New York Jets

The New York Jets is based in the Northeastern New Jersey part of the tri-state New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League. The team plays its home games at the Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

The team began in 1960. It is a charter member of the American Football League under the name Titans of New York. It was renamed after a five-man syndicate bought the team in 1963. The Jets later joined the NFL as part of the AFL-NFL Merger.

The Jets hold the distinction of being the first AFL team to defeat an NFL club in an AFL-NFL World Championship Game when they defeated the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III.

The team was originally known as the The Titans of New York, the team played home games at the Polo Grounds. After Werblin, Martin, Hess, Lillis, and Iselin took over, the team was renamed the New York Jets as they planned to relocate from the Polo Grounds to Shea Stadium, home of the New York Mets, one year later. Shea Stadium was so close to LaGuardia Airport that the sound of jets roaring overhead was a common sound heard during games played there. The colors of the team were also changed from blue and gold to kelly green and white, which also were the colors of Hess' gasoline stations.

In 1968, the Jets reached the pinnacle of their existence that indicated the AFL's coming age. Under Namath, the Jets rose to the top of the AFL, defeating the Oakland Raiders in a thrilling AFL Championship Game. The win qualified them to represent their league in a game that for the first time referred to as the Super Bowl (retroactively as Super Bowl III) on January 12, 1969. They were pitted against the champions of the NFL, the Baltimore Colts. At the time, the AFL was considered to be inferior to the NFL, and most people considered the Jets to be considerable underdogs. The Jets created one of the greatest upsets in football history by defeating the Colts 16–7. This victory showed that the AFL was capable of competing with the NFL. It also gave Shea Stadium the first of two World Championships teams in the 1969 calendar year , as the New York Mets won the World Series nine months later.