1964 New York Jets season

The 1964 New York Jets season was the fifth season for the team in the American Football League (AFL). The season marked their first in Shea Stadium, after four seasons in the Polo Grounds. The season began with the team trying to improve on their 5–8–1 record from 1963 under head coach Weeb Ewbank. The Jets finished the season 5–8–1.

1964 New York Jets season
Owner	Sonny Werblin
Head coach	Weeb Ewbank
Home field	Shea Stadium
Results
Record	5–8–1
Division place	3rd AFL East
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

The Jets modified their helmet and logo design for 1964, switching from a single green stripe to two parallel green stripes down the center of the helmet crown. The jet-airplane logo decal was replaced by a white football shape outlined in green, with the word "JETS" in thick green sans-serif capitals over "NY" in green outline serif lettering, and a miniature football at bottom center.

Both the Jets and the baseball New York Mets moved to Shea in 1964. The team's original owner when it was the Titans, Harry Wismer, hoped the team could play in Shea beginning in 1961, but funding difficulties and legal problems delayed construction of the stadium. Wismer signed a memorandum of understanding in late 1961 to secure the Titans' new home. That memorandum recognized that the Mets would have exclusive use of the stadium until they had completed their season. As the Jets moved to Shea under new ownership, they were, in most years, required to open the season with several road games, a problem which would become worse in 1969 and 1973 when the Mets had long playoff runs.

The Jets' popularity had reached a zenith at this point, in that the attendance at any one of their home games this season (except for the game against Houston, and even that one wasn't by much) outdrew the Titans' entire 1962 season attendance at the Polo Grounds.

Roster

1964 New York Jets roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 18 Pete Liske 19 Dick Wood Running backs (RB) 41 Matt Snell FB 37 Allen Smith HB 31 Bill Mathis 45 Earl Christy Wide receivers (WR) 13 Don Maynard 89 Dee Mackey 83 Bill Rademacher 84 Al Lawson WR 80 Jim Evans 29 Bake Turner Tight ends (TE) 87 Pete Lammons 30 Mark Smolinski 85 Gene Heeter

Offensive linemen (OL) 56 John Schmitt C 52 Mike Hudock C 61 Dan Ficca G 64 Pete Perreault G/T 65 Sam DeLuca LG 67 Dave Herman RG 70 Jim McCusker 75 Winston Hill LT 79 Sherman Plunkett RT Defensive linemen (DL) 72 Paul Rochester 74 Gordy Holz 86 Bob Watters DE 78 Jim Harris DT 81 Gerry Philbin DE 82 Bert Wilder 87 LaVerne Torczon 88 Bob McAdams DT

Linebackers (LB) 62 Ed Cummings 63 Bob Rowley 51 Ralph Baker 60 Larry Grantham 54 Wahoo McDaniel MLB Defensive backs (DB) 42 Clyde Washington 25 Marshall Starks DB 43 Vincw Turner 40 Dainard Paulson DB 46 Bill Baird 26 Bill Pashe DB 22 Willie West 23 Mark Johnston DB Special teams 33 Curley Johnson 11 Jim Turner K

Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 12	Denver Broncos	W 30–6	1–0	Shea Stadium	44,497	Recap
2	Bye
3	September 27	at Boston Patriots	L 10–26	1–1	Alumni Stadium	22,716	Recap
4	October 3	San Diego Chargers	T 17–17	1–1–1	Shea Stadium	50,222	Recap
5	October 10	Oakland Raiders	W 35–13	2–1–1	Shea Stadium	36,499	Recap
6	October 17	Houston Oilers	W 24–21	3–1–1	Shea Stadium	35,816	Recap
7	October 24	at Buffalo Bills	L 34–24	3–2–1	War Memorial Stadium	39,621	Recap
8	October 31	Boston Patriots	W 35–14	4–2–1	Shea Stadium	45,033	Recap
9	November 8	Buffalo Bills	L 7–20	4–3–1	Shea Stadium	61,929	Recap
10	November 15	at Denver Broncos	L 16–20	4–4–1	Bears Stadium	11,309	Recap
11	November 22	at Oakland Raiders	L 26–35	4–5–1	Frank Youell Field	15,589	Recap
12	November 29	Kansas City Chiefs	W 27–14	5–5–1	Shea Stadium	46,597	Recap
13	December 6	at San Diego Chargers	L 3–38	5–6–1	Balboa Stadium	25,753	Recap
14	December 13	at Houston Oilers	L 17–33	5–7–1	Jeppesen Stadium	16,225	Recap
15	December 20	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 7–24	5–8–1	Municipal Stadium	14,316	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1

1 2 3 4 Total Broncos 3 0 0 3 6 • Jets 7 6 0 17 30 Date: September 12 Location: Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York Game attendance: 44,497 Game weather: 68 °F (20 °C); wind 15 mph

Scoring summary Q1 NYJ Heeter 16 yard pass from Wood (Turner kick) NYJ 7–0 Q1 DEN Mingo 32 yard field goal NYJ 7–3 Q2 NYJ Turner 11 yard field goal NYJ 10–3 Q2 NYJ Turner 27 yard field goal NYJ 13–3 Q4 DEN Mingo 17 yard field goal NYJ 13–6 Q4 NYJ Turner 21 yard field goal NYU 16–6 Q4 NYJ Maynard 39 yard pass from Wood (Turner kick) NYJ 23–6 Q4 NYJ Snell 5 yard run (Turner kick) NYJ 30–6

• Don Maynard 4 Rec, 101 Yds

Standings

AFL Eastern Division
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	PF	PA	STK
Buffalo Bills	12	2	0	.857	5–1	400	242	W2
Boston Patriots	10	3	1	.769	4–2	365	297	L1
New York Jets	5	8	1	.385	2–4	278	315	L3
Houston Oilers	4	10	0	.286	1–5	310	355	W2

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings in the AFL.

References

Bibliography

Ryczek, William J. (2009). Crash of the Titans: The Early Years of the New York Jets and the AFL (revised ed.). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co. ISBN 978-0-7864-4126-6.

External links

• 1964 team stats