J-E-T-S Fans Reflect On Season at Celtic Crossing Tavern

New York football fans, both Jets and Giants supporters, came out to Celtic Crossing Tavern in droves Sunday evening, pulling for the hometown Jets as they took on the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship game.

Fans enjoyed food, drinks, and might have been rooting even harder than usual for touchdowns, as the bar gave away free "Celtic Crossing" shots every time the Jets crossed the goal line.

Despite trailing 24-3 at halftime, the Jets mounted a comeback that made for quite an entertaining second half inside the bar. Though their beloved GangGreen ultimately fell, 24-19, many fans were still proud of the body of work the team put together over the course of the season, most notably their 28-21 upset of arch-rival New England last week in Foxboro, Massachusetts.

"The season has been a success because New York has come together," said Maureen Lowry. "The Jets fans have rallied, they have felt 1967 all over again. I have become a football fan and I wish it for all of them."

Bar owner Dan MacDougall was happy to see both Giants and Jets fans coming together to root on the local team.

"The Jets did an awesome job," he said. "I love their coach. I’m ultimately a Giants fan, but that team is awesome. And I think they’ll be back in the playoffs next year. This is a Giants bar, but the Giants fans really pulled together as New Yorkers. We were all rooting for the Jets. It was a close game, we almost pulled it out," said MacDougall.

A hot-topic amongst Jets fans all season has been the play of quarterback Mark Sanchez, but most of the fans inside Celtic Crossing came to the young signal-caller's defense, especially the ladies.

"All he’s accomplished at his young age, you’ve got to give him props for that," said Brittany Edgar. "Right now he’s playing against Roethlisberger and all these great people, and he’s still pulling his weight as a young player and a good player. I’ve got respect for Mark Sanchez. He’s only going to get better."

"He catches a lot of heat," said Lowry. "But anybody in that position would catch a lot of heat. The man was put into a position that was hard. They look at Sanchez like he’s got to be the God, got to be the almighty."

Other fans, like Don Watkins, took a more realistic approach to the season, reeling in the pain of a missed opportunity.

"They blew it," he said. "They should’ve came in harder right from the start. The first couple of plays with Roethlisberger they looked like they were going to knock him down, but they started backing off a bit on defense and he started picking them apart."

However, even in the agony of defeat, Watkins recognized the game Jets fans won't soon forget.

"[The win over the Patriots] was the greatest win I’ve seen by the Jets in a long time, but their goal was to get to the Super Bowl. But I’m always proud to be a Jets fan. I’ll be back next year."