Remembering the Jets' 1968 AFL title win over the Raiders: 'We hated each other'

The Jets’ Super Bowl III victory undoubtedly stands alone as the top moment in franchise history.

But the previous game should be mentioned in the same breath.

The Jets defeated the Oakland Raiders, 27-23, in the ninth American Football League championship game in windy, freezing conditions on Dec. 29, 1968, at Shea Stadium.

It was an epic affair between two teams that despised each other. For the Jets, the game was a chance for vengeance as much as it was about a trip to the Super Bowl.

The game was blacked out in the New York area, so many local fans traveled to motels on Long Island’s East End to watch the broadcast from New England-based TV stations.

“That game was tougher than the Super Bowl, believe it or not,” then-Jets center and Long Islander John Schmitt, 83, told Newsday in a phone interview Monday, exactly 57 years after the 1968 AFL title game.

“We hated each other. That game that we had just before that, that we lost out there . . . the famous ‘Heidi Game’ [on Nov. 17, 1968]. So we had a lot to make up for — not make up for, but get even with. And we did.

“There was a lot of hatred on the field that day — no ifs, ands or buts. We tried to kill each other. We really did. We just were not going to get beat that day.”

Schmitt, a two-time All-AFL second-teamer who played for the Jets from 1964-73, has lived in Brookville for five decades. He was born in Brooklyn in 1942, moved to Central Islip in 1950 and attended Seton Hall High School in Patchogue (which closed in 1974). He was an All-American at Hofstra.

He said the main source of motivation for the Jets’ AFL title victory was the Heidi Game, a heartbreaking 43-32 loss in Oakland. The game earned its nickname after NBC cut to the film “Heidi” and prevented viewers from watching the Raiders’ comeback; Oakland scored 14 points in the final 42 seconds.

“When we lost that game, you saw 40 guys going 40 different directions,” Schmitt recalled.

Bad blood also stemmed from the Jets-Raiders matchup on Dec. 17, 1967, when Joe Namath suffered a broken cheekbone.

Fast-forward to the 1968 AFL title game, and Namath again was dealing with his fair share of ailments. Newsday’s Stan Isaacs detailed that Namath had a “case of the woozies” after “being zonked” by the Raiders duo of Ike Lassiter and Ben Davidson. He also had dislocated middle and ring fingers on his left hand and a nasty injury to the thumb on his right hand. Isaacs described it as a “thumb that’s hanging like a twisted chicken’s neck” that had to be snapped back into place. Coach Weeb Ewbank even told backup Babe Parilli to be ready to play in the second half, Newsday’s George Usher wrote.

“[Namath’s] a tough guy,” said Schmitt, who himself played in Super Bowl III with pneumonia. “He could take more pain than anybody I’ve ever seen.”

Namath, who went 19-for-49 for 266 yards, three touchdowns and an interception, admitted after the game that his thumb was “killing me in the second half.” But it was needed for a comeback.

The Jets’ 20-13 third-quarter lead turned into a 23-20 fourth-quarter deficit. With the Jets leading 20-16, Namath threw a pass intended for Don Maynard that was intercepted by George Atkinson, who returned it from the Jets’ 37 to the 5. On the next play, Pete Banaszak rushed for a 5-yard touchdown.

The Jets’ next possession started at their 32 with 8:18 left, at a point when the battered Namath was 16-for-45 on the day. On the drive’s second play, he threw a beautiful ball to Maynard for a 52-yard gain to Oakland’s 6. On the next play, he connected with Maynard again, this time for a 6-yard touchdown and the game’s final points.

Oakland drove to the Jets’ 24 with just over two minutes left when quarterback Daryle Lamonica dropped back to pass. Lamonica, who finished the game 20-for-47 for 401 yards and a touchdown, threw an off-target backward swing pass past halfback Charlie Smith. Jets outside linebacker Ralph Baker rushed to pick up the loose ball, and that was the unofficial icing on the cake.

“That’s what saved that game for us,” Schmitt said. “Lamonica was definitely going to score a touchdown. They came down the field like we weren’t there before we got that fumble.”

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The Raiders had another chance on their previous possession when they went for it on fourth-and-10 from the Jets’ 26 instead of attempting a field goal to make it 27-26. Lamonica was sacked by Verlon Biggs.

Maynard had six catches for 118 yards and two touchdowns, George Sauer made seven catches for 70 yards and Pete Lammons had four catches for 52 yards and a touchdown. Carle Place’s Matt Snell ran for 71 yards on 19 carries.

The AFL title came with a pretty penny. Schmitt said he received $8,500, a significant sum compared with his $21,000 contract that season and $8,500 rookie contract in 1964.

Schmitt lived the Jets’ glory days, a far cry from the current era of Jets football — a 15-year playoff drought that he called “sickening.” He said it starts with ownership and added that the Jets are “32 of 32” in the NFL.

“I know we got a lot of draft choices coming up. Maybe that’ll be an answer,” Schmitt said. “I hope and pray to God. I do a lot of speeches . . . I hate to go into places and just get beat up. I have people yelling at me for what my team did on Sundays. Look, I didn’t miss a block. I didn’t miss a snap. Don’t blame me.

“It would really be nice to have even a .500 season. I’m not asking for a Super Bowl. Just a .500 season would be great. I hope that [Aaron] Glenn can do it.”