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It’s been almost 55 years since the New York Jets won a Super Bowl. Fans have been longing to see their favorite team play in the championship, but the Jets haven’t been able to make their way to the big game since 1969 when they took the trophy home. While the Jets fans might be losing hope for the Super Bowl, Ian O’Connor still hopes for a miracle win.

Ahead of his biography of the Jets’ quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, hitting the racks in August, the sportswriter appeared on The Colin Cowherd Podcast. O’Connor talked about his upcoming book, Out of the Darkness: The Mystery of Aaron Rodgers, and answered some questions about his past work with athletes. When asked if he had any hopes for the New York team, the four-time New York Times bestseller revealed that he hasn’t given up on the Jets yet.

Ian O’Connor recalls Aaron Rodgers’ heartbreaking injury

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In his conversation with the sportswriter, Colin Cowherd talked about the Jets’ miserable history in the Super Bowl. He further pointed out that when Aaron Rodgers entered the Jets in 2023, he was considered the messiah who would lead the team to their old glory. But those hopes were soon dashed when the quarterback suffered an Achilles injury that ended his season. He then posed a question to O’Connor, asking if the writer has an “optimism for the Jets?

O’Connor lightheartedly remarked that since he’s writing a book on Rodgers, he is bound to have some hope. Further elaborating, the sportswriter expressed that he would like New York to “defy” the host’s words and get a Super Bowl victory. O’Connor also mentioned how Aaron Rodger’s injury was a heartbreaking moment for the Jets’ fans.

So that was just being in that building that night when he got hurt. I’ve never been in a building where there was that sort of heartbreak in a crowd. I just — it was unfathomable, but only the Jets — [it] was an only New York Jets moment.”

O’Connor feels a Jets win would be the biggest thing in his career

Despite the dismal odds, Ian O’Connor hasn’t lost all hope in the Jets. He quoted from his experience of writing about sports and said, “At some point, haunted franchise usually will break through.” He feels that there is a possibility that the Jets will recover from their past season and thinks they should start it slow this year.

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“Maybe go an 11 and 6 with an easier schedule and lower expectations and win a game or two in the tournament. I think that’s feasible. Winning the whole thing, it’s going to happen at some point, hopefully.”

Talking about a comeback of the Jets, even if it’s not this year, O’Connor hopes to see it in his lifetime. He further said that it would be the biggest story he’s covered in his almost 40 years in the arena. The writer said that a Jets’ championship win in the near future would be more impactful than Namath’s performance in the Super Bowl 3, because of the current internet age.

The New York Jets winning the Super Bowl again for the first time since January ’69, for the first time since Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon, would be the biggest sports story in my 40-plus years of covering sports.”

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Entering their 55th season, the New York Jets have a lot of hopes and dreams of fans pinned on their back. With Aaron Rodgers expected to return this year from his Achilles injury, a ray of hope presents itself to Gang Green.