Man had yet to walk on the moon when Joe Namath led the Jets to victory in Super Bowl III at Miami's Orange Bowl. The stadium is long gone. And the Jets have yet to play in a Super Bowl since. AP Photo



It's been 53 days since the Patriots last won a Super Bowl.

For the Jets, the wait has been a bit longer.

Try 46 years. That's not a drought, that's the football version of "famine, plague, war and pestilence" all rolled into one.

These days, the Jets are being, well the Jets. This week they filed "tampering" charges against the Patriots because Robert Kraft had the audacity to speak highly of the dearly departed Darrelle Revis.

Laughable? Of course.

But these are the Jets. The frustration of Gang Green can be understandable. Few people younger than 50 have been around long enough to remember what it was like when the Jets actually won a Super Bowl.

The Jets last won a title on Jan. 12, 1969. That game was technically called the third "AFL-NFL Championship Game" but eventually earned the title of Super Bowl III. The underdog Jets and Joe Namath, who did not throw a TD pass in that game, upset Baltimore, 16-7.

Here are 10 things that have happened since the Jets last won the Super Bowl. It's been a while, indeed.





I have finally emerged... And found the culprits! Posted by Tom Brady on Wednesday, March 25, 2015



1. Tom Brady. Not just Tom Brady the quarterback. Or Tom Brady the Patriot. Or Tom Brady the four-time Super Bowl champion. Or Tom Brady the Greatest QB of All Time. Nope, we're talking Tom Brady the human being. Brady was born on Aug. 3, 1977. He's made up some significant ground on the Jets since.



2. Every Other Player In The NFL. The oldest player in the NFL this past season is kicker Adam Vinatieri. He turned 42 this past December. Vinatieri has played in five Super Bowls, winning four. You might remember Vinatieri as a rookie trying in vain to catch Desmond Howard in Super Bowl XXXI. He made up for that by providing the margin of victory for the Pats in Super Bowls XXXVI, XXXVIII, and XXXIX.







3. The Nixon Administration. Eight days after Broadway Joe delivered on his guarantee in Miami, Richard Nixon took the oath of office to become the 37th president of the United States. He would eventually resign from office after tampering with the Democratic Party's headquarters at the Watergate Hotel in Washington.



4. The EPA. . The Environmental Protection Agency was born on Dec. 2, 1970. Apparently, "Gang Green" has missed out on the Green movement.





5. Apple Apple is the largest and one of the most influential companies in the world. It was established in 1976. It produced the most memorable Super Bowl ad of all time in 1984. The "Big Brother" spot resonates today as much as it did 31 years ago, mainly because Apple has become the titan it once challenged. Apple would be the 55th richest country on earth and is worth more than $735 billion dollars. It currently sits No. 1 on the Forbes World's Most Valuable Brands List. In Applespeak: the Patriots are an iPhone 6, while the Jets are more like a fax machine.



6. The Internet As We Know It. The internet has a long and diluted history. The first four computers that formed the original ARAPNET were connected in late 1969. The first host-to-host protocols were completed a year later and interconnected computers began their decades-long ascendancy toward controlling our lives. Meanwhile, the Jets have gone through 16 coaches, compiled a 318-403-2 regular-season record, have played in and zero Super Bowls.





New York Post

7. Star Wars. The first "Star Wars" movie, which was also the fourth episode in the series, premiered on May 25, 1977. The latest sequel took place on Feb. 1 at Glendale. In "Super Bowl XLIX - The Redemption" - Darth Belichick used the Dark Side of the Force to co-opt Obi-Wan Revis into helping the Patriots win a fourth Super Bowl title. He then allowed Revis to to return to the Jets, for $39 million in guaranteed money.

Diabolical.







8. Aerosmith. "Dream On" has been the unofficial motto of the Jets since Bill Parcells left in favor of Bill Belichick [for one day]. "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band" was formed in Boston in 1970 after Steven Tyler's group played the same gig with a band led by Joe Perry. Fifteen albums and 28 major concert tours later, the band continues to impress. Tyler is a fixture at Patriots' games, and sang the National Anthem at Gillette Stadium before the AFC title game in January of 2012. The Jets were watching on television.



9. Woodstock. The legendary music happening in upstate New York took place from Aug. 15-17 in 1969. The first act for the "An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music" festival was booked three months after the Jets' victory. Among the artists performing at Woodstock who are no longer with us: Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Keith Moon and John Entwistle of the Who, Joe Cocker, and Johnny Winter. Greats all. And they all got to be alive when the Jets won a Super Bowl.



10. Man Walking On The Moon. Yes, kids, once upon a time Americans routinely went into space on American-made rockets that were launched from America. Old-time crazy, I know. We even put a few men on the moon. Those were not studios in Arizona. The late Neil A. Armstrong was the first. He took his "giant leap for mankind" on July 20, 1969.

That historic event came 12 days after the World Champion New York Jets opened training camp. They've been waiting for another title ever since.

Foolish tampering charges won't get them any closer, either.

The OBF column is written by award-winning journalist and Bay State native Bill Speros.Reach Bill on the OBF Facebook page, Twitter @realOBF or at

bsperos1@gmail.com. Thanks for reading.