By Jason Klein
Originally Written For The Official Steiner Sports Blog – 1/19/10
The “house money” is all spent. Moral victories no longer exist. No, that’s all over now. Complacency expired with the clock in San Diego.
Jets 17, Chargers 14.
Mark Sanchez Turf Collage
Get greedy Jets fans. Gang Green is in the final four. They are about to play in a game the franchise has only seen on three other occasions, 1968, 1982, and 1998. The New York Jets…say it with me…are going to the AFC Championship Game and are only 60 minutes away from Super Bowl XLIV. Believe it.
With that said, every fan who bleeds green and white should be thinking big, thinking about getting two more victories and hoisting the Lombardi Trophy amid a green and white confetti rain. Reaching the AFC Title Game is a great achievement…no doubt. But don’t settle here. Don’t be satisfied with just a “great” season. Dream of a “Super” season. It’s now within reach.
Opportunities like these are so rare. Teams come so close, fall just short, and then prepare for a future that may never come. One season a franchise makes it to the Championship Game, and the next season their balloon of hopes and dreams pop like their quarterback’s Achilles tendon in week one (see Vinny & the Jets circa 1999).
There are so many variables in the NFL. Teams battle devastating injuries, unfavorable schedules, inclement weather, a salary cap, and have to peak at the right time just to have a shot at a January run. There are no guarantees in the NFL…well…other than Joe Willie’s pledge prior to Super Bowl III.
Namath’s magic occurred a generation ago, the 2009 Jets are trying to exorcise the demons and do something that no Jets team has done since that unforgettable day in January 1969.
This is no longer just a feel good story. The Jets are in way too deep for that. An appearance in the AFC Championship Game officially qualifies as “serious business.” It’s an opportunity that may never come around again. The New York Jets head into Indianapolis to face Peyton Manning and the Colts on Sunday at 3:00 PM. A trip to Miami, and a place in history hangs in the balance.
No time like the present. No guarantees for the future. No turning back now.
Get greedy Jets fans.
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