18S | SUNDAY, JULY 23, 2023 | THE REPOSITORY
PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2023
Klecko
Continued from Page 16S
quarterback Roger Staubach at Navy,
convinced Klecko to come to Temple as
an older freshman in 1973.
Playing middle guard, Klecko led the
Owls in tackles in 1974, 1975 and 1976.
Klecko took up boxing and trained at
Joe Frazier’s gym. Both were heavy-
weight sluggers. They sometimes
sparred, during the period when Frazier
fought Muhammad Ali and George Fore-
man.
New York Jets get a draft
steal with Klecko in 1977
NFL scouts were interested but not
awed.
The Browns could have landed
Klecko at a bargain spot in the 1977
draft, but the defensive lineman they
picked at No. 110 overall was Mickey
Sims. Klecko went 144th overall to the
Jets.
Would he have been a scheme fit for
the Browns? He fit every scheme.
He made Pro Bowls for the Jets at de-
fensive end, defensive tackle and nose
guard, in 4-3 schemes and in 3-4s. He
was good, and he was beloved. The Jets’
only retired numbers are Joe Namath’s
12, Don Maynard’s 13, Curtis Martin’s 28
and Klecko’s 73.
Lou Holtz piloted the Jets in 1976 but
hated coaching in the pros and quit. His
replacement, Walt Michaels, was per-
fect for Klecko.
Michaels made five Pro Bowls in a
row as a linebacker. He helped the
Browns win NFL championships in 1954
and ‘55.
“Walt was everything to me,” Klecko
said. “If you messed up, he told you. If
you played real well, it’s what you were
supposed to do.
“Walt reminded me so much of my
dad. Like my family, Walt was Polish. I
respected him to death.”
The current Jets are in the worst
throes in franchise history, 12 straight
years outside the playoffs. In Klecko’s
fourth year, they missed the postseason
an 11th straight year.
Joe Klecko answers a question at the Pro Football Hall of Fame on March 16.
JULIE VENNITTI BOTOS/REPOSITORY
Jets’ ‘New York Sack
Exchange took shape over
NFL drafts from 1976-79
The defensive front four was a source
of pride, though.
Tackle Larry Faulk, who later
changed his name to Abdul Salaam, was
drafted out of Kent State in 1976. Klecko
arrived in 1977. Tackle Marty Lyons was
a Round 1 pick (Alabama) in 1978. End
Mark Gastineau (East Central Oklaho-
ma) plugged in as a Round 2 pick in 1979.
The offense was weak. Namath’s last
year with the Jets was 1976. Replace-
ment Richard Todd was a high draft pick
from Namath’s school, Alabama. He
wasn’t Broadway Joe.
While Klecko cranked out 20.5 sacks
in 1980, Todd threw 30 interceptions.
The team went 4-12.
The best of times came in 1981. The
best game came against the other New
York team. Giants QB Phil Simms took
nine sacks. The Jets won 27-6. The Jets
also had a nine-sack game at home vs.
the Packers to end the regular season.
A magazine, The Jet Report, ran a
nickname contest to honor the front
four. Brooklyn police officer Dan O’Con-
nor came up with “New York Sack Ex-
change.”
Toward the end of a 10-2-1 hot streak,
Klecko and the other three rang the
opening bell on Wall Street.
The first playoff game since the ‘60s
was over before it started. The Jets
trailed the visiting Bills 24-0 in the sec-
ond quarter at Shea Stadium, eventual-
ly losing 31-27.
Klecko never did get to enjoy post-
season success, a reason he didn’t make
the Hall of Fame until now.
The 1982 Jets reached the AFC finals
after going 6-3 in a strike-shortened
regular season, but Klecko played in just
two regular-season games because of a
knee injury, and was not himself after
reactivating for the playoffs.
He helped the 1985 Jets abuse Bernie
Kosar and close the regular season with
a 37-10 rout of the Browns, but the play-
offs brought a first-round home loss to
New England.
The 1986 Jets had a playoff win at
Cleveland in the bag, but the Browns
made a miracle comeback. Klecko didn’t
suit up, out with an injury.
Knee issues spilled into 1987, when
he played his last seven games for the
Jets before they released him. At age 35,
he started for a 1988 Colts team that
went 9-7. It was his last year.
‘You block him’: Fellow NFL
stars knew Klecko belonged
in the Hall of Fame
Klecko became eligible for the Hall of
Fame in 1994. By 2010, when Howie
Long went in as a defensive end, he al-
ready was saying Klecko’s enshrine-
ment was overdue.
“The fact he dominated at three dif-
ferent positions is pretty remarkable,”
Long said.
Hall of Famer John Hannah, who
blocked Klecko as a Patriots guard, took
it a step further in 2019, saying, “The
Hall of Fame would be nice for Joe, but I
think not having Joe in is really kind of a
slur against the Hall of Fame.”
After Klecko finally made it as a Sen-
iors candidate, Namath was dispatched
to his home to break the news.
“My wife and I were the only two peo-
ple at home,” Klecko said. “She is a very
reserved lady. I had never seen her jump
up and down. So it was kinda cool.”
Hall of Fame guard Joe DeLamilleure
recalls going to the sidelines once after
struggling to contain Klecko.
A Browns coach told DeLamilleure to
step it up. DeLamielleure handed the
coach his helmet and said, “You block
him.”
Reach Steve at steve.
doerschuk@cantonrep.com
On Twitter: @sdoerschukREP