1977 New York Jets season

1977 season of NFL team New York Jets November 2013 March 2026 New York Jets 1977 3–11 4th AFC East Walt Michaels Leon Hess Shea Stadium Did not qualify none Jets seasons The 1977 New York Jets season was the 18th season for the team and the 8th in the National Football League. It began with the team trying to improve upon its 3–11 record from 1976 under new head coach Walt Michaels and beginning the post-Joe Namath era. However, the Jets struggled and finished with a third consecutive 3–11 season. They won a major off the field court decision. As per the memorandum of understanding signed in late 1961 by team original owner (as the New York Titans) Harry Wismer, Shea Stadium’s co-tenants, the New York Mets, would have exclusive use of the stadium until they had completed their season. The Jets were, in most years, required to open the season with several road games, a problem made worse in 1969 and 1973 when the Mets had long playoff runs.Ryczek, pp. 158-159Chastain, pp. 87–88 Feeling that this arrangement was a disadvantage, the team announced in 1977 that they would play two home games a year during the month of September at the Giants’ new home in New Jersey, Giants Stadium. Litigation began between New York City and the Jets over the issue, and in the lawsuit’s settlement, the city agreed to allow the Jets to play two September home games a season at Shea beginning in 1978 for the remaining six years in the Jets' lease. In 1977, the Jets were to play one September game at Giants Stadium and an October 2 game at Shea.Court Accord Keeps Football Jets at Shea Stadium https://www.nytimes.com/1977/05/27/archives/court-accord-keeps-football-jets-at-shea-stadium-cards-set-back.html?sq=jets+giants+stadium+1978&scp=3&st=p The New York Times Eskenazi, Gerald McGowen, Deane May 27, 1977 November 10, 2010 From 1967 through this season—a span of 11 seasons—the Jets did not play a home game at Shea Stadium in the month of September. As of 2017, the Jets are the first (and so far, only) team in NFL history to finish 3 straight seasons with only 3 wins. During the NFL's 16-game schedule from the 1978 season to the 2020 season, no team finished 3–13 three years in a row, and no team has yet to finish 3–14 three years in a row under the 17-game schedule used since the 2021 season. Offseason Draft 1977 NFL draft 1977 New York Jets 1 4 Marvin Powell OT USC yes 2 33 Wesley Walker WR California yes 3 72 Tank Marshall DT Texas A&M yes 4 90 Scott Dierking RB Purdue yes 5 116 Perry Griggs WR Troy State 5 129 Gary Gregory OT Baylor 6 144 Joe Klecko DT Temple yes yes yes 7 168 Charlie White RB Bethune-Cookman yes 7 171 Bob Grupp P Duke 7 195 Kevin Long RB South Carolina yes 8 200 Dan Alexander OG LSU yes 8 210 Ed Thompson LB Ohio State 9 227 Matt Robinson QB Georgia yes 10 256 John Hennessy LB Michigan yes 11 307 Dave Butterfield DB Nebraska 12 312 Phil Gargis QB Auburn 12 313 Dave Conrad OT Maryland The Football Database. Retrieved 2014-Jul-05. Personnel Staff 1977 New York Jets Leon Hess – Owner Jim Kensil – President/CEO Al Ward – General manager Mike Holovak – Director of player personnel (until May 20, 1977) Mike Hickey – Director of player personnel (after May 21, 1977) Ernie Zampese – Scout Carroll Huntress – Scout Connie Nicholas – Personnel assistant Walt Michaels – Head coach John Idzik – Offensive coordinator Bob Ledbetter – Running