Wayne Chrebet hopeful Jets are on the verge of erasing 1999 memory

Former New York Jets wide receiver Wayne Chrebet reflects back on the last time the Jets were a game away from the Super Bowl, hopeful the Jets are on the verge of another deep playoff run.

Wayne Chrebet has yet to watch the tape. The year was 1999, 21 years ago. Chrebet was in his fourth season, and the Jets were up 10 in the third quarter on their way to the Super Bowl. But then, John Elway and Broncos ran off 23-straight points to win the AFC championship game and subsequently Super Bowl XXXIII 34-19 over Atlanta.

“It hurts,” Chrebet said. “I’ve seen some of it, never seen the whole game. I know we were up, but a guy like John Elway gets going its tough to stop. The thing was, we had really beat the Falcons good during the year, so I figured whoever won that game was going to win the Super Bowl. It leaves a sour taste in my mouth we never got that close again.”

The 1999 Jets coaching staff was loaded with talent. Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick and Charlie Weis. Chrebet loved playing for Parcells and his sharp tongue.

“One of the first things he (Parcells) said to me, if you don’t listen to me your career will go downhill faster than a dump truck with a concrete parachute,” Chrebet recalls. “I always wanted to play for Bill growing up a Giants fan, one of my bucket lists was to Gatorade him, like Harry Carson did. So I got a chance to get him and that’s one of the big highlights of my career.”

Charlie Weis and Chrebet were not as chummy.

“We butted heads a lot,” Chrebet said. “He put me in the right situation to succeed which I’m thankful for. Sometimes it tough to listen on how to run a route from someone who has never played the position.”

As for Belichick, no Jets player or fan likes to think about the cocktail napkin resignation after one day on the job. But, while he was the defensive coordinator, Chrebet appreciated young Belichick.

“We had a lot of great talks,” Chrebet said. “I liked him, I thought he was funny. I wished he would have been our coach for more than 48 hours. He’s done well for himself, who knows if he would have stayed? We can’t think about it that way.”

Chrebet is thinking about a Jets team he sees on the verge of being back in the playoff conversation and doing something special with quarterback Sam Darnold entering his third year.

“I think he’s (Darnold) got more weapons around him,” Chrebet said. “Another year with Adam (Gase), you lose Robby (Anderson), but you get (Breshad) Perriman, I think that’s a little bit of an upgrade for less money. The wild card is Quincy Enunwa, if he comes back they are stacked. If not, they need one more piece in the receiving core.”

Whatever happens with the 2020 Jets and beyond, Chrebet will enjoy watching them without any regrets.

“You know those movies you watch at three in the morning, B-movies, the guy scores the winning touchdown, he gets the girl,” Chrebet asked. “That’s like my life, just a B-movie that’s not believable, it just worked out that way. My play was part courage, part stupidity. I made myself believe I could do things perhaps I couldn’t. I didn’t want to go down, I didn’t want to go out of bounds and I don’t think I’d be appreciated the way I am if I played anyway different. If I would have played longer if I played a little more skittish, I don’t care. I think it worked out the way it was supposed to. I got 11 years and I’m grateful for that.