
• Game time: 1:30 p.m. EST
• Game weather: 50 °F (10 °C), relative humidity 48%, wind 16 mph (26 km/h)
• Game attendance: 62,351
• TV announcers (NBC): Jim Simpson (play-by-play), Al DeRogatis (color commentator)
• Box Score

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP Patriots Jets 1 Jets Snell 2-yard touchdown run, Turner kick good 0 7 2 Jets 12-yard field goal by Turner 0 10 3 Jets 23-yard field goal by Turner 0 13 3 Jets Snell 1-yard touchdown run, Turner kick good 0 20 4 Jets Parilli 2-yard touchdown run, Turner kick good 0 27 4 Jets Joe 7-yard touchdown run, Turner kick good 0 34 4 Jets Joe 15-yard touchdown run, Turner kick good 0 41 2 Patriots Whalen 87-yard touchdown reception from Sherman, Cappelletti kick good 7 41 4 Jets Joe 32-yard touchdown run, Turner kick good 7 48 4 Patriots Scarpitto 33-yard touchdown reception from Sherman, Cappelletti kick good 14 48 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 14 48

Week 9: vs. Buffalo Bills

1 2 3 4 Total Bills 7 0 0 14 21 • Jets 3 13 3 6 25 Date: November 3 Location: Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York Game weather: 58°F, wind 8 mph Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com

Scoring summary 1 BUF Haven Moses 55-yard pass from Kay Stephenson (Bruce Alford kick) Bills 7–0 1 NYJ Jim Turner 32-yard field goal Bills 7–3 2 NYJ Johnny Sample 36-yard interception return (Jim Turner kick) Jets 10–7 2 NYJ Jim Turner 9-yard field goal Jets 13–7 2 NYJ Jim Turner 32-yard field goal Jets 16–7 3 NYJ Jim Turner 27-yard field goal Jets 19–7 4 BUF Paul Costa 10-yard pass from Kay Stephenson (Bruce Alford kick) Jets 19–14 4 BUF Hagood Clarke 82-yard punt return (Bruce Alford kick) Bills 21–19 4 NYJ Jim Turner 35-yard field goal Jets 22–21 4 NYJ Jim Turner 21-yard field goal Jets 25–21

Week 11: at Oakland Raiders

The 1968 season also saw the Jets involved in one of the most notorious incidents in television history, an incident that would change the way television networks carried sporting events for decades to come. On November 17, 1968, just before 7:30pm Eastern time, the Jets scored late to take a 32–29 lead over the Oakland Raiders with 1:05 left. NBC cut to a commercial, and then everywhere but the West Coast showed the movie Heidi, a show which NBC had promoted extensively for the sweeps period. Outraged fans bombarded NBC headquarters in New York with phone calls demanding the game be restored; so many phone calls were made that they eventually knocked out the NBC switchboard. Even though a decision was made to carry the game to conclusion, this decision could not be communicated, thus resulting in the movie starting on schedule.

Fans' ire was further fueled when they discovered that NBC's cutting away from the game denied them from seeing live a dramatic finish. On the Raiders' second play from scrimmage on the next drive, Daryle Lamonica threw a 46-yard touchdown pass to Charlie Smith, giving the Raiders a 36–32 lead. On the ensuing kickoff, Earl Christy of the Jets fumbled at the 10-yard line, which the Raiders' Preston Ridlehuber converted into another touchdown, ultimately giving the Raiders a 43–32 victory. Much of the country learned of this final outcome only via a bottom-of-screen crawl line shown during the movie. This incident, dubbed the Heidi Game, resulted in most television networks and sports leagues amending their television policies to ensure that games in progress would be broadcast to their conclusion, no matter what, even if it meant delaying or canceling the rest of the network's lineup, and even if the game's outcome seemed assured.

