1979 New York Jets season

1979 season of NFL team New York Jets

1979 New York Jets season

Owner| Leon Hess
Head coach| Walt Michaels
Home stadium| Shea Stadium
Results
Record| 8–8
Division place| 3rd AFC East
Playoffs| Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers| T Marvin Powell

* <- 1978
* Jets seasons
* 1980 ->

The 1979 New York Jets season was the 20th season for the franchise and its tenth in the National Football League. It began with the team trying to improve upon its 8–8 record from 1978 under head coach Walt Michaels. The Jets again finished the season with a record of 8–8.

Matt Robinson started the season at quarterback, but was hurt and Richard Todd took the bulk of the duties at Quarterback as the Jets played .500 football posting an 8–8 record for the second straight season, finishing in third place. With the 1979 season, the Jets became one of only three non-expansion teams[1] to not make the playoffs in the 1970s (the others being the New York Giants and New Orleans Saints).

## Offseason

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### Draft

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Main article: 1979 NFL draft

1979 New York Jets draft

Round  | Pick  | Player  | Position  | College  | Notes
1  | 14  | Marty Lyons | DT | Alabama |
2  | 41  | Mark Gastineau * | DE | East Central |
3  | 68  | Donald Dykes | CB | Southeastern Louisiana |
4  | 96  | Eric Cunningham | T | Penn State |
4  | 98  | Johnnie Lynn | CB | UCLA |
5  | 123  | Kelly Kirchbaum | LB | Kentucky |
5  | 125  | Stan Blinka | LB | Sam Houston State |
6  | 149  | Bill Dufek | OG | Michigan |
7  | 179  | Emmett King | RB | Houston |
7  | 187  | Keith Brown | DB | Minnesota |
8  | 198  | Marshall K. Harris | DT | TCU |
8  | 205  | Willie Beamon | LB | Boise State |
9  | 232  | Gordy Sprattler | RB | North Dakota State |
10  | 262  | Steve Sybeldon | OT | North Dakota |
10  | 263  | Ed McGlasson | C | Youngstown State |
11  | 288  | Danny Sanders | QB | Carson-Newman |
12  | 314  | Paul Darby | WR | Southwest Texas State |
Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

### Undrafted free agents

[edit]

1979 undrafted free agents of note  Player  | Position  | College

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Jim Boran  | Linebacker  | Columbia
John Gallo  | Tackle  | Rutgers
Kevin Mannix  | Running back  | Rutgers

## Personnel

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### Staff

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1979 New York Jets staff |

Front office

* Leon Hess – Owner
* Jim Kensil – President/CEO
* Mike Hickey – Director of player personnel
* Jim Royer – Director of pro personnel
* Carroll Huntress – Scout
* Connie Carberg – Personnel assistant

Head coaches

* Walt Michaels – Head coach

Offensive coaches

* John Idzik – Offensive coordinator
* Bob Ledbetter – Running backs
* Bob Fry – Offensive line

|  |  | Defensive coaches

* John Mazur – Defensive coordinator
* Dan Sekanovich – Defensive line
* Joe Gardi – Linebackers/special teams

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### Roster

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1979 New York Jets roster Quarterbacks (QB)

* 17 Matt Robinson
* 4 Pat Ryan
* 14 Richard Todd

Running backs (RB)

* 34 Woody Bennett
* 25 Scott Dierking
* 21 Clark Gaines
* 42 Bruce Harper
* 33 Kevin Long
* 44 Tom Newton

Wide receivers (WR)

* 84 Paul Darby
* 80 Roger Farmer
* 81 Derrick Gaffney
* 86 Bobby Jones

Tight ends (TE)

* 83 Jerome Barkum
* 82 Mickey Shuler

|  | Offensive linemen (OL)

* 60 Dan Alexander G
* 68 Eric Cunningham G
* 65 Joe Fields C
* 67 Ed McGlasson C
* 79 Marvin Powell T
* 66 Randy Rasmussen G
* 61 John Roman T
* 70 Stan Waldemore
* 72 Chris Ward T

Defensive linemen (DL)

* 99 Mark Gastineau DE
* 73 Joe Klecko DT
* 93 Marty Lyons DE
* 76 Lawrence Pillers DE
* 74 Abdul Salaam DT
* 71 Bob Winkel DT

|  | Linebackers (LB)

