The New York Jets were established in 1959. Originally called the Titans of New York, the team was a founding member of the American Football League (AFL) in 1960. They now play in the American Football Conference (AFC) East Division and share a stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey with the New York Giants.
The original franchise was awarded to Harry Wismer, a sports broadcaster. The Titans struggled financially in its first three years, and by 1962 was nearly bankrupt. In 1963, the Titans were purchased by a group led by business executive Sonny Werblin for one million dollars. Werblin renamed the team the Jets because it played at Shea Stadium and was close to La Guardia Airport. In 1968, Werblin sold the team to petroleum magnate Leon Hess.
In 1969, the New York Jets won Super Bowl III defeating the NFL’s heavily favoured Baltimore Colts, 16-7, in what was one of the last championship games before the leagues merged in 1970. Super Bowl III, however, is most famous for Jets quarterback Joe Namath’s guarantee that the Jets would win (even though he was allegedly drunk when he made the declaration.) Broadway Joe, as he came to be known, was the AFL Rookie-of-the-Year in 1965 and became the first quarterback in professional football history to throw for over 4,000 yards. He would be named Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl III.
In 1970, Joe Namath and the New York Jets played in the first ever Monday Night Football game, losing to the Cleveland Browns in front of a record 85,703 people. After the merger of the NFL and AFL, the Jets suffered through more than a decade of mediocrity before losing in the AFC Championship game to the Miami Dolphins, 14-0 in 1983.
In 2000, Woody Johnson, from the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical family purchased the team for $635 million dollars. Since the purchase, the Jets have made the playoffs six times, but have yet to make it to a second super bowl in team history. In 2009, the Jets hired Rex Ryan as head coach. Under Ryan’s leadership, the Jets played in two consecutive AFC Championship games, losing both. The 2011 and 2012 seasons have been particularly turbulent for the Jets. Starting quarterback Mark Sanchez has been the subject of much criticism, and the team’s acquisition of former Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow has continually been questioned in the press.
Answer the following questions
1 According to the passage, how many owners have the New York Jets had in their history?
a 1
b 3
c 4
d 2
2 Where do the New York Jets currently play games?
a New Jersey
b Long Island
c New York City
d New York State
3 Which of the following is not true about Joe Namath?
a He won the Rookie-of-the-Year Award in 1965
b He once threw for over 4,000 yards in a single season.
c He guaranteed the New York Jets would play the Baltimore Colts in the Super Bowl
d He was nicknamed Broadway Joe
4 What does the word “merged” mean in the following sentence?
In 1969, the New York Jets won Super Bowl III defeating the NFL’s heavily favoured Baltimore Colts, 16-7, in the last championship games before the leagues merged in 1970.
a disappeared
b split apart
c improved
d came together
5 Since its 1969 Super Bowl victory, the Jets have played in __ Super Bowls.
a 0
b 2
c 5
d 1
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