New York’s unfinest football teams Part II: These NY Jets have plenty of company when it comes to bad teams 

The 1966 Giants, seen here playing against Washington, finish last in the East with a 1-12-1 mark. (Anonymous/AP)

With Jets fans reeling from a 1-7 start, there's solace in knowing they're not alone in misery. Here are Nos. 6-10 in our rankings of the worst seasons in New York pro football history:

No. 6 - 1966 Giants, (1-12-1, last place, NFL Eastern Conference) Head coach: Allie Sherman

The fan base would have to endure two more seasons before they could really say good bye to Allie but it found its voice here.

Sherman was a brilliant offensive mind who cared little about the other side of the ball, unlike all of the Yankee Stadium faithful who were chanting, "De-fense, De-fense," during the glory years of the late '50s. The '66 team was the product of that neglect as Sherman, working on a 10-year contract, began purging his big name veteran defenders after the Giants lost the '63 title game to the Bears.

Fans with sign that reads 'Goodbye Allie' during Giants, Cowboys game at Yankee Stadium in 1966.
Fans with sign that reads 'Goodbye Allie' during Giants, Cowboys game at Yankee Stadium in 1966. (AP)

Sam Huff, Rosey Grier, Dick Modzelewski and Erich Barnes were all dealt away, Huff for return man Dick James, defensive end Andy Stynchula and a draft pick. It would come back to haunt Sherman and the Giants in 1966 when they became the most scored-upon team in history with 501 points, including 72 by Huff's Washington.

The Giants scored 41 that day at RFK Stadium to combine for the highest-scoring game in history but it was the enraged Huff who savored his revenge.

He instructed head coach Otto Graham, "You show no mercy today ... We're going to beat the hell out of them. They have no defense. I'm telling you, lay it on them."

And Huff swears he called a final timeout from the sidelines as time was running out so Charley Gogolak could tack on another field goal.

In John Kiem's book, Stadium Stories, Huff explained, "I didn't get close to Sherman because I would have hurt him if I could. But I looked across the field and shouted, 'Justice is done, you SOB.' I hate to say it, but it was the greatest moment of my life because I got even."

It wasn't hard getting even with those Giants. In that same game, in fact, occurred the signature moment of the season. Sherman had started a rookie quarterback, Tom Kennedy, over Gary Wood. Late in the game, Wood was trying to stop the clock as time was running out so he threw one out of bounds, the equivalent of today's spike. It happened to be fourth down. The Giants turned it over.

The final record was the worst in Giants history, with the only win, 13-10, in the first game against Huff and Co. Sherman joked about all the criticism after the season, complimenting Giants fans for "some pretty good singing," while asking them to, "wait for next year.

"Our job is to start another Giant era," he said. "I do believe this will take place quicker than many people realize."

The '80s perhaps?

No. 7 - 1989 Jets, 4-12 (Last place, AFC East) Head coach: Joe Walton

Jets supporters put their own spin on the old Good Bye Allie tune by ushering Walton out the door with season-long chants of "Joe Must Go," paper bags over their heads in shame.

The season ended with Dick Steinberg named the team's first GM in 15 years. In announcing the dismissal of a tearful Walton and personnel directors Mike Hickey and Jim Royer, Steinberg said, "that's enough damage for one day."


Or one year.

It was hardly a surprise. Steinberg had already approached Bill Walsh about the head coaching job and been turned down. Naturally, when picking between two of Walsh's recommendations, Bruce Coslet and Mike Holmgren, he chose Coslet.

The season was tremendously disappointing because Walton seemed to have turned things around in '88, including a win that knocked the Giants out of the playoff hunt. He seemed to be more responsive to his players but as the losses mounted in '89 – like this year's team they began 1-7 – he grew more aloof and distant again.

Kyle Mackey replaces Ken O'Brien at QB for the 1989 Jets.
Kyle Mackey replaces Ken O'Brien at QB for the 1989 Jets.

As the season wore on, Walton blamed "key veterans who for one reason or another, didn't produce." He benched both starting tackles at halftime against the 49ers, leaving Ken O'Brien to be sacked nine times. And he benched O'Brien in favor of Kyle Mackey after O'Brien threw nine interceptions in the first five games. None of it worked.

When owner Leon Hess, a big Walton booster, was asked if he planned to address the team, he said, "I'm staying out of it."

Holdouts by Al Toon, Wesley Walker, Johnny Hector and Reggie McElroy weren't helpful. Neither were injuries to O'Brien, Walker, Toon, Freeman McNeil and Mickey Shuler. But as anyone can tell from that list of names, the talent available was better than 4-12.

The season ended with a 37-0 loss against the Bills in front of 55,743 at Giants Stadium.

No. 8 - 2003 Giants, 4-12 (Last place, NFC East) Head coach: Jim Fassel

Any season that reminded Wellington Mara of The Fumble had to be bad. That was exactly the co-owner's point of reference when he practically sealed Fassel's fate with four games left in the '03 season.

