09/03 – Have you always wanted to stand on a football field amid the lights and action? Or wave to your friends in the stands from the sideline? How about walking out to the 50-yard line as an honorary captain? Here’s your chance to bid now to win the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be an honorary captain for the coin toss as the Jets take on the New England Patriots on Sunday, Sept. 14. All proceeds will benefit the New York Jets Foundation. The winning bidder will receive an exclusive VIP Honorary Captain Experience for four which includes: ■ Walking to midfield as an honorary captain for the coin toss (see note below) ■ Standing on the sidelines to watch your favorite players warm up and prepare for the game ■ Watching the game from some of the best seats in the house ■ Enjoying refreshments, activities and more at an exclusive pregame reception in the 50 Club ■ Taking home some of your favorite Jets merchandise offered in four exclusive VIP bags Please note that the coin toss element of the package will be available to only one of the four guests. Jets fans will have the opportunity to bid on the Jets VIP Honorary Captain Experience for four people for the Jets' game against the New England Patriots on Sunday, Sept. 14. The bidding ends on Sept. 10 so CLICK HERE TO PLACE YOUR BID NOW! Net proceeds from the auction will benefit the extensive work of the New York Jets Foundation.  Programs funded by the New York Jets Foundation touch the lives of countless young men and women in the tristate area. Realogy Corporation, a premier global provider of real estate and relocation services, and its subsidiary companies Burgdorff Realtors ERA and Cartus, are title sponsors for all of the Jets' community relations programs. Over the past eight years the Jets and their charitable foundation have donated or contributed more than $8 million to promote youth health, fitness and education, particularly in disadvantaged communities. From fighting childhood obesity through the Generation Jets: Be Lean & Green initiative to launching a football team in a Harlem high school, urging students to eat right and move more, and supporting the efforts of the Alliance for Lupus Research, the New York Jets invest in programs that make a difference in the lives of others. In addition to the Jets Foundation, which supports our own extensive youth initiatives, the Jets partner with numerous established charitable organizations and participate in causes sponsored by the NFL.

Bid Now on VIP Experience for 4 vs. Patriots

08/27 – The New York Jets' eighth annual Kickoff Luncheon is winding down in the magnificent Cipriani Wall Street ballroom. But not long ago, the event captured a little bit of the buzz and excitement that has been building around the Jets all off-season and pre-season. Part of the excitement was from the guest list. Seated with owner Woody Johnson, GM Mike Tannenbaum and head coach Eric Mangini at the head table was Donald Trump, right at home in this section of the city. Then arriving at 1 p.m. to speak to the large group of fans, team personnel and players was New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. "This is going to be a fantastic season for the Jets," Mayor Mike declared. "Rudy Giuliani delivered a Subway Series between the Yankees and the Mets. I would be delighted if I could deliver a Subway Super Bowl between the Jets and the Giants." Kickoff Luncheon hype? Of course, but the players were received with strong applause and some cheers, from the first player introduced, punter Ben Graham, to the last, QB Brett Ratliff, whose applause piggybacked on the greeting of the player right before him on the balcony above the ballroom floor for No. 4, Brett Favre. (Emcee Bob Wischusen, the Jets' radio play-by-play voice, introduced the players alphabetically by positions, with the QBs last.) Even Mangini had to admit in his remarks that "the excitement for the new season is tangible. We're all excited about it." The coach brought up the team's top two draft picks to provide a little flavor of the "Jets core characteristics" that they have embodied. "Now that I'm here," LB Vernon Gholston said, "I don't think of myself as being the Jets' top pick. I just think of myself as one of the guys, each day learning my craft and being the best I can be. And believe me, we have the talent and leadership to make this a special year." "I'm thankful for my situation," said TE Dustin Keller, Gholston's fellow first-rounder, "and I'm going to do everything in my power to help this team win." Both players thanked the Jets fans, some of whom were in attendance at the luncheon. "They're always there through the good and the bad," Keller said. "Sometimes they're a little bit crazy, but that's OK." The excitement around the Green & White, Johnson said, stemmed from three areas: the off-season