Despite sharing the venue of MetLife Stadium equally, one former New York Jets draft pick believes there’s a distinct perspective in comparison to the New York Giants.
Former Jets offensive tackle Mekhi Becton makes his dreaded return to MetLife Stadium to play the Giants as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 7, and he didn’t mince his words on how the Jets are viewed even in their own stadium.
Becton, the No. 11 overall pick from the 2020 NFL Draft, said the Jets were always second fiddle to the Giants throughout his four-year tenure in East Rutherford.
“It’s like a whole another side,” Becton told reporters this week via CBS. “The way I put it when I was there, we was like the little brothers to them. On their side, they had all their trophies and Super Bowls and on our side — we were the New York Jets.”
Becton also mentioned that he and former Giants running back Saquon Barkley have a bit of extra motivation to get the Eagles a win on Sunday.
“I know [Barkley’s] excited,” Becton said. “We both know what New York meant to us and we both know how New York did us. I’m just gonna let him be his own little space and I’ll be in my own little space. Towards game day, we gonna both do that.”
Even though both franchises have been the laughingstocks of the league over the last decade or so, they have some storied history.
The Jets, of course, won Super Bowl III to conclude the 1968 season just before the NFL-AFL merger by defeating the Baltimore Colts, 16-7, in Miami. Since the 1970 merger, the Jets have made the playoffs 14 times but not since the 2010 season.
Meanwhile, the Giants have four Super Bowl victories (XXI, XXV, XLII, XLVI) and have made the playoffs 17 times since the 1970 merger. Since the Jets last made the playoffs in 2010, the Giants have made it only three times, including their Super Bowl XLVI victory in 2011.
But those teams seem far away from another postseason appearance and neither side can boast about their starts to the season.
The Jets were the first team to fire a head coach this season when they let go of Robert Saleh after just six games. The Giants may have slightly more confidence in head coach Brian Daboll, but the team is trending in the wrong direction.
Both teams are sputtering with 2-4 records and are extremely close to falling out of playoff contention within the next few weeks.
While Becton is hoping to revive his career with a playoff contender in Philadelphia, both teams in East Rutherford likely face another offseason in which they have to answer for missing the playoffs.
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