Mara had just watched most of the Giants Stadium crowd leave the building at halftime of the team's 24-7 loss against the Bills, the Giants' fifth straight at home. He called it "a message that comes across loud and clear.

"The crowd is our customers," Mara said. "Getting up and leaving the seat or not coming is just as loud as burning your tickets in the parking lot used to be or the guy who flew the airplane overhead (in '78, pulling that infamous banner about 15 years of lousy football) They don't have to do things like that."

Giants head coach Jim Fassel (l.) shakes hands with Bucs coach Jon Gruden after '03 loss.
Giants head coach Jim Fassel (l.) shakes hands with Bucs coach Jon Gruden after '03 loss. (SCOTT AUDETTE/AP)

Fassel, who was actually the third-winningest coach in Giants history at that point, appeared to be a dead man walking much of the season. Just three years removed from the NFC championship and coming off a 10-win season in '02, the Giants had been expected to contend for the NFC East but after starting the season 4-4, it all fell apart.

They lost their next game to the 1-7 Falcons and afterwards, Fassel was heard yelling at his team, "Are you trying to get me fired?"

When Mara answered that question after a 45-7 loss in New Orleans, the team's worst defeat since 1973, Fassel asked to be allowed to coach the last two games. He was granted his request provided he didn't allow the team to quit on him. They didn't exactly win two for the gipper. Two final defeats would end the season on an eight-game slide, the team's longest losing streak in 10 years. Seven of those defeats were by 13 or more points.

The Giants finished 30th in scoring offense, 29th in scoring defense and were next-to-worst in turnover ratio with Tiki Barber battling fumblitis woes and Kerry Collins throwing three more interceptions than TDs. Collins, Jeremy Shockey and Rich Seubert all finished the season injured.

It would lead to better things. The No. 4 draft pick turned into Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin began his long tenure the next season.

No. 9 - 1992 Jets, 4-12 (Fourth place, AFC East) Head coach: Bruce Coslet

The Jets' '92 season would have been forgettable had it not been for two tragic events that still rank among the worst moments in team history.

In a Week 10 loss to the Broncos, star receiver Al Toon sustained the ninth concussion of his career and was forced to retire immediately. Three weeks later, defensive end Dennis Byrd rammed his helmet into teammate Scott Mersereau while chasing Chiefs quarterback Dave Krieg and was partially paralyzed with a broken C-5 vertebra in his neck.

Playing for Byrd, the Jets won the next week in Buffalo but dropped their last three games, including a 20-0 shutout loss to the Saints in their home finale.

Browning Nagle is awful in place of holdout QB Ken O'Brien.
Browning Nagle is awful in place of holdout QB Ken O'Brien. (Bill Kostroun/AP)

The team had actually made the playoffs at 8-8 in Coslet's second season at the helm in '91 but this season seemed doomed from the start. Quarterback Ken O'Brien held out until the midway point of the season and Browning Nagle, after raising expectations by leading the team to an unbeaten pre-season, was just plain awful in his place. Nagle, whom the Jets settled for in the '91 draft after the Falcons traded up to snatch Brett Favre away, started 13 games, threw 17 interceptions against 10 TDs and was sacked 27 times.

O'Brien would eventually be given his job back but Nagle finished the season after O'Brien joined DE Jeff Lageman with a season-ending knee injury. In all, Jets players, including 10 starters, would miss a total of 101 games due to injury.

As Coslet addressed his players before they headed home for the off-season, he told them what a lousy year it had been and promised that next year would be better.

Said fullback Brad Baxter to the press, "You would think that it can't get any worse."

No. 10 - 1932 Staten Island Stapletons, 2-7-3 (Last place, NFL) Head coach: Hal Hanson

On balance, the record wasn't bad but when your franchise goes under, it has to be considered a bummer.

A quick history lesson is in order here. The "Stapes," as they were also known, were founded in 1915 as a neighborhood team. Their halfback, Dan Blaine, became rich by running a chain of restaurants (later as a prohibition bootlegger) and built them up into a pretty good independent eleven. In 1928, stocked by former NYU Violets, they compiled a 10-1 record and beat three NFL teams, including the Giants, 7-0, on Thanksgiving Day.

Blaine, having signed future Hall of Fame halfback Ken Strong away from the Giants for $5000 and a rent-free apartment, was granted NFL membership the following year but the franchise played just four years in the big league, with the ill-fated '32 season the last hurrah. If you happened to be a Stapes fan back in the day, it had to hurt. So did watching Strong sign with the Giants and lead them to the NFL Championship in '34.

The NFL allowed Blaine to suspend operations and play outside the league in '33 but he continued to lose money in the depression era, Thompson Stadium too small for big gates. They would last only as a semipro outfit before fading into history. Alas, even the community would not come to the Stapes' rescue. "Staten Island demands a winning team," the Staten Island Advance declared in explaining why it would let the team go.