Happy 45th Birthday To Wayne 'Mr. 3rd Down' Chrebet, A True Grit Legend

Happiest of birthdays to New York Jets legend and one of my favorite players of all-time, Wayne Chrebet, aka “Mr. 3rd Down” (379 of his 580 career receptions were for third to first down conversions, or an astonishing 65%), aka “The Green Lantern”, a name he was given after former teammate Keyshawn Johnson told reporters comparing him and Chrebet would be like comparing a flashlight and a star, an incident Chrebet followed up by catching a game winning TD from RB Curtis Martin against Johnson and his new Buccaneers teammates with 52 seconds left in the 4th quarter.

Growing up as a white kid in the 90s with decent athleticism and reliable hands, Wayne Chrebet was the guy I always modeled my game after when recess came every afternoon. Two hands on the ball, pure grit straight from my release on the snap of the bell, and zero celebrations. The Wayne Chrebet way.

To this day there’s still an empty box of “Chrebet Crunch” cereal sitting atop the bookshelf in my childhood bedroom.

I don’t remember if it tasted any good, but in my mind having a cereal named after my favorite player was the coolest thing in the entire world.

And who can forget Chrebet’s role in the “Monday Night Miracle” vs. Miami, when he had 104 yards on 6 catches, including 2 TDs and arguably the biggest play of OT to get the Jets into field goal range following Marcus Coleman’s legendary INT.

My memory bank of happy Jets memories is pretty bleak, but you can bet your sweet ass this Monday Night Football classic in 2000 is a huge part of it.

There was nothing like watching Chrebet run across the middle with his bulky ass shoulder pads and usually gloveless hands, secure a pass to move the chains, and then immediately get demolished by multiple defenders with no regards for his own wellbeing.

In 2010, NFL Films named Chrebet the #10 undrafted player of all time, a very high honor to be bestowed upon someone who worked as hard at his craft as he did.

In 2014, he was inducted into the New York Jets’ Ring of Honor, essentially the team’s hall of fame, joining Curtis Martin and Kevin Mawae as the only players from the modern era to earn the title.

Even though his playing days are long gone, every time I see a white WR go across the middle and take a beating to make a huge catch, I always think of #80 Wayne Chrebet, the G.O.A.T.

Grittiest of all time.