The Jets have been searching for a franchise quarterback since Joe Namath left New York to finish his career in Los Angeles in 1977. Many have tried and failed to replicate Broadway Joe’s success, with Gang Green cycling through more potential franchise saviors than failed head coaches.
Exactly 20 years after Namath’s departure, the Jets were on the cusp of landing the one before everything fell apart in the franchise’s typical fashion.
New York was months away from landing Peyton Manning with the first pick in the 1997 NFL draft. Manning had solidified himself as one of the best college quarterback prospects of all-time in just three seasons at the University of Tennessee, making some of the SEC’s best defenses look like Pop Warner units on a weekly basis. Manning was as pro-ready of a prospect as the draft had ever seen and the Jets were about to get their hands on him.
Instead of leaving Knoxville to play for Bill Parcells in the Big Apple, Manning decided to remain in school for his senior season. Parcells then traded the No. 1 pick to the Rams for the No. 6 pick and three mid-round selections. He then sent that pick to the Buccaneers in exchange for the No. 8 pick, which was used to select James Farrior, and a fourth-round pick.
“We definitely would have drafted him,” Parcells said on Peyton and Eli Manning’s broadcast of Monday Night Football before joking he would have benched Manning during his interception-happy rookie season.
Bill Parcells said he would have drafted Peyton if he came out early when Parcells was the Jets coach but that he would have killed himself after Peyton's first 15 interceptions and missed the last 13 pic.twitter.com/z8HH8K7DzW
— Internet #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) November 23, 2021
While Manning spent his senior season at Tennessee dominating, the Jets were stuck with the Neil O’Donnell under center. Manning went No. 1 overall to the Colts the following draft and went on to have a Hall of Fame career, leaving the Jets with the biggest “what if” in franchise history.
“Parcells shook things up for me a little, but when he was hired there, it made this decision a lot tougher, knowing he was there,” Manning said in 1997. “I had no negative thoughts about the Jets whatsoever.”
There is no guarantee Manning would have developed into the star he ultimately became if he played in New York, but the Jets would have liked the chance to find out. If nothing else, Parcells’ comments on Monday night effectively put to bed the rumors that he would have traded back to accumulate draft capital if Manning was available for the taking.
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