This is the second week this season when the Sunday night and Monday night games are being played at MetLife Stadium. The Jets and Giants have been NFL stadium mates for almost 40 years. Let’s look at how both teams ended up in East Rutherford, NJ.
How Long Have the Jets and Giants Shared a Stadium?
The two teams have shared a stadium since the 1984 season when the Jets left New York for New Jersey. The teams played together at Giants Stadium for 26 seasons from 1984 to 2009.
The Jets wanted to change the stadium’s name, but the Giants refused to accommodate the request. When the Jets played, the interior look of the stadium changed to match the team’s green and white colors.
The grounds crew at MetLife Stadium had 16 hours to flip the stadium from the Giants to the Jets.
More than 250 employees changed 1,500+ manual elements, including new turf, artwork, and signs.
Here’s a video of the stadium flip in 2017.
A very underrated part of the game 👏 pic.twitter.com/Rzu2oduXmN
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) October 15, 2024
When the current stadium opened in 2010, it was called New Meadowlands Stadium instead of Giants Stadium. In 2011, MetLife agreed to a 25-year deal for the naming rights of the stadium.
In February 2014, MetLife Stadium hosted Super Bowl XLVIII between the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks. It was the first outdoor Super Bowl held in a cold-weather city.
How Did the Giants End Up in New Jersey?
The first stadium the Giants played in was the Polo Grounds, the team’s home from 1925 to 1955. The Giants moved to Yankee Stadium for the 1956 season and stayed there until the New York Yankees closed the building for renovations in 1973.
There were so many significant players, coaches, and NFL moments at Yankee Stadium. In 1958, the Baltimore Colts defeated the Giants in “The Greatest Game Ever Played,” the first sudden-death overtime in an NFL championship game.
The Giants had a coaching staff that featured Vince Lombardi as offensive coordinator and Tom Landry as defensive coordinator when the team first moved into Yankee Stadium. Hall of Famers Frank Gifford, Sam Huff, Y.A. Tittle, and Fran Tarkenton were among the Giants greats when they played in the house that Ruth built.
After playing at the Yale Bowl in 1973 and 1974, the Giants moved in with the Jets and played at Shea Stadium. The team moved from New York to New Jersey for the 1976 season when Giants Stadium opened. The Giants played several big playoff games in the stadium and won two NFC Championship games there.
How Did the Jets End Up in New Jersey?
The Jets, originally known as the Titans, played the team’s first four seasons at the Polo Grounds before moving into Shea Stadium, where the New York Mets also played. The Jets played for 30 seasons before moving to Giants Stadium. The team didn’t have a great home-field advantage, going 69-68-3 in the regular season and 1-2 in the playoffs.
The biggest NFL moment at Shea Stadium was in 1973 when Buffalo Bills running back O.J. Simpson became the first player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season.
The Jets considered leaving for New Jersey and Giants Stadium in 1977 but worked out a deal with New York City to keep the team at Shea Stadium.
The team was unhappy with the rent and terms of the lease; one of the terms kept the Jets from playing at home until the Mets finished the home schedule. As defending Super Bowl champions, the Jets’ first home game in 1969 was October 20 because the Mets made the World Series.
In 1983, Jets owner Leon Hess decided to move the team to New Jersey for the next season and play at Giants Stadium after not being able to reach an agreement with New York City on a new football stadium.
