The Jets are the only Super Bowl winner not to hoist a Lombardi Trophy

To all you younger New York Jets fans who weren't around for it (and by young, I mean anyone younger than 60), Gang Green was once at the top of the mountain of football glory. It's been some time now, but it happened. Really!

It was a completely different era. The year was 1969. The Jets were not even part of the NFL yet, still members of the fledgling AFL as it worked toward a merger with the established league.

Their opponent, the Colts, were still calling Baltimore home, more than a decade away from relocating to Indianapolis. And the phrase “same old Jets” had not yet entered the football lexicon, still decades from being coined.

But the difference we will focus on is the trophy. We've all grown accustomed to the winner of the big game holding up the famed "Vince Lombardi Trophy," named after the legendary coach himself.

But would it surprise anybody to know that the Jets are the only team never to lay hands on the prize? I think we all know the answer to that.

At least the Jets are the absolute best at one thing

You're probably confused at this point. The Jets have won the Super Bowl, so why are they on this list?

Well, you have to rewind to the events that led to the naming of the ultimate prize. See, Vince Lombardi wasn't granted this honor for simply being the best coach in the sport. No, the reason extends far beyond that.

The main reason that the trophy was named after Lombardi was that his Packers won the first two Super Bowls. It's important to note that the vaunted green and yellow had already brought in three NFL Championships before its Super Bowl I and II victories.

What made this new game different was that it was the first time the AFL and the NFL were competing head-to-head. Green Bay promptly handled Kansas City and Oakland in the first two matches.

Then, in 1969, the year the big game first earned the moniker "Super Bowl," the Jets, who were 17.5-point underdogs, upset the Baltimore Colts. This completed the greatest upset in the sport's history and led to the full merger, which would create the NFL we know today.

But after running to the Orange Bowl locker room with a No. 1 finger raised high, and after mocking the press that doubted him at his locker, Joe Namath never hoisted that trophy. Now, the Jets were given a trophy. That's not in dispute.

But what trophy were they given? They were given the "World Professional Football Championship" trophy. The name "Lombardi" wouldn't be granted and engraved until Super Bowl V in 1971, after the legendary coach's death.

Now, I know what you're wondering. But there were other teams that won the Super Bowl before 1971, right? What about them? Didn't you say the Packers won the first two? And what about the fourth Super Bowl?

Yes, the Packers did win the first two games. And yes, the Kansas City Chiefs throttled the Vikings in the fourth. So you are correct. There are two other franchises in this spot.

But those franchises, unlike the Jets, have eventually achieved ultimate success over the following five decades. So eventually, both held the official Lombardi Trophy. The Packers did so in 1997, and the Chiefs did so in 2020.

Anyone else either won the "Lombardi" or never won the big game. Only the New York Jets hold the distinction of a franchise that both won the Super Bowl and never officially won that trophy.

So, that's a great trivia question to show off how much "ball" you know at your Super Bowl party on Sunday. And, it's another reminder that the Jets are the Jets — and they always have been.