J! E! T! S! Jets! Jets! Jets!
You know the cheer, and you know the guy charged with leading it. Perched on the shoulders of a burly friend in a #42 Bruce Harper jersey, "Fireman" Ed Anzalone has been leading that chant for the better part of three decades. He may not be as recognizable as Joe Namath, but Fireman Ed is a good deal more memorable than Harper and most of the other players who wore green and white since he became a season ticket holder in 1976.
The Jets move to a system of personal seat licenses to distribute tickets for their new stadium, however, may be bringing his tenure to an end. At the very least, it will mean that he's no longer in his familiar end zone corner seats to lead cheers following Jets scores.
"I love the New York Jets, I love the green and white and I love the fans - I have nothing but passion for the fans and the team - but the organization has continued to drop the ball," says Anzalone, who owns four seats in section 134, where the PSL would be $10,000 or $12,500 per seat. "This is pathetic. I'm so twisted by the fact that they went with the Giants to begin with. Now you're going to have the (audacity) to charge your fans twice?"
Anzalone hasn't figured out exactly what he'll do, but did say if the Jets win the Super Bowl he's moving on. It's hard to tell if this is a sincere rant from the esteemed Fireman or if he's taking to the media with the intent of shaming the team into giving him his seats gratis at the new digs. Given the repeated PR hits the team's taken for the PSL decision, that's not out of the question.
However Anzalone's case works out, someone's going to be leading cheers at the new stadium. It may be corporatized and cleansed of its true origins, but, then, so will most of the crowd.
