Where would missing out on Trevor Lawrence rank among Jets’ disappointments?

The New York Jets missing out on Trevor Lawrence would be a severe blow, but where would it rank among the all-time disappointments?

Get off the train tracks if you’re not ready to take the pounding, for the train is coming through. The Trevor Lawrence-to-the-New York Jets momentum has reached an epic level.

All of the losses, all of the pain (oh, the pain, says Joe Benigno from a golf course in Florida) and all of the jokes (the last one courtesy of the once-great Saturday Night Live) can only be justified in the mind of a Jets fan if No. 16 comes to town.

There’s simply no stopping this train, and there’s simply no outcome that’s acceptable other than the player the kids call T-Law making his professional home in Northern New Jersey.

In a world that sees the Jets miss out on the top pick, the level of disappointment among the organization’s fan base will be something not of this world. The devastation might not compare to anything that’s happened over the course of this organization’s 60-plus-year history.

Obviously, Joe Douglas isn’t and the organization isn’t thinking along the same lines. Douglas, a man who values culture and value itself, as it relates to the salary cap, understands there are several routes to get the Jets to the promised land.

By no means is he unaware of how critical a part Lawrence can play in the franchise’s eventual turnaround, but it’s not an all-or-nothing proposition for the big front office boss. There’s just no way the fans can follow the same logic—not after the months of hoopla leading to this very moment in time.

The Jets not landing Trevor Lawrence could only be described as a flat-out disaster, a disappointment of the highest order. But where exactly would it rank? That’s the question we tackle today as we rank the most disappointing moments in New York Jets history.

Notables:

• 2009 AFC championship game
• 1997 Week 17 vs. Detroit Lions
• 1994 Fake Spike game
• The Keyshawn Johnson trade
• The Darrelle Revis trade
• Al Toon‘s shortened career
• The Kyle Brady selection
• The Doug Brien game
• The Mark Sanchez failure

The notables include tough moments, yet don’t fit into the top 11. Bill Parcells‘s first season provided disappointment in the final week, but hey, the team was coming off a dreadful 1-15 season. Finishing 9-7 was a solid showing, all things considered.

Everybody remembers Dan Marino‘s fake spike with Pete Carroll at the helm, Al Toon‘s shortened career via injury and the Kyle Brady selection. Mark Sanchez‘s failure as the team’s franchise quarterback still stings for fans to this day.

11. The Belichick spurn

Remember, when Bill Belichick spurned the Jets close to 21 years ago, it wasn’t that big of a deal. He was a failed head coach looking to change that perception the second time around.

Only after the fact has it become a bitter disappointment. Two decades of Belichick and Tom Brady tormenting Jets fans make what happened in January 2000 devastating, but it can only rank 11th thanks to the slow burn of it all.

10. The first Namath injury

The 1968 Super Bowl champion Jets had the guy in the sport. Joe Namath was more than just an athlete; he was a societal superstar.

The first real celebrity athlete (save for Muhammad Ali) suffered his first devastating injury in the NFL in 1970 and Jets fans couldn’t believe it. Sure, everybody knew about the knee injury that took him out while at Alabama, but it never stopped him in the NFL.

Playing 13 games his rookie season and 14 the following five years, his five games played in 1970 was the first major disappointment of the Namath era, courtesy of a broken wrist. Namath was never quite the same after that initial injury.

9. The failed repeat

A year prior, Namath and the Jets had a shot for a repeat title. Trailing 6-3 late in the fourth quarter, the Jets were set up at the Kansas City Chiefs’ 1-yard line with a first down.

New York failed to cross the goal line and its field goal knotted the game up at six apiece. Kansas City scored and moved on to the AFL championship game against the Oakland Raiders where they’d emerge victoriously.

For many old-school Jets fans, this loss still burns the most.

8. The Favre injury

Going into Tennessee to knock off the previously unbeaten Titans in order to improve to 8-3 on the season had Jets fans going bananas. Brett Favre‘s one and only season looked to be golden at this point of the season.

Then, reality struck. A torn biceps tendon forced Favre to play horribly down the stretch. Eventually, New York lost four of its last five games, culminating in a home defeat at the hands of Chad Pennington and the Miami Dolphins.

While the fans didn’t know the extend of Favre’s injury until after the fact, the entire stretch run was bitterly disappointing. To see Pennington cap it off really cemented the misery.