Countdown to Camp: 73
As we look ahead to training camp in late July, we're going to take a daily retrospective look back at some random people, moments and games from Jets history...
The Current 73
73 was retired a few years ago, in honor of Jets legendary defensive lineman Joe Klecko. Bizarrely, one Jet - David Williams in 1996 - wore the number since Klecko's retirement.
The Greatest
Klecko is of course the greatest to wear the number. He was an all-pro at three different postions (defensive end, nose tackle and defensive tackle):
We covered Klecko in-depth (and with loads of gifs) here.
The other 73's
Basically nobody - back-ups Moses Gray and George Strugar were the only others to last more than a year...
The '73 season
The 1973 season was notable because it was Weeb Ewbank's last as head coach as the Jets went 4-10.
Joe Namath was limited to just five starts due to injuries and Al Woodall actually led the team with nine touchdown passes.
Youngster Jerome Barkum had a breakout year with 810 yards and six touchdowns on 44 receptions and went to the pro bowl for the only time in his career. Tackle Winston Hill joined him. Running back Emerson Boozer contributed 961 yards from scrimmage and six scores.
On defense, Delles Howell and Ralph Baker led the team with four interceptions each.
73-yard touchdowns
A few memorable 73-yard touchdowns from Jets' (or Titans) history including Dick Christy's punt return in 1962, Erik Ainge's preseason bomb to David Clowney in 2008 and this example of Mark Sanchez at his absolute worst:
Let us know if there's any connections to 73 that we missed...