New York Jets legend Gerry Philbin has recently passed away. He was 83.
Philbin was a key cog in the Jets’ lone Super Bowl championship team of 1968. Although sacks were not an official stat until the early 1980s, Philbin’s EDGE presence on one side of the defense was key for a tremendously gifted unit.
He’s been credited with 64.5 unofficial regular-season sacks. In fact, Verlon Biggs is the only other Jets defensive player to be recognized as having four consecutive 10+ sack seasons.
Buddy Ryan was the Jets’ defensive line coach then, whereas Walt Michaels served as the defensive coordinator before he took the helm in the late 1970s.
The 6-foot-2, 245-pound defensive end was named All-AFL twice (1968 and 1969).
Philbin played 10 professional football seasons, nine of which were with the Jets (1964-1972). His lone non-Jets campaign came with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1973, after the merger occurred—something that Philbin helped along with his stellar Super Bowl 3 performance.
New York picked Philbin in the third round of the 1964 AFL draft. He played in 110 total games, starting 106 of those contests in his nine seasons with the Jets.
Philbin is firmly entrenched in New York Jets history as one of the greatest defensive players to lace them up, as well as the organization’s Ring of Honor. In addition to his two First-Team All-AFL selections, he’s a member of the AFL’s All-Deacde Team (of the 1960s, of course).
Modern New York Jets fans may know Philbin from his facetime on NFL Network. He, along with Joe Namath, Don Maynard, and others, were the voices who helped tell the story of the Jets’ stunning 16-7 upset victory over the Baltimore Colts at the Orange Bowl.
Rest in peace, Gerry Philbin.