On This Date in Sports December 10, 1983
In collaboration with the Sportsecyclopedia.com
The New York Jets play their final game at Shea Stadium, losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers 34-7. The game is also the final for Steelers Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw, who passes for 77 yards with two touchdowns before leaving with an elbow injury. Throughout the game, fans were seen taking pieces of the stadium before tearing down the goalposts after the game as the loss ended the Jets playoff hopes.
The New York Titans were a charter AFL franchise, playing in the decrypt Polo Grounds. The Titans were renamed the New York Jets in 1963, as they prepared to move into Shea Stadium in Queens. The name came from the new stadium being located next to LaGuardia Airport. The Jets moved into Shea Stadium in 1964. While Shea Stadium was easily transformed from baseball to football, the New York Mets the stadium’s primary tenant imposed strict lease conditions that forced the Jets to play the first month of every season on the road, until a 1977 lawsuit.
The Jets won the 1968 AFL Championship Game at Shea Stadium on the way to their historic upset over the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III. In 1973, O.J. Simpson of the Buffalo Bills became the first player in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards with a big game in the final game of the season at Shea Stadium. In 1975, while Giants Stadium was completed, and Yankee Stadium was undergoing heavy renovations, Shea hosted all four New York teams in the NFL and MLB, creating the busiest year for any outdoor venue.
The Jets first toyed with sharing Giants Stadium in the New Jersey Meadowlands in 1977, when they were fighting to change the terms of their lease. Even after the suit was settled, there remained animosity between the Jets and the city. As the Jets lease with Shea Stadium came to an end, the Jets again began to negotiate with New Jersey Sports and Exhibition Authority. To stay in Shea Stadium, Jets had several demands, to make the stadium more ideal for football. However, Nelson Doubleday and Fred Wilpon, owners of the New York Mets wanted the stadium to be more of a baseball park, creating, even more, tension in the Jets relationship with New York, which ended early in the 1983 season when the Jets reached an agreement to move across the Hudson for the 1984 season.
The Jets went into the final game at Shea Stadium holding a record of 7-7 with a slight chance to make the playoffs as they faced the 9-5 Pittsburgh Steelers in a Saturday afternoon game with 53,996 fans in attendance. The Steelers leaders of the AFC Central were getting a boost for the game, as Terry Bradshaw who missed the first 14 games with an elbow injury made his first appearance of the year. Bradshaw connected with Gregg Garrity on a 17-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Bradshaw had a second touchdown pass to Calvin Sweeney in the second quarter but soon left the game, as he reinjured his elbow. Terry Bradshaw, finished the game completing five-of-eight passes for 77 yards, with two touchdowns in what would end up being his final NFL game. With Cliff Stoudt in the game, the Steelers added two Gary Anderson field goals to take a 20-0 halftime lead. Stoudt connected with Bernie Cunningham on a 13-yard touchdown pass to make it 27-0 in the third quarter. As the game got out of hand, Jets fans began prying out the bleachers in centerfield and taking apart seats to take home a souvenir. Johnny “Lam” Jones caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from Pat Ryan to put New York on the scoreboard in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, Stoudt connected with Sweeney to make it a 34-7 final. After the game fans rushed the field grabbing pieces of sod and tearing down the goal posts as the Jets left Shea Stadium for the final time.
The Jets would go on to finish with a record of 7-9, as they moved to the Meadowlands in 1984. Two decades later the Jets made a bid to move back to New York, with a proposal for a stadium in Manhattan, that would have also involved the 2012 Summer Olympics coming to the city. However, the stadium never got the approval it needed from the New York City Council. The Jets would then work out a new lease with the Meadowlands, for a new stadium that opened in 2010, creating an equal partnership with the New York Giants.