Why The New York Jets Are Wildly Popular In Alabama

Sep 20, 2014; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide former quarterback Joe Namath greets other Alabama Crimson Tide alumnus before the game against the Florida Gators at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Jets are one of the most popular NFL teams in Alabama of all places. A quick look at why reveals an obvious answer.

Twitter released a cool interactive map tracking the popularity of each NFL team by county to see the widespread pattern of fans for each team throughout the country. Most patterns are predictable enough, but one team’s fan map had a wacky outlier that raised a few eyebrows. A quick check on, you guessed it, Twitter gave everyone an answer that made us all go, “Oh right.”

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The New Jersey Star-Ledger noticed that the New York Jets were the most popular NFL team in four counties. One was Cortland county in New York state, where the team conducts its annual training camp, and the other three were in Alabama. This prompted the obvious question: Why are there so many Jets fans in Alabama?

One name provided all the answer the Ledger required: Joe Namath. A Crimson Tide alum and Super Bowl champion with the New York Jets, Namath is as close as it gets to NFL greatness for college-obsessed Alabama. If you’re rolling Tide, then Alabama is rolling with you. Namath is arguably the most famous member of the Tide alumni so it makes sense that he’d lead the charge for the Jets movement down south.

Let’s not forget recent draftee, cornerback Dee Milliner, who also played for Alabama. No one’s pretending Milliner has the same impact on that number as Namath, but having some recent Tide names on the roster can’t help the Jets’ marketability in ‘Bama.

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