Welcome to the Summer of Aaron Rodgers.
The Summer of Flight 23: Ascension.
Buckle up.
Brace yourselves.
More Jets turbulence or Cloud Nine?
Exhilaration or exasperation?
Super Bowl or bust?
Can one man, this man, one quarterback, this quarterback, be the savior for a franchise desperate to be saved?
Are you ready, New York?
Of course you’re ready.
You’re an event town, and Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets are the main event.
Are the Jets ready?
Is Rodgers ready?
The broiling sun will be shining, but it will feel like Times Square on New Year’s Eve in a place called Florham Park, N.J., and wherever Rodgers will be — even as he is merely standing on the sidelines for the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio, and the rest of the preseason games.
For most of the past 54 years, the Jets arrived at training camp, formerly at Hofstra, talking dreamily about the Super Bowl.
This time, they will mean it.
This Summer of Aaron Rodgers brings a heavy thunderstorm raining torrential unbridled hope and crackling great expectation for a tortured franchise and a tormented fan base.
Are you ready?
Of course you’re ready.
Are the Jets ready?
Are they ready for the intrusive “Hard Knocks” spotlight?
Are they ready for the invasion of national media?
Will the presence of Rodgers serve as shelter for his younger teammates, or will the constant questions about his Hall of Fame arm and ayahuasca and darkness retreats and the weekly Pat McAfee interviews become a distraction?
Are they ready to walk the talk after all those decades of stumbling and Buttfumbling before cruel, merciless football gods?
Can life begin at 39 this summer for Aaron Rodgers, then 40 come December, to prevent another cold winter of discontent?
Welcome, from Wikipedia, to Florham Park, N.J.:
“Florham Park was first settled by the English between 1680 and 1700, and was long recognized as prime farming area.
The community was also known for the manufacture of quality brooms and, through its history, was known as Hoppingtown, Broomtown, Columbia, and Afton.”
Now waiting for Aaron Rodgers to sweep everyone off their feet.
“The town is noted for its amount of volunteerism. The first-aid squad, town council and fire department are made up entirely of volunteers.
“It is a small suburban community located in Southeastern Morris County, approximately 30 miles west of New York City.”
That has never witnessed the magnitude of the seismic quake that will rock it now.
Considering the omnipresent eye of social media, and the Super Bowl and playoff droughts, this will be the most anticipated season in Jets history.
The summer of 1969 saw the Joe Namath Jets gear up for the defense of their Super Bowl III championship with a 37-14 Kings of New York humbling of the NFL Giants before a standing-room-only crowd of 70,874 at the Yale Bowl, much to the dismay of Giants owner Wellington Mara.
The 1999 Bill Parcells Jets, AFC Championship runners-up the previous year, harbored Super Bowl dreams until Vinny Testaverde suffered a ruptured Achilles in the home opener.
Weeb Ewbank Hall was still the home office for raging hype and hysteria in the summer of 2008 when Woody Johnson encouraged former GM Mike Tannenbaum to engineer the trade to the Packers for graybeard gunslinger Brett Favre that jettisoned Chad Pennington.
The 2010 Rex Ryan Jets, AFC Championship game runners-up the previous year, harbored Super Bowl dreams until the Steelers jumped them in the AFC Championship game in Pittsburgh … only to lose to Aaron Rodgers and the Packers in Super Bowl XLV.
Mark Sanchez was the quarterback.
Then came Geno Smith.
Then Sam Darnold.
Then Zach Wilson.
Now it’s Aaron Rodgers.
“Wow!” throws will whistle through the hot, humid air.
Jets fans will shriek and chant and applaud. Teammates and coaches and front office people will marvel.
Woody Johnson will barely be able to contain himself.
Could it be an omen for Aaron Rodgers and the Jets that Super Bowl LVIII will be played in a Nevada city called … Paradise?
Or the Same Old Jets ending?
