[6] The team was founded in 1959 as the Titans of New York, a charter member of the American Football League (AFL); the franchise joined the NFL in the AFL–NFL merger in 1970.

[12] Harry Wismer, representing the city of New York at the meeting, proclaimed the state was ready for another professional football team and that he was more than capable of running the daily operations.

[19] Ewbank and quarterback Joe Namath led the Jets to prominence in 1969, when New York defeated the heavily favored Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III[9] and solidified the AFL's position in the world of professional football.

[22] When the AFL and NFL merged, the team fell into a state of mediocrity along with their star quarterback, Namath, who only had three successful post-merger seasons after injuries hampered much of his career.

The Jets continued to spiral downward before enjoying a string of successes in the 1980s, which included an appearance in the 1982 AFC Championship Game, and the emergence of the popular New York Sack Exchange.

[37] Additionally, through the 2000s the Jets visited the playoffs five times, a franchise record, under the direction of three coaches: Herm Edwards, Eric Mangini, and Rex Ryan.

[71] Sonny Werblin graduated from Rutgers University and was employed by the Music Corporation of America, eventually becoming president of the company's television division.

[74] In 1995, following a mediocre 6–10 season under Pete Carroll, despite generally shying away from football operations, Hess announced "I'm 80 years old, I want results now" during a conference in which Rich Kotite was introduced as the team's new coach.

[74] After two unsuccessful years with Kotite, Hess heavily involved himself in hiring Bill Parcells in hopes to see his team again reach the Super Bowl.

[82] Owner Harry Wismer sought out a place for the team to play their home games but was only able to secure the dilapidated Polo Grounds, which had not had a major tenant since the baseball New York Giants vacated the stadium in 1957.

As the team moved to Shea under new ownership, they 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.

[89] Team owners had voted, 31–1, with the Buffalo Bills the only objectors, to award the 2010 Super Bowl to New York contingent on the Jets winning the bid and completing construction of the stadium prior to 2010.

[89] The MTA unanimously voted to sell the land to the Jets for approximately $210 million as the committee agreed that having the stadium would be beneficial in the long run.

[99] The rivalry was relatively docile in its early years until 1966 when the Jets removed the Patriots, who had hopes of appearing in Super Bowl I, from playoff contention with a 38–28 defeat at Shea Stadium.

[101][102] His decision was influenced by the passing of the team owner, Leon Hess, before the '99 season, who at one point was offering Belichick a $1 million bonus to stay put.

However, Belichick had not spoken to the two potential new owners, Woody Johnson and Charles Dolan, and had issues with both because the original agreement with Hess was no longer there; "the whole ownership configuration at that point in time was a major factor in my decision much more than a personal relationship.

"[103] A critical turning point of the rivalry took place on September 23, 2001, when Jets linebacker Mo Lewis tackled Drew Bledsoe, leaving the veteran with internal bleeding.

[108] Aside from a few notable moments, such as O. J. Simpson breaking an NFL rushing record against the Jets, the lone playoff game in the series between the two teams in the 1981 Wild Card Round, and ex-Jets coach Rex Ryan coaching the Bills for two years,[109][110] the rivalry has otherwise been characterized by shared mediocrity and uncompetitive games, including notable blunders by quarterbacks Mark Sanchez of the Jets,[111] and J. P. Losman of the Bills.

[112] However, in recent years, the series has heated up again due to a friendly rivalry between quarterbacks Sam Darnold and Josh Allen, who were selected in the first round of the 2018 draft.

[121] The rivalry continued between both teams when Sal Alosi, then the strength and conditioning coach of the Jets, tripped Dolphins cornerback Nolan Carroll.

Both teams needed a victory to keep their playoffs hope alive and there was significant trash talk between Rex Ryan and his players and many of the Giants in the weeks leading up to the game.

This design remained largely unchanged through 1977, apart from some variations to the numeral and lettering typefaces, the angle of the helmet decals, and adjustments to the shoulder and sleeve striping due to changes in NFL jersey tailoring and materials.

In 1994, as part of the NFL's 75th Anniversary celebration, the Jets wore both home and road versions of this uniform in select games, again using their regular green helmets with the 1965–77 logo but with two parallel white stripes down the center.

[3][4] For this rebrand the 1978 "JETS" logo was slightly modified to condense the spacing between the letters, and to widen the tail and streamline the nose of the jet-plane silhouette.

[139] SportsNet New York, which serves as the official home of the Jets, airs over 250 hours of "exclusive, in depth" material on the team in high definition.

[145] Wolf only had a brief stint with the Jets between 1990 and 1991, while most of his major contributions occurred as an executive and player personnel director with the Oakland Raiders (1963–1974, 1979–1989), and later as General Manager of the Green Bay Packers (1991–2001).

Additionally, the Jets have not reissued the #80 jersey of Wayne Chrebet (WR, 1995–2005) since he suffered a career-ending concussion in the 2005 season, and it has long been understood that it will not be worn again in the foreseeable future.

Along similar lines, Byrd's #90 had not been reissued since he suffered a career-ending neck injury in 1992, and it had been understood long before his number was formally retired that no Jet would ever wear it again.

[157] His physical talents on the field helped improve the Jets' fortunes, leading them to victory over the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III.

Thomas, who averaged 5.4 yards per carry at Penn State, was an intriguing prospect the Jets were interested in utilizing to help their cumbersome offense.