Gang Green is going navy and gold.
The New York Jets will wear the uniforms of their previous incarnation, the New York Titans, against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.
The throwback threads consist of a plain navy helmet – no logo – and navy jerseys with white and gold stripes on the shoulders and gold numbers and letters, and gold pants with navy and white stripes down the sides.
“It’s an honor to be able to wear the uniform that the older players who created a pathway for us wore,” linebacker Victor Hobson said. “It’s a chance to honor them.”
The Titans played in the American Football League from 1960-62 before the team was bought in 1963 by a five-man group that included Sonny Werblin and Leon Hess. The new ownership changed the name of the team to Jets and introduced the green color scheme.
The Jets practiced in their Titans helmets this week to break them in, but not everyone was excited by the new fashion statement.
“Ours are kind of boring,” wide receiver Laveranues Coles said. “They don’t really have much going on. It’s just blue and gold. I would like some fluorescent colors, too. That’s just me personally.”
Coles preferred the look of the powder blue and bright yellow throwbacks the Eagles wore a few weeks ago.
“I actually liked theirs,” he said. “I don’t know why people thought their uniforms were ugly. I thought they were nice, personally. I could’ve rocked them. I thought it was nice. Well, I’m from Florida, so I like colors. So, to see the bright colors, it was cool with me.”
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SHIP SHAPE: The struggling Bengals got a visit this week from someone who knows what it takes to right a ship.
With his team 1-3 at the bye week, coach Marvin Lewis invited retired Navy Capt. D. Michael Abrashoff to talk to his players for about an hour. Abrashoff wrote a book about leadership titled “It’s Your Ship.”
Quarterback Carson Palmer read the book and gave Lewis a copy in the offseason. Lewis has stayed in contact with Abrashoff by e-mail and invited him to give a motivational speech to his sinking team.
“Rather than saying it was all him or all them, his message was that it was (all) together,” Lewis said. “They wanted their ship to be looked upon as the best. They found a way to go about things and do it that way. He’s an excellent speaker.”
The message was timely.
During a 34-13 loss to New England heading into their bye, the Bengals looked like a team falling apart. Receiver Chad Johnson fussed at Palmer, receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh fussed at Lewis, and the rest of the team looked depressed. Afterward, Lewis screamed at his players for being selfish.
Palmer enjoyed hearing the captain’s stories in person and hoped the message sank in.
“I think his biggest message was that he made everybody feel important,” Palmer said. “He talked about the guy on the ship that dealt with all the sewage and how if he didn’t do his job, the whole boat suffers.
“Whether you’re a special teams guy, a backup defensive back, whatever it may be, everybody’s important and everybody needs to feel important.”
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TITANS’ SPARK PLUG: Defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch is the guy who never stops whether he’s chasing down a running back in practice to poke the ball away or sprinting from the backfield to make a touchdown-saving tackle at the 1.
Linebacker Keith Bulluck remembers how Vanden Bosch lined up in the 2006 offseason and sprinted down the sideline because he was recovering from an injury and couldn’t practice.
“He’s definitely one of our spark plugs, and he has been since he’s been here,” Bulluck said.
Vanden Bosch appreciates having an NFL career. Drafted by the Cardinals out of Arizona in 2001, he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in each knee in separate seasons. Tennessee signed him to a minimum deal in 2005, and he reached the Pro Bowl after piling up 12 1/2 sacks, earning a multiyear deal.
He hasn’t missed a game yet. The Titans generally are healthy so far, allowing him to play five or six fewer snaps per game. His sack of Byron Leftwich sealed last week’s 20-13 victory.
Linebacker David Thornton said Vanden Bosch’s play is contagious because all of the Titans are playing hard right now.
“I’m glad he’s on our team,” Thornton said.
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NFL AND YOUTH: The NFL recently launched a national youth health and fitness campaign featuring players throughout the league. Called “NFL Play 60: The NFL Movement for an Active Generation,” the program will focus on the health and wellness of young fans by encouraging them to be active for at least 60 minutes a day.
Designed to tackle childhood obesity, NFL Play 60 has such partner organizations as Action for Healthy Kids, American Heart Association, National Dairy Council, Nickelodeon, United Way, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Among the players involved in NFL Play 60 are quarterbacks Tom Brady and Tony Romo, who meet Sunday when the Patriots visit the Cowboys; Giants QB Eli Manning; Saints RB Reggie Bush; Rams RB Steven Jackson; Panthers WR Steve Smith; Cowboys TE Jason Witten; Chargers TE Antonio Gates; Browns DB Gary Baxter; Bears OL Roberto Garza; and Jets coach Eric Mangini.
To launch NFL Play 60, more than 25 teams helped build youth fitness zones in their communities, providing new locales for kids to be active.
“We are taking a leadership role in the movement to get youngsters fit. Our players know the importance of staying healthy and it’s important that young fans also understand the value of exercise,” said commissioner Roger Goodell. “Play 60 is an important tool in ensuring children get their necessary daily physical activity as recommended by health and fitness experts.”
Youngsters can track their physical activity on NFLRUSH.com. Helped by online encouragement from Brady, Gates, Jackson, Romo and Mangini, the youngsters can set fitness goals and try to match them. They also can enter a sweepstakes to win an opportunity to be on the field before next February’s Super Bowl to hand the official game ball to the kicker before the opening kickoff.
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AP Football Writer Barry Wilner and Sports Writers Joe Kay in Cincinnati, Dennis Waszak in New York and Teresa Walker in Nashville contributed to this report.
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