backs Dan Henning – Receivers Bob Fry – Offensive line Dan Sekanovich – Defensive line Joe Gardi – Linebackers/special teams John Mazur – Defensive backs Roster 1977 New York Jets 10 Marty Domres 17 Matt Robinson American football y 14 Richard Todd American football 25 Scott Dierking y 21 Clark Gaines 42 Bruce Harper y 33 Kevin Long running back y 44 Tom Newton y 30 Charlie White American football y 88 Rich Caster 85 Wesley Walker y 83 Jerome Barkum 86 Bob Raba y 60 Dan Alexander offensive lineman y G 67 Darrell Austin G 71 Jeff Bleamer T 65 Joe Fields C 72 Ken Helms no y T 79 Marvin Powell y T 77 Garry Puetz T 66 Randy Rasmussen American football, born 1945 G 61 John Roman G 64 Al Burton no DE 63 John Hennessy American football y DE 73 Joe Klecko y DT 68 Tank Marshall y DT 81 Richard Neal American football DE 76 Lawrence Pillers DE 74 Abdul Salaam American football DT 51 Greg Buttle OLB 55 John Ebersole American football MLB 52 Mike Hennigan American football MLB 57 Jim Jerome no OLB 56 Larry Keller OLB 53 Al Palewicz OLB 37 Billy Hardee CB 27 Ron Mabra CB 22 Burgess Owens FS 24 Artimus Parker SS 48 Ken Schroy FS 23 Shafer Suggs SS 38 Ed Taylor American football CB 39 Maurice Tyler CB  5 Pat Leahy American football K 15 Chuck Ramsey P 77 Carl Barzilauskas DT IR -- Don Coleman linebacker LB IR 80 Shelton Diggs y WR IR 45 Louie Giammona RB IR 62 Gary Gregory no y T IR 82 David Knight American football WR IR 59 Bob Martin American football LB IR 69 Greg Murphy no DE IR Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 18 at Houston Oilers L 0–20 0–1 Astrodome 39,488 2 September 25 Baltimore Colts L 12–20 0–2 Giants Stadium 43,439 3 October 2 New England Patriots W 30–27 1–2 Shea Stadium 38,227 4 October 9 at Buffalo Bills W 24–19 2–2 Rich Stadium 32,046 5 October 16 at Miami Dolphins L 17–21 2–3 Miami Orange Bowl 43,446 6 October 23 Oakland Raiders L 27–28 2–4 Shea Stadium 56,734 7 October 30 at New England Patriots L 13–24 2–5 Schaefer Stadium 61,042 8 November 6 Miami Dolphins L 10–14 2–6 Shea Stadium 51,582 9 November 13 Seattle Seahawks L 0–17 2–7 Shea Stadium 42,923 10 November 20 at Baltimore Colts L 12–33 2–8 Memorial Stadium 50,957 11 November 27 Pittsburgh SteelersL 20–23 2–9 Shea Stadium 47,385 12 December 4 at New Orleans Saints W 16–13 3–9 Louisiana Superdome 40,464 13 December 11 Buffalo Bills L 10–14 3–10 Shea Stadium 31,929 14 December 18 at Philadelphia Eagles L 0–27 3–11 Veterans Stadium 19,241 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. Game summaries Week 1: at Houston Oilers 1977 Houston Oilers season collapsed September 18 3:00 p.m. Jets 0 0 0 0 Oilers 0 7 0 13 Houston Astrodome, Houston, Texas dome Box Score Second quarter HOU – Don Hardeman 1 yard run (Skip Butler kick) Fourth quarter HOU – Dan Pastorini 1 yard run (Skip Butler kick) HOU – Rob Carpenter 1 yard run (kick failed) Passing NYJ – Richard Todd 10/25, 115 yards, INT HOU – Dan Pastorini 20/32, 137 yards Rushing NYJ – Charlie White 13 att, 43 yards HOU – Don Hardeman 12 att, 55 yards, TD Receiving NYJ – David Knight 3 rec, 40 yards HOU – Ken Burrough 3 rec, 57 yards Week 2 vs. Colts 1977 Baltimore Colts season New York Jets 1977 2; text-align:center collapsed Week Two: Baltimore Colts (1–0) at New York Jets (0–1) September 25 1:00 p.m. EST Colts 7 7 6 0 Jets 0 3 0 9 Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey 43,439 55 F C Box Score