For the first time in over a decade, the New York Jets enter an NFL season with Super Bowl aspirations. The acquisition of star quarterback Aaron Rodgers has increased expectations, even for a franchise which hasn’t sniffed the postseason since 2010.
While there are skeptics of just how far Rodgers can take these Jets in 2023, Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive lineman and team legend Joe Klecko isn’t one of them. The Jets Ring of Honor member is on the bandwagon and believes Rodgers can lead New York to its first Super Bowl since 1969.
“I do think they will,” Klecko recently told TMZ. “Absolutely. With our four-time MVP, how could you not go to the Super Bowl?”
It’s a complete 180 for Klecko, who initially didn’t think that Rodgers would work in New York.
“Is he a great player? Absolutely. I just don’t see him fitting,” Klecko said earlier this year. “It takes a certain personality really to make things work.”
Aaron Rodgers believes Jets have ‘legitimate chance’ to win Super Bowl in 2023
Coming off back-to-back MVP campaigns, Rodgers had a down year in 2022, throwing for 3,695 yards with 26 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Rodgers certainly isn’t letting that stop him from having high expectations in year one with the Jets, believing they have a “legitimate chance” to hoist the Lombardi Trophy this season.
“Obviously, there are a lot of expectations,” Rodgers recently said of New York’s “legitimate chance” at winning it all in 2023. “A lot of people are going to be pulling for us to fall flat — the crows as [Robert] Saleh referred to them. A lot of people are in our corner too. Which is a good thing.”
Rodgers, combined with several other former Packers, and second-year stars like Sauce Gardner and Garrett Wilson, have Jets fans and Jets haters alike tuned in to what they’re cooking up in New York.
“We’ve had a lot of attention — before we did ‘Hard Knocks,’” Rodgers said. “Then we did ‘Hard Knocks,’ so there’s some jealousy, for sure. There’s a lot of people either jumping on the bandwagon or jumping [off] the other side. There will be a lot of eyes on us. That could be pressure to some people, that could be expectation, it could be excitement. I choose to look at it as excitement.
“There’s a lot of people that are going to be tuning in, a lot of people are going to be following along throughout our season. A lot of people are going to have a lot to cheer about, I think.”
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