Postseason

• On December 29, Weeb Ewbank became the first coach to win titles in the National Football League and in the American Football League. Ironically, his former team, the Baltimore Colts won the 1968 NFL Championship on December 29 as well. The Colts defeated the Cleveland Browns by a score of 34–0.^[3]

Round	Date	Opponent	Result	Game site	Attendance
AFL Champ.	December 29, 1968	Oakland Raiders	W 27–23	Shea Stadium	62,627
SB III	January 12, 1969	Baltimore Colts	W 16–7	Orange Bowl	75,402

AFL Championship

1968 AFL Championship Game: Oakland Raiders at New York Jets

	1	2	3	4	Total
Raiders (13–3)	0	10	3	10	23
Jets (12–3)	10	3	7	7	27

at Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York

• Date: December 29, 1968
• Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
• Game weather: 42 °F (6 °C), wind 18 mph (29 km/h)
• Game attendance: 62,627
• Referee: Walt Fitzgerald
• TV announcers (NBC): Curt Gowdy (play-by-play), Kyle Rote (color commentator)
• Box Score

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP Raiders Jets 1 Jets Maynard 14-yard touchdown reception from Namath, Turner kick good 0 7 1 Jets 33-yard field goal by Turner 0 10 2 Raiders Biletnikoff 29-yard touchdown reception from Lamonica, Blanda kick good 7 10 2 Jets 36-yard field goal by Turner 7 13 2 Raiders 26-yard field goal by Blanda 10 13 3 Raiders 9-yard field goal by Blanda 13 13 3 Jets Lammons 20-yard touchdown reception from Namath, Turner kick good 13 20 4 Raiders 20-yard field goal by Blanda 16 20 4 Raiders Banaszak 4-yard touchdown run, Blanda kick good 23 20 4 Jets Maynard 6-yard touchdown reception from Namath, Turner kick good 23 27 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 23 27

Super Bowl III

The Guarantee

Namath (middle) running a play against the Colts in Super Bowl III.

In January 1969, the Jets would reach the pinnacle of their existence and provide the moment that would indicate the AFL's coming of age. Under Namath's guidance, the Jets rose to the top of the AFL, defeating the Oakland Raiders in a thrilling AFL championship game, 27–23. The win qualified them to represent their league in a game that was being referred to for the first time as the Super Bowl (and referred to retroactively as Super Bowl III). They were pitted against the champions of the NFL, the Baltimore Colts. At the time, the AFL was considered to be inferior to the NFL, and most considered the Jets to be considerable underdogs and treated them as such. That would change three nights before the game while Namath was being honored by the Miami Touchdown Club as its Player of the Year. Namath took exception to a heckling Colts fan and used that moment to lament the lack of respect his team had gotten to that point. He then said "The Jets will win Sunday. I guarantee it." His audacious remark proved correct, as the Jets created one of the greatest upsets in football history by defeating the Colts 16–7. This victory showed that the AFL was capable of competing with the NFL.^[4]

Scoring summary

Super Bowl III: New York Jets vs. Baltimore Colts

	1	2	3	4	Total
Jets (13–3)	0	7	6	3	16
Colts (15–2)	0	0	0	7	7

at Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida

• Date: January 12, 1969
• Game time: 3:05 p.m. EST
• Game weather: 73 °F (23 °C), overcast, windy, 20% chance of rain, wind 12 mph (19 km/h)
• Game attendance: 75,389
• Referee: Tom Bell
• TV announcers (NBC): Curt Gowdy (play-by-play), Al DeRogatis and Kyle Rote (color commentators), Jim Simpson (sideline reporter)
• Box Score

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP Jets Colts 2 9:03 12 80 5:06 Jets Snell 4-yard touchdown run, Turner kick good 7 0 3 10:08 8 8 4:17 Jets 32-yard field goal by Turner 10 0 3 3:58 10 45 4:06 Jets 30-yard field goal by Turner 13 0 4 13:26 7 61 3:58 Jets 9-yard field goal by Turner 16 0 4 3:19 14 80 3:15 Colts Hill 1-yard touchdown run, Michaels kick good 16 7 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 16 7

Media

Radio
Flagship Station	Play-by-play	Color Commentator	Studio Host
WABC–AM 770	Merle Harmon	Sam DeLuca

Awards and honors

• Joe Namath, AFL MVP
• Joe Namath, UPI AFL-AFC Player of the Year
• Joe Namath, Super Bowl Most Valuable Player

References

1. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 283
2. 1968 schedule
3. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p.283
4. He guaranteed it – Pro Football Hall of Fame

External links

• 1968 team stats