Aaron Rodgers is the latest, greatest Jets hope

Ask Joe Namath what the best part of playing quarterback for the Jets is and he gives you an answer only he can deliver.
“Winning a championship,” Namath says over the phone with a chuckle. “Everybody’s happy. Everyone around in Jersey, New York, wherever. Winning.”
Here’s the problem: There have been 36 starting quarterbacks for the Jets since Namath left town after the 1976 season and none of them have hoisted the Lombardi Trophy with Gang Green.
Now, here comes Aaron Rodgers, hoping to change all that. He will be post-Namath starting quarterback No. 37. The 39-year-old with four MVP trophies to his name is the Jets’ latest, and inarguably their greatest, hope at quarterback. As Rodgers begins his journey with the Jets, The Post spoke to several men who have been in his position about what it is like to play quarterback for the franchise, and everything that comes with it.
“It’s like fishing,” said Mark Sanchez, who started here from 2009-12. “There’s two different types of fishing — catching and waiting. You’re either winning or losing in New York. They are two very different experiences, just like fishing. You’re catching fish, you’re excited, things are going well. When you’re just sitting around waiting, ‘It’s hot. I’m getting sunburnt out here. This is rough.’ It’s very similar, in my opinion, because the losses feel heavier and the wins feel greater. The biggest battle is to manage all that.”
Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers smiles during practice at OTAs in Florham Park,
Aaron Rodgers has been all smiles since his arrival in New York.
Bill Kostroun/New York Post
Sanchez was 22 years old when the Jets drafted him with the No. 5-overall pick in 2009. He was suddenly thrust into the media spotlight as the franchise savior, and immediately nicknamed “The Sanchize.”
Rodgers is much older and more media savvy than Sanchez was when he first arrived here, but Sanchez said the media spotlight is still different in New York than Rodgers is probably used to.
“When people give the advice of just keep your head down and avoid all the headlines and blah, blah, blah, well, it’s nearly impossible to do that as a quarterback because you go into these press conferences and you’ve got to get briefed on what everybody else is talking about,” Sanchez said.
Former Jets great, Joe Namath and the 68 Jets are honored during the halftime during the 50th anniversary of their championship team.
Joe Namath remains the only QB to lead the Jets to Super Bowl glory.
Anthony J Causi
The Jets drafted Ken O’Brien in the first round of the 1983 NFL Draft. O’Brien, who had the best Jets career of any quarterback not named Namath, said he believes Rodgers will be able to block out the noise.
“Aaron’s no dummy,” O’Brien said. “He’s obviously been a great player, one of the best guys to play up in Green Bay for so many years. There’s nothing on the field that’s going to be new. It’s just a different environment. Green Bay is awesome in its own right, but it dwarfs in comparison to what’s going on in New York City. That’s just the way it is with the people and the attention. It’s an international hub. Aaron’s smart enough to understand that. It’s not going to change the way he plays football.”
Boomer Esiason had already been an NFL MVP, like Rodgers, before he was traded to the Jets in 1993. Esiason, who is now a morning host on WFAN, said while Jets fans are hoping to see Rodgers succeed, plenty of others are rooting for him to fail. Esiason knows he will hear from Giants fans on his radio show relishing in the Jets’ misery if they have a slow start.
“For all of us that want him to do well and want them to do well, there are probably a hundred times more who are hoping he falls flat on his face,” Esiason said. “He’ll have to fight that negativity. It’s not going to come from the Jets fan base. It will come from other fan bases.
“This is what he signed up for.”
Sanchez spent some time at Jets training camp this summer. He and Rodgers share an agent, so they have known each other for a while. Sanchez walked away thinking that Rodgers is in a really good place and that he seems ready to handle all the challenges that being in New York and playing for the Jets will present.
“I think if anybody is ready to do it and has the energy, just the drive, you can tell when you talk to him, you can hear it in his voice, you can see it,” Sanchez said. “He’s got a hop in his step. He looks, feels, sounds good. That’s a dangerous dude with the ball in his hands, especially when he’s locked in like that. Even on his worst day, he can still kick your ass. Catch him on his best day, good God, that’s a problem.”
