A deeper look at the empty soul of an AFC East rival Jets fan

The Miami Dolphins will host AFC East rivals New York Jets today for their second meeting of the year. Miami won the first meeting in New York in week two.

In week two the Miami Dolphins were graciously hosted by their AFC East rival Jets who allowed Miami a 20 point lead and allowed 1,000’s of Dolphins fans to take over Metlife Stadium. Miami is not likely to be that nice in fact there are concerns over the field for today’s game.

Up in New York however, New York Jets fan and fellow FanSided writer Luis Tirado, Jr. answered some questions for me, not about today’s game but why is sucks so bad to be a J>E>T>S> JETS JETS JETS fan! I will give you a hint, it’s so bad being a Jets fan that they look for unsuspecting Dolphins fans to marry.

Growing up do you wish you would have chosen a different team to follow or has being a Jets fan in your opinion helped you realize that life can often suck?

Well, I grew up surrounded by football and watching a lot of New York Giants football. It wasn’t until I was a teenager around the mid to late 90s that I fell in love with the Jets and pledged my allegiance to the team. I love New York so it would have been either of these two teams that I would have chosen but at the end of the day, it is what it is. I don’t wish I chose a different team but I wish that the team had more of a sense of pride playing for the city that never sleeps. Too many times over the years the Jets end up with terrible athletes that cause distractions instead of letting their play on the field speak for itself. I miss the days of Curtis Martin, Wayne Chrebet, and Vinny Testaverde.

Life sucks when it comes to rooting for this team since it feels like it’s been forever since they did anything worth mentioning. It requires a lot of patience but luckily for me, since they’ve sucked for a pretty long time now, I have a lot of alcohol and thrash metal music to keep me positive and smiling.

Do your or did you find it difficult to date or marry outside of other Jets fans since very few people would be able to relate to your hard inner dark hole of a soul or do you think it prepared you to deal with the pain of marriage?

Believe it or not, my fiance is a Miami Dolphins fan who was born in Florida. Over the years, since both teams have gloriously been trash, we just come together to sit through watching two professional teams play amateur and uninspired football the majority of the time. I don’t think I could have ended up with a Jets fan to spend the rest of my life with since it would be mostly misery when it comes to our favorite sport/team. Being a Jets fan has undoubtedly prepared me for what awaits once the “wedding life” hits me in the face faster than a New York minute.

When Dolphins fans think of New York they love the Giants especially after beating the Patriots twice in the Super Bowl. To us, Giants fans are New York City bright lights and Jets fans are sitting on the Jersey side of the Hudson River watching barges go by on a Friday date night. How does that make you feel?

Wow, talk about the truth being spoken! It’s hard to proudly say you’re a Jets fan these days since everyone will often remind you about the “butt fumble” or the fact that many of us weren’t even alive the last time this franchise won a Super Bowl. It’s sad since I’ve noticed a lot of young kids and teenagers grow up watching the Jets and boy, are they in for some very long years of mediocre football. The saddest realization of all is that the Giants are now worst than the Jets which tells you that both New York football franchises are doomed for the next 3-5 years tops.

Obviously being a Jets fan is tough. Growing up Jets fans did you all get beat up a lot or did the fans of other teams feel sorry for you? Kind of like how jocks picked on nerds? I’m assuming that your football acumen was questioned quite a bit?

A lot of people tend to feel sorry for us Jets fans. They laugh at the fact that we haven’t had a quarterback in decades. They laugh that we are the “little brother” football team to the Giants. They mock us since every year, we always set ourselves up with hope that this will be a playoff-caliber team only to find out by that statement they meant in Madden and not in real life. As I grew up being a Jets fan mostly in a circle of Giants fans that experienced winning, Super Bowl championships, and ticker tape parades, a lot of them just shrugged their shoulders saying they felt sorry for me as they laughed. You get used to it over the decades.

Does it bother you that most New Yorker’s who root for the Jets slowly migrate to Miami to get away from the cold winters and high taxes and start to become Dolphins fans? It’s like watching a girlfriend change her mind right before the wedding. 

I’ve noticed a lot of that but it’s likely due to having the same kind of misery just in the Floridian heat. I’ve spent 90% of my vacations in Florida and it amuses me how just like Jets fans, Dolphin fans always cling to the Marino era like there was no tomorrow. I was told many times to avoid getting punched in the jaw (Geno Smith what?) to never say anything bad about #13 when I was in the Sunshine State.

Last question because I know you are probably questioning your very existence in the NFL universe and that is completely o.k. but on a serious note, what do you think this weeks game results between two teams who can’t seem to get it together will be?

This week’s matchup is going to be another snoozefest featuring two bad teams trying to do something in another “must-win” situation. It’ll come down to a very low-scoring affair with the Dolphins just edging the Jets 10-6.

You can follow Luis Tirado, Jr. on the following social media platforms and send him a note of encouragement that he can always jump ship and become a Dolphins fan making his soon to be wife much more happier!

Twitter, Facebook,

Luis and I have done some pieces back and forth over the years and thought this time around we would have a little bit of “rivalry” fun. Be sure to check out my answers to his questions by visiting TheJetPress.com.