August 17 in Jets History -- The First Jets-Giants Matchup
Aug 17, 2015 6:55:03 GMT -5
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Post by Lithfan on Aug 17, 2015 6:55:03 GMT -5
August 17, 1969
Just over 8 months after defeating the Colts in Super Bowl III, the Jets would match up against their crosstown rivals in their first ever meeting. It was a pre-season game, but the teams did not approach it that way as evidenced by some of the players' quotes from a NYDN article revisiting the game a few years ago:
“It was a bigger game than the Super Bowl to us,” Hall of Fame wide receiver Don Maynard recalled this week. “We wanted to prove we were a better team than the Giants, that’s for sure.”
“Back in ’69, we had won the championship, but we knew we still had to beat the Giants because the Giants fans did not accept our (Super Bowl) win as a win against them,” Joe Namath said this week. “(They thought) if they had their team in there instead of the Colts, they would have won.”
The Jets had no trouble proving that wasn’t true. “It wasn’t like winning the championship, but it was darn good,” Namath said. “It was great.”
The Jets were the better team and it wouldn't take long to prove it. The Jets jumped out to a 17-0 first quarter lead. Scoring TDs on a 29 yard TD pass from Namath to George Sauer and a 86 yard Mike Battle punt return TD. They added another TD on a 1 yard Bill Mathis run to open up a 24 point lead early in the 2nd. Namath would toss two more TD passes in the 2nd half. He would finish going 14-16 for 188 yards and 3 TDs as the Jets won easily, 37-14.
Giants RB Tucker Frederickson summed it up, “We didn’t have much,” Frederickson said. “The Jets were loaded. Joe was healthy. They kicked our ass. They enjoyed it and I don’t blame them. I don’t remember the score, but I remember the fights in the stands were better than the game.”
Just over 8 months after defeating the Colts in Super Bowl III, the Jets would match up against their crosstown rivals in their first ever meeting. It was a pre-season game, but the teams did not approach it that way as evidenced by some of the players' quotes from a NYDN article revisiting the game a few years ago:
“It was a bigger game than the Super Bowl to us,” Hall of Fame wide receiver Don Maynard recalled this week. “We wanted to prove we were a better team than the Giants, that’s for sure.”
“Back in ’69, we had won the championship, but we knew we still had to beat the Giants because the Giants fans did not accept our (Super Bowl) win as a win against them,” Joe Namath said this week. “(They thought) if they had their team in there instead of the Colts, they would have won.”
The Jets had no trouble proving that wasn’t true. “It wasn’t like winning the championship, but it was darn good,” Namath said. “It was great.”
The Jets were the better team and it wouldn't take long to prove it. The Jets jumped out to a 17-0 first quarter lead. Scoring TDs on a 29 yard TD pass from Namath to George Sauer and a 86 yard Mike Battle punt return TD. They added another TD on a 1 yard Bill Mathis run to open up a 24 point lead early in the 2nd. Namath would toss two more TD passes in the 2nd half. He would finish going 14-16 for 188 yards and 3 TDs as the Jets won easily, 37-14.
Giants RB Tucker Frederickson summed it up, “We didn’t have much,” Frederickson said. “The Jets were loaded. Joe was healthy. They kicked our ass. They enjoyed it and I don’t blame them. I don’t remember the score, but I remember the fights in the stands were better than the game.”
