Three Years RelivedI knew it was time to start this new phase in this blog a few days ago, when, leaving a kosher restaurant following lunch, I saw a person who I hadn't seen in person for almost 10 years.
I had been aware of what this guy has been doing over the years, since he's well known in the NFL community. But to finally come across someone who came into my life with such promise, and then disappeared after three tumultuous years without the Super Bowl he promised, came as a shock from which I haven't fully recovered.
He was a quarterback, and had been to his own Super Bowl with his previous team, but it was in 1993 that this person, let's call him Boomer, came to the Jets. I was 20 then, and things seemed to be going so well. He threw for 3421 and 16 touchdowns. He led the Jets to an 8-5 start, and we all thought he was the one. But just like that, he and the Jets lost the last three games and didn't even make the playoffs.
After not seeing him for months, in 1994 he suddenly reappeared. And again, he charmed his way to a 6-5 start. I'll never forget the November 27th, 1994 afternoon I went to see him. The Jets were playing the Dolphins, and had a big lead, 24-6 in the 3rd quarter. A win would put them in first place. But then suddenly he just left, right in middle of the game. Not literally - he was still standing there, but he was throwing the football to the Miami players. And then, when on Dan Marino's fake spike, Miami won the game with seconds left in the clock right in front of my end zone seat, he was nowhere to be found. The 1994 Jets never won another game, and I didn't see him again until 1995.
'95 was awful and it would have been better for both of us if "Boomer" had just got his separate way prior to that year. Maybe it wasn't all Boomer's fault; this guy Kotite came around then and let's just say didn't help matters. The whole year was a disaster. The next thing I knew, it was really over, and Boomer was moving all the way to Arizona.
Seeing Boomer in person the other day brought this all back. And I suddenly realized then and there, that I am 32 years old, and in my entire lifetime, my team has never been to the Super Bowl. This is my primal scream.
posted on 4/01/2005
