The Jets and Derek Carr
But is there any reason why anyone would choose the Jets over the Giants?
When the Jets moved to Shea Stadium in 1964, they became "Long Island's team" in a way. Football fans from Brooklyn and Queens wouldn't have to schlep to the Polo Grounds in upper Manhattan anymore (or worse, to Yankee Stadium in the Bronx to watch the so-so Giants).
Shortly after that was Broadway Joe, the Heidi Bowl**,"the guarantee", and a Super Bowl III victory. The Jets lived off of that season for over a decade as Long Islanders wrapped both arms around their Jets.
Both the Jets and Giants kind of floated through mediocrity in the 1970s. In the seasons immediately before Bill Parcells made the Giants relevant, the Jets were relevant again and the toast of New York for a few seasons behind star defenders Marc Gastineau and Joe Klecko -- the vaunted New York Sack Exchange.
In 1984, the Jets left Queens to play in Giants' Stadium. Jets' owner Leon Hess knew that leaving Shea Stadium and the Long Island fanship was chancy, and tried to negotiate with the city to modernize Shea Stadium and for some extra concessions for his team. The city and the team could not come to an agreement in the end.
So anyway. Imagine that the AFL had a New Orleans team competing against the Saints, but they played in Algiers. Before long, they'd become "The West Bank's team" and probably be bitter rivals with the Saints. And then imagine that the Algiers team had some early success with some exciting teams and iconic players while the Saints floundered. That's kind of how Jets' fanship was built.
**
yes, the Heidi Bowl was a Jets regular season loss -- but it added to the young team's lore.