Gerry Philbin, New York Jets legend and Super Bowl champion, dies at 83

Gerry Philbin, one of the AFL’s most decorated pass rushers of the 1960s and an essential member of the New York Jets‘ famous triumph in Super Bowl III, died Wednesday the Jets organization said. He was 83.

A native of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Philbin would make his way to upstate New York to play college football, playing for the University of Buffalo before being drafted by both the Detroit Lions of the NFL and the New York Jets of the AFL in 1964. Considered undersized for the defensive end position and undervalued because of that, Philbin took a shine to the Jets in the pre-draft process given that they had told him he was not too small to play for them. Based on that, Philbin chose to go to the AFL and play for the Jets, where he immediately became a starter known for his high motor and toughness.

Philbin became a two-time First-Team All-AFL selection and two-time AFL All-Star, most notably in 1968 when he led the league with 14½ sacks in the regular season and 19 overall as the Jets advanced all the way to Super Bowl III. Despite being viewed as a vastly inferior league to the NFL, the Jets — thanks in large part to the efforts of Philbin and the rest of their defense — held the Baltimore Colts to just seven points in a 16-7 triumph that has become renowned as one of pro football’s greatest upsets ever.

Philbin played for the Jets until 1972, spending one more year in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles before finishing his career with the New York Stars of the World Football League. Unofficially, Philbin is credited with 64½ career sacks, and his 19 total sacks in 1968 were a Jets franchise record until Joe Klecko broke it with 20½ in 1981. Philbin and Verlon Biggs remain the only players in Jets history to ever record 10 or more sacks in four consecutive seasons.

Philbin was inducted into the Jets’ Ring of Honor in 2011, and he was also named to the AFL’s All-Time Team following the league’s 1970 merger with the NFL.