It was more than 50 years ago that Joe Namath ran into the tunnel waiving his finger in the air after leading the New York Jets to their first Super Bowl championship.
The Jets had been waiting decades to have their next franchise quarterback to emerge from the tunnel and guide them to their next title. That hope manifested on Monday when Aaron Rodgers stepped out of the tunnel and onto the field wearing a white Jets throwback jersey with his name and No. 8 stitched in green, carrying the hope of a franchise and fan base with him.
Not long after, Rodgers walked gingerly back down that very tunnel in what became a nightmare start to the season for the Jets.
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The 39-year-old quarterback suffered a potential Achilles injury on his very first drive with his new team after being sacked by Buffalo Bills lineman Leonard Floyd. Rodgers was slow to get to his feet and then sat back down on the field. He was tended to by medical personnel before being helped off the field.
His was initially questionable to return with what the Jets called an ankle injury before being ruled out.
"Concerned with his Achilles," Jets coach Robert Saleh said after the game. "MRI is probably going to confirm what we think is already gonna happen. So, prayers tonight. But, it's not good."
Rodgers' debut with the Jets marked what was one of the most highly-anticipated games in franchise history. Energy circulated around MetLife Stadium as fireworks went off overhead, fans in No. 8 jerseys filled the stands and chants of "Aa-ron Rod-gers" echoed throughout.
Rodgers took the field during introductions holding an American flag as part of the 9/11 remembrance.
But the excitement, and Rodgers' presence on the field, was short lived after he suffered the injury on the team's fourth offensive play.
Following a Bills punt, Rodgers took over at the Jets 12-yard line, handing off to running back Breece Hall on the Jets' first play. Rodgers, out of shotgun formation, then attempted his first pass as a Jet, a shot down field that went incomplete. An incompletion on the next play, which was negated by a defensive holding penalty, would be Rodgers' final pass of the night.
Rodgers was sacked for a loss of 10 yards on the ensuing play, a hush falling over the stadium while he was down on the field.
“It is not something that I want to see, it is nothing any of us want to see,” Sauce Gardner said. “That’s my dawg, that’s my guy. He is a great teammate and great leader. It caught us off guard, but we dedicated winning the game to him.”
Suddenly, the pregame fireworks and buzz became a muted concern as more than 80,000 in attendance all likely reverted to a haunting thought: "Same old Jets."
But that wouldn't be the case, with the game ending in thrilling fashion as rookie Xavier Gipson returned a punt 65 yards for the touchdown in overtime to cap a 22-16 comeback win for the Jets.
"It felt like I was dreaming," Gipson said.
Zach Wilson, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 draft that Rodgers was brought in to replace and mentor, took over at quarterback and guided the team to victory.
"I have so much love for [Rodgers], so my heart goes out to him," Wilson said. "I know he'll find a way to keep working to get back. But, it's tough. It hurts us as a team. But my job as quarterback is I gotta step up and I gotta be able to be as efficient as I can in that offense.""
Wilson helped the Jets erase a 13-3 halftime deficit, tying the game with 4:55 remaining on a three-yard touchdown pass to Garrett Wilson, who made a leaping one-handed catch. Quinnen Williams then recovered a Josh Allen fumble, the quarterback's fourth turnover of the game after being intercepted by Jordan Whitehead three times, to set up Greg Zuerlein's 30-yard field goal that gave the Jets a 16-13 advantage with 1:48 left.
The Bills forced overtime after Tyler Bass' 50-yard field goal hit the upright and deflected in to tie the score at 16-16 with two seconds remaining.
The Jets defense forced a three-and-out to set up Gipson's heroics, giving the team a dramatic win after Rodgers' stat line in his first game as a Jet was 0-for-1 with 0 passing yards.
Wilson, 15 years younger than Rodgers who not long ago was viewed as the team's next franchise quarterback, struggled over his first two seasons as starter. That led the Jets to make a move for a veteran quarterback who could prove to be the missing piece on a team that has offensive weapons and a formidable defense.
The Jets acquired Rodgers from the Packers in April, along with a 2023 fifth-round pick, in exchange for a 2023 second-rounder, a 2023 sixth-rounder and a conditional 2024 second-rounder that becomes a first if Rodgers plays 65 percent of the plays in 2023. The two teams also swapped 2023 first-rounders, which saw New York drop from No. 13 to No. 15.
At his introductory press conference, Rodgers said "the Super Bowl III trophy is looking a little lonely."
Then he showed his commitment to getting that trophy some company.
The four-time NFL MVP agreed to a restructured two-year, $75 million deal with the Jets, sacrificing around $35 million of the roughly $110 million in future guaranteed money he was previously owed to give the team some financial flexibility. The team later added former Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook.
Rodgers quickly assimilated into New York, attending a New York Rangers playoff game, sitting courtside near Jessica Alba at a New York Knicks game, dancing at a Taylor Swift concert at MetLife Stadium and recently making a cameo at the U.S. Open.
As Rodgers' presence in the area grew, the hype continued to build, culminating with Monday's game.
The Rodgers era in New York then officially got underway, but it didn't last long. He walked back down the tunnel, seemingly taking the Jets' new-found hope with him.
But by the end of the night, his teammates renewed that hope, setting off a raucous celebration before they exited.
"I'm gonna enjoy this win," Saleh said. "Winning in the NFL is hard regardless of who the quarterback is. Personally, I don't hurt for me, I don't hurt for our locker room, I hurt for Aaron. I know how much he invested in all of this. So, I'm still going to say a prayer, I'm still going to hold out hope. But my heart is with Aaron right now and nowhere else."