* 54 Stan Blinka MLB
* 51 Greg Buttle OLB
* 55 Ron Crosby OLB
* 63 John Hennessy OLB
* 53 Mike McKibben OLB
* 50 John Sullivan MLB

Defensive backs (DB)

* 26 Donald Dykes CB
* 40 Bobby Jackson CB
* 29 Johnny Lynn CB
* 37 Tim Moresco FS
* 22 Burgess Owens FS
* 48 Ken Schroy SS
* 23 Shafer Suggs SS

Special teams (ST)

* 1 Dave Jacobs K
* 15 Chuck Ramsey P

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Reserve

* \-- Willie Beamon LB (IR)
* 95 Marshall Harris DE (Left squad)
* 56 Larry Keller LB (IR)
* 57 Kelly Kirchbaum LB (IR)
* 5 Pat Leahy K (IR)
* 31 Barrett Paige RB (IR)
* 20 Darnell Powell RB (IR)
* 86 Bob Raba TE (IR)
* 85 Wesley Walker WR (IR)

Rookies in italics

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## Regular season

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### Schedule

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Week  | Date  | Opponent  | Result  | Record  | Venue  | Attendance

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1  | September 2  | Cleveland Browns | L 22–25 (OT)  | 0–1  | Shea Stadium | 48,472
2  | September 9  | at New England Patriots | L 3–56  | 0–2  | Schaefer Stadium | 53,113
3  | September 16  | Detroit Lions | W 31–10  | 1–2  | Shea Stadium  | 49,612
4  | September 23  | at Buffalo Bills | L 31–46  | 1–3  | Rich Stadium | 68,731
5  | September 30  | Miami Dolphins | W 33–27  | 2–3  | Shea Stadium  | 51,496
6  | October 7  | at Baltimore Colts | L 8–10  | 2–4  | Memorial Stadium | 32,142
7  | October 15  | Minnesota Vikings | W 14–7  | 3–4  | Shea Stadium  | 54,479
8  | October 21  | Oakland Raiders | W 28–19  | 4–4  | Shea Stadium  | 55,802
9  | October 28  | at Houston Oilers | L 24–27 (OT)  | 4–5  | Astrodome | 45,825
10  | November 4  | at Green Bay Packers | W 27–22  | 5–5  | Lambeau Field | 54,201
11  | November 11  | Buffalo Bills | L 12–14  | 5–6  | Shea Stadium  | 50,647
12  | November 18  | at Chicago Bears | L 13–23  | 5–7  | Soldier Field | 52,635
13  | November 26  | at Seattle Seahawks | L 7–30  | 5–8  | Kingdome | 59,977
14  | December 2  | Baltimore Colts | W 30–17  | 6–8  | Shea Stadium  | 47,744
15  | December 9  | New England Patriots | W 27–26  | 7–8  | Shea Stadium  | 45,131
16  | December 15  | at Miami Dolphins | W 27–24  | 8–8  | Miami Orange Bowl | 49,915
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

### Standings

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AFC East

* view
* talk
* edit

| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK
Miami Dolphins(3) | 10  | 6  | 0  | .625  | 5–3  | 6–6  | 341  | 257  | L1
New England Patriots | 9  | 7  | 0  | .563  | 4–4  | 6–6  | 411  | 326  | W1
New York Jets | 8  | 8  | 0  | .500  | 4–4  | 5–7  | 337  | 383  | W3
Buffalo Bills | 7  | 9  | 0  | .438  | 4–4  | 5–7  | 268  | 279  | L3
Baltimore Colts | 5  | 11  | 0  | .313  | 3–5  | 4–10  | 271  | 351  | W1

### Week 1: vs. Cleveland Browns

[edit]

Matt Robinson was named starting quarterback for the Jets against the Cleveland Browns but hid a thumb injury on his throwing hand from three days before the game, until swelling forced him to acknowledge the injury to an angered Walt Michaels and team president Jim Kensil. The injury was treated and Robinson had the tape taken off late in the game with the Jets leading, but a Brian Sipe drive aided by a roughing the passer call against Mark Gastineau led to a game-tying Don Cockroft field goal; forced to play in overtime, Robinson's thumb swelled again and the result was a sloppy pass that was intercepted and led to the game-winning Cockroft field goal. Michaels seethed, "You work, you plan all week, and then the kid hides an injury from you." He refused to play Robinson the rest of the season.[2]

### Week 2: at New England Patriots

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The Jets were crushed 56–3 in a game where Steve Grogan of the Patriots set a club touchdown record that would stand until Tom Brady broke it in 2007.

