Remembering the 1997 Football Season - 1st Quarter

The 1997 New York Jets football season was a revival. If there were a movie about it, you would have water references and motifs all over the place. Even in a movie like that, the symbolism wouldn't be overdone. That is how much of a revival the season was.

Talking with fellow Jets fans during the dog days of summer, or during the football-less days of March, we agree on one major thing. The 1997 New York Jets season was one of the best we have ever seen. They didn't make the playoffs, there was a tough loss to end the season, and there were some bitter losses in the middle of the season; however there was no more fun a New York Jet fan could've had. The savior had arrived, and we just wanted to go along for the ride.

Bill Parcells was in town. His first game set the tone, and shocked an entire City.

It was Labor Day weekend during a hot summer. August 31st to be exact, and the first time in a long time the NFL season started in August. Prince Diana had died the night before. Don Mattingly was getting his number retired in the Bronx. So you could imagine why the Jets wouldn't be on the forefront of most New Yorkers minds.

Seattle had rebuilt their defense in the off-season and was expecting a large performance from the likes of Chad Brown. That didn't happen. The Jets scored on their first position and didn't look back. The Jets had a 27-3 lead going into halftime as the Yankee fans filing out of Yankee Stadium were wondering about the score. When hearing the halftime score, most Yankee fans thought it was a mistake. They couldn't believe what they were hearing.

Neil O'Donnell ended the game with 5 touchdown passes and 0 interceptions. You couldn't have asked for a better game from a Quarterback only one season removed from a Super Bowl run, and coming off a disaster of a season (I won't remind you about the pain of 1996). Adrian Murrell had over 120 yards rushing. The Jets were finally developing a 1-2 punch. O'Donnell, Murrell, Chrebet, Keyshawn. Yet, Jet fans were remaining cautious. As well they should have.

One more interesting note about this game: Leon Johnson (as a rookie that season) was 0 for 1 in his first pass attempt of the year. I'm not kidding.

Week 2, in the Meadowlands, the past finally came back on the Jets. The Jets lost to the Bills, and they couldn;t stop the Buffalo offense. This was a sad sad reminder of the previous... What?? 6 years. Todd Collins was at QB, and even without Jim Kelly, he picked the Jets defense apart. Ted Washington had a huge game. He was a man that eventually in the off-season pushed Parcells to make an acquisition that would anchor the Jets for years to come.

The new and improved(?) Jets were 1-1.

That brings us to Week 3. One of the most amazing and fun football games that I have ever watched. One that brought pain. Pain that I never thought I would ever recover from.

A buddy and I were watching this game in my apartment in Storrs, Connecticut. Smoking cigarettes, drinking, yelling and screaming every minute of this game. Mo Lewis had a huge interception return for a touchdown. Parcells did his best coaching job by far getting ready for this game.

This was Parcells return to New England after a messy divorce in February of 1997. John Hall became a household name by a blowing a chance to win the game at the end of regulation. Keyshawn made himself big time by catching a 30 yard touchdown pass in the final minute to tie the game.

Jets finally blew it. 1-2. That apartment in Storrs probably still stinks of the cigarettes smoked that night.

The Jets had an ugly win in Week 4. Oakland Raiders. The coach was Joe Bugel. How bad could the Raiders have been? Jeff George was their starting quarterback for ALL 16 games. That HAD to be a record for that injury prone and whinny quarterback (if you could call him a quarterback). That's why the Raiders went 4-12 that season.

The Jets won a home game, actually got a little lucky. The winning score turned out to be a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown. They ended the first quarter of the season at 2-2.

A record of 2-2 was all you could ask for to start a Parcells era.

2nd Quarter of the season coming soon...