So far, it has been a honeymoon period for Rodgers. There has been nothing but enthusiasm about his arrival since the trade in April. He has done all the right things, from taking a $33 million pay cut to talking openly about bringing a Super Bowl win to the Jets. The excitement has grown this summer as “Hard Knocks” has been an open love letter to Rodgers each week.
“I think he has definitely experienced the good,” Esiason said. “He’s already done that. He’s felt the love. He’s felt the enjoyment from the Jets fan. He’s smart enough to know the history of this franchise. He’s smart enough to know there’s only one Lombardi Trophy in that case. He also knows this is a team that hasn’t been to the playoffs in 12 seasons. That’s basically the worst in the NFL.”
The question is when, or whether, Rodgers will feel negativity around the Jets creep in. A poor performance against the Bills in Week 1 will bring a massive overreaction. When a negative overreaction hits the Jets, it will come with all the baggage of the last 40 years. The talk of “Same Old Jets” will start and the old standards will come out: the Mud Bowl, the Fake Spike and the Buttfumble.
The weight of the Jets’ past has crushed some players. Rodgers seems built to avoid it, and he won’t be the first target of the fans. Head coach Robert Saleh, general manager Joe Douglas and owner Woody Johnson will feel their wrath before Rodgers does if things go south.
New York Jets quarterback Boomer Esiason looks for a pass
Boomer Esiason knows Rodgers has what it takes to succeed with Gang Green.
But at some point, Rodgers may feel the failures of the past and the dark cloud that can hover over One Jets Drive.
“I didn’t feel it until my last year or two years,” Sanchez said. “The first two were so competitive and knocking on the door. The third one we barely missed the playoffs. The next two were like those down, down years where you are like, ‘Whoa, this is a lot.’ It felt like we couldn’t get out of our own way.”
The flip side is how much Rodgers will be celebrated if he can turn the franchise around. As Namath said, winning is the greatest part of being a Jet quarterback. With the Super Bowl drought now at 54 years, Jets fans are starved for success.
Namath is 80 years old. His legacy was defined that day in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 12, 1969. Since then, Namath has been waiting for another Jets title.
“It was so long ago most of the fans weren’t born,” Namath said. “They’ve been fans a long time without having a championship. Hopefully, we can do it again.
“I can imagine the joy that our fans would feel winning a championship. We’ve seen it and experienced it. It’s wonderful. It’s been so long since we’ve won a championship. I say we, I’m a fan. It’s been long and all I can say is the fan base, they’ve been loyal. They’re real fans. I’d like to say they are there through good times and tough times but they’ve been mostly tough times. It would be wonderful for them.”
If Rodgers is the first one to win a title since Namath, he can add to his already strong NFL legacy. Sanchez came close, leading the Jets to the AFC title game twice.
“That kind of success in a year like this for Aaron would be monumental,” Sanchez said. “It would have to be bigger than his Super Bowl in Green Bay because there’s so much more attention on the game now. Not that there wasn’t then but there’s so much more now. And he’s in the biggest market. There is no doubt that would be the biggest thing since Namath.”
Said Esiason: “If he can get the Jets to the Super Bowl and win the Super Bowl and do something that Joe Namath accomplished, it would be a remarkable legacy achievement for him.”
Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) throws a pass during the first quarter
Rodgers has the veteran savvy to navigate New York, but winning will put him down as a legend.
Bill Kostroun/New York Post
Namath has been waiting for someone to join him as a quarterback to win a Super Bowl ring with the Jets. The team has used first-round picks on Richard Todd, O’Brien, Chad Pennington, Sanchez, Sam Darnold and Zach Wilson, hoping to find the next great quarterback. Some have had success, but none have won a championship.
Now, Rodgers will take the stage, hoping to join Namath in that feeling of winning a championship for the Jets.
“He’s one of the all-time best already,” Namath said. “He will go down in history with our New York sports fans and fans around the world if he’s able to pull it off here.”