### Week 7: vs. Minnesota Vikings

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In the first Monday Night Football game to be broadcast from the New York City area, the Jets beat the Minnesota Vikings 14-7 in front of a raucous crowd, many of whom showed up intoxicated and began throwing bottles onto the field. One Shea Stadium security worker described the scene as worse than the celebration that ensued after the Mets won the 1969 World Series. In all, more than 30 fans and three security guards were hurt and two people were arrested.[3]

### Week 13: at Seattle Seahawks

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Seahawks cornerback Cornell Webster blocked a punt by the Jets' Chuck Ramsey, leading to a Seattle score in a 30–7 Seahawks win. Following the game Michaels called out Ramsey in front of Jets players by snarling, "I can fart farther than you can kick!" [4]

## References

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1. ^ The Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers started play in 1976.
2. ^ Eskenazi, Gerald (1998). GANG GREEN: An Irreverent Look Behind The Scenes At Thirty-Eight (Well, Thirty-Seven) Seasons Of New York Jets Football Futility (New York: Simon & Schuster), pp. 146–50 ISBN 0-684-84115-0
3. ^ Eskenazi, Gerald (October 16, 1979). "Jets Defeat Vikings by 14-7". New York Times. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
4. ^ Eskenazi, GANG GREEN, pp. 155–6

## External links

[edit]

* 1979 statistics

* v
* t
* e

New York Jets

* Founded in 1960
* Formerly the New York Titans (1960–1962)
* Based in East Rutherford, New Jersey
* Headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey

Franchise|

* Franchise
* History
* Seasons
* All-time roster
* Coaches
* Logos and uniforms
* First-round draft picks
* Quarterbacks
* Flight Crew

Stadiums|

* Polo Grounds
* Shea Stadium
* Giants Stadium
* MetLife Stadium
* West Side Stadium

Culture|

* Fireman Ed
* Alex Anthony
* Generation Jets
* Rise and Walk: The Dennis Byrd Story

Lore|

* Heidi Game
* The Guarantee
* Announcerless game
* New York Sack Exchange
* Clock Play
* The Monday Night Miracle
* Spygate
* Butt Fumble

Rivalries|

* Buffalo Bills
* Miami Dolphins
* New England Patriots
* New York Giants

Key personnel|

* Owner/chairman: Woody Johnson
* Owner/vice chairman: Christopher Johnson
* General manager: Darren Mougey
* Head coach: Aaron Glenn

Division championships (4)|

* 1968
* 1969
* 1998
* 2002

League championships (1)|

* 1968 (III)

Media|

* Broadcasters
* WAXQ
* WCBS-TV
* SportsNet New York

Current league affiliations|

* League: National Football League (1970–present)
* Conference: American Football Conference
* Division: East Division

Former league affiliation|

* League: American Football League (1960–1969)

* v
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New York Jets seasons

Formerly the New York Titans (1960–1962)

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Bold indicates Super Bowl victory

* v
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1979 NFL season

| AFC| East | Central| West| East| Central| West | NFC

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Baltimore | Cincinnati| Denver| Dallas| Chicago| Atlanta
Buffalo | Cleveland| Kansas City| NY Giants| Detroit| Los Angeles
Miami | Houston| Oakland| Philadelphia| Green Bay| New Orleans
New England | Pittsburgh| San Diego| St. Louis| Minnesota| San Francisco
NY Jets | | Seattle| Washington| Tampa Bay|

* 1979 NFL draft
* NFL playoffs
* Pro Bowl
* Super Bowl XIV

*[G]: Offensive guard
*[C]: Center
*[T]: Ties
*[DE]: Defensive end
*[DT]: Defensive tackle
*[MLB]: Middle linebacker
*[OLB]: Outside linebacker
*[CB]: Cornerback
*[FS]: Free safety
*[SS]: Strong safety
*[K]: Kicker
*[P]: Punter
*[LB]: Linebacker
*[Left squad]: Players under contract who stopped reporting to the team.
*[RB]: Running back
*[TE]: Tight end
*[WR]: Wide receiver
*[W]: Wins
*[L]: Losses
*[PCT]: Winning percentage
*[DIV]: Win–Loss record within their division
*[CONF]: Win–Loss record within their conference
*[PF]: Points For (Total points scored)
*[PA]: Points Against (Total points allowed)
*[STK]: Current Winning or Losing Streak
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template