FOR RELEASE
January 29, 2002

  

JETS’ RAMOS TO RETIRE AFTER 39 YEARS IN PR

 

            Frank Ramos, the New York Jets’ long-time vice-president of public relations and the last link to the original Jets and to their Super Bowl III championship team of 1968, announced today that he is taking an early retirement effective March 1.

 “The new management team has decided to restructure the public relations department and I fully concur with their desire to have their own people in charge.  I have had a good, long and rewarding career with the Jets,” said Ramos of his 39-year tenure as the Jets senior public relations official dating back to the franchise’s birth in 1963.

            “I have been fortunate to have worked with so many extraordinary people over all of these years and to have witnessed so many memorable moments, some of which have been joyful and others which might be best described as agonizing. 

“I owe a debt of gratitude to all of the owners in particular Leon Hess, the coaches, general managers, presidents, players and fellow staff members who have made this a rich and rewarding experience.  I can truly say that it has been a wonderful opportunity to have been a part of the Jets family for more than half of my life.   

“It is almost a perfect time for me to leave as the Jets are in good hands with a man of great character in Herman Edwards as their head coach and with Woody Johnson as their owner and Terry Bradway and Jay Cross running the front office.  I am going to explore opportunities in other sectors and am considering a generous offer from the Jets to write the remarkable official history of the franchise.”

During his tenure, Ramos worked with seven owners, seven presidents, five general managers and 11 full-time head coaches and two interim head coaches.  Ramos never missed a Jets game since the club’s inception witnessing 486 regular season games, 14 postseason games and 181 preseason games—a total of 681 games.  He saw the Jets call three different stadiums their home, but never their own—the Polo Grounds, Shea Stadium and Giants Stadium.  The club made the playoffs only nine years during his time, but played in three league or conference championship games.  The highlight, of course, was being a part of what many have called sports’ “Greatest Upset” when the Jets as 17 ½ point underdogs defeated the Baltimore Colts 16-7 in Super Bowl III in Miami on January 12, 1969.

“That was the most memorable day in my Jets history,” said Ramos of the Jets Super Bowl victory.  “We all believed we would win, but only Joe Namath ‘guaranteed it.’  It was an exciting two weeks with the AFL Championship Game win over the Oakland Raiders combined with the preparation for the Super Bowl.  Weeb Ewbank provided a masterful game plan and the players carried it out.”

Ramos recalls many more highlights such as the famous “shootout” between Namath and Johnny Unitas in 1972, the Jets 51-45 overtime victory over Miami in 1986, beating Miami in the final game of the 1991 season to make the playoffs and three victories over the Raiders—the AFL Championship Game in 1968, the Super Bowl Tournament win at Los Angeles in 1982 and the most recent win at Oakland to make the playoffs two weeks ago.

 But he says he can feel the pain of some losses even more.  “They bother me to this day.  They make you feel sick to your stomach,” he says while naming losses to Kansas City in the 1969 playoffs, a loss to the Dolphins in the rain and mud of the Orange Bowl in the 1982 AFC Championship Game, the double overtime loss at Cleveland in 1986, a loss at Denver in the 1998 AFC Championship Game after the Jets were leading 10-0 in the third quarter and then their most recent loss to the Raiders in the AFC Wild Card Game.

 Ramos began his career with the Jets in June of 1963 after working in the sports information department of the U. S. Military Academy at West Point and serving in the U. S. Army at West Point for two years. The 1960 graduate of Florida State University worked at the Miami News and Atlanta Constitution before entering the service.  Born on Aug. 5, 1938 in Valley Stream, Long Island, NY, Ramos graduated from Miami Jackson High School in Miami, FL.