Full Description
Before Namath, before the Heidi Game, before the guaranteed Super Bowl victory, there were the New York Titans. Remember the Titans? They played to meager crowds and mediocre results in the decrepit Polo Grounds. The organization, a charter member of the American Football League in 1960, was in constant danger of bankruptcy. After struggling for three seasons, the Titans would finally be assumed by the league. New owners were found, the franchise was renamed the Jets and a new stadium would welcome the team in 1964.
The revised edition of this award-winning book covers the turbulent history and eventual crash landing of the team that would become the New York Jets. The early days of the upstart AFL are also explored, as are the league's constant feuds with the Titans' underfunded and overbearing owner, Harry Wismer. Four appendices with team results, rosters and statistics are included.
Contents
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Foreword by Don Maynard
Preface to the First Edition
Preface to the Revised Edition
1. The Show Must Go On
2. Oil and Rejection
3. Congratulations!
4. Slingin' Sammy
5. They'll Never Find Enough Good Players
6. The Game They Played
7. The First Training Camp
8. We Don't Tote No Coloreds
9. Opening Day
10. The Punts
11. Tragedy in Houston
12. Out of Quarterbacks
13. My Kingdom for a New Stadium
14. A War at War Memorial
15. 7-7 Again
16. Harry, Ernie, Joe and the Bulldog
17. The Quarterbacks
18. East Stroudsburg
19. Victory in Oakland, Defeat in San Diego, and Where
Samuel Gompers When You Really Need Him?
20. Out of Quarterbacks Again
21. Crash of the Titans
Epilogue—The Team
Epilogue—The Players
Appendix A: Titans' Scores
Appendix B: Titans' Rosters
Appendix C: Individual Statistics
Bibliography
Index