First quarter BAL – Roosevelt Leaks 6-yard run (Toni Linhart kick). Colts 7–0. Drive: Second quarter BAL – Don McCauley 2-yard run (Toni Linhart kick). Colts 14–0. Drive: NYJ – Pat Leahy 25-yard field goal. Colts 14–3. Drive: Third quarter BAL – Don McCauley 1-yard run (Toni Linhart kick). Colts 21–3. Drive: Fourth quarter NYJ – Safety, David Lee ran out of end zone. Colts 21–5. NYJ – Charlie White 1-yard run (Pat Leahy kick). Colts 21–12. Drive: Top passers BAL – Bert Jones – 9/15, 78 yards, INT NYJ – Richard Todd – 13/22, 140 yards, 2 INT Top rushers BAL – Lydell Mitchell – 26 rushes, 68 yards NYJ – Charlie White – 12 rushes, 36 yards, TD Top receivers BAL – Don McCauley – 5 receptions, 40 yards NYJ – Clark Gaines – 6 receptions, 47 yards Week 3: vs. New England Patriots 1977 New England Patriots season Week 4: at Buffalo Bills 1977 Buffalo Bills season Week 5: at Miami Dolphins 1977 Miami Dolphins season Week 6: vs. Oakland Raiders 1977 Oakland Raiders season Week 9: vs. Seattle Seahawks 1977 Seattle Seahawks season Week 11 vs. Steelers 1977 Pittsburgh Steelers season New York Jets 1977 2; text-align:center collapsed Week Eleven: Pittsburgh Steelers (6–4) at New York Jets (2–8) November 27 1:00 p.m. Steelers 6 14 0 3 Jets 6 7 0 7 Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York 47,385 31 F C Jerry Markbreit NBC Jim Simpson and Merlin Olsen Box Score First quarter NYJ – Pat Leahy 33-yard field goal. Jets 3–0. Drive: PIT – John Stallworth 37-yard pass from Terry Bradshaw (kick blocked). Steelers 6–3. Drive: NYJ – Pat Leahy 47-yard field goal. Tie 6–6. Drive: Second quarter PIT – Lynn Swann 5-yard pass from Terry Bradshaw (Roy Gerela kick). Steelers 13–6. Drive: NYJ – Scott Dierking 5-yard pass from Matt Robinson (Pat Leahy kick). Tie 13–13. Drive: PIT – Franco Harris 1-yard run (Roy Gerela kick). Steelers 20–13. Drive: Third quarter No scoring Fourth quarter PIT – Roy Gerela 37-yard field goal. Steelers 23–13. Drive: NYJ – Bruce Harper 4-yard pass from Richard Todd (Pat Leahy kick). Steelers 23–20. Drive: Top passers PIT – Terry Bradshaw – 10/28, 143 yards, 2 TD, INT NYJ – Matt Robinson – 7/19, 80 yards, TD, 3 INT Top rushers PIT – Franco Harris – 21 rushes, 83 yards, TD NYJ – Scott Dierking – 23 rushes, 107 yards Top receivers PIT – Lynn Swann – 4 receptions, 54 yards, TD NYJ – Scott Dierking – 3 receptions, 26 yards, TD Week 12: at New Orleans Saints 1977 New Orleans Saints season Week 13: vs. Buffalo Bills Joe Ferguson hit Bob Chandler with two touchdown passes as the Bills defeated the Jets 14-10 at Shea Stadium. Pat Leahy opened the scoring, early in the 2nd quarter with a 25-yd Field goal. Richard Todd connected with Wesley Walker to put the Jets ahead with less than two minutes remaining in the final quarter, but Ferguson moved the Bills 92 yards, tossing the winning touchdown with 40 seconds left. Week 14: at Philadelphia Eagles 1977 Philadelphia Eagles season Standings References Bibliography Ryczek, William J. (2009). Crash of the Titans: The Early Years of the New York Jets and the AFL (revised ed.). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co. 978-0-7864-4126-6. Chastain, Bill (2010). 100 Things Jets Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. Chicago: Triumph Books. 978-1-60078-522-1. External links 1977 statistics Category:New York Jets seasons New York Jets New York Jets season Category:1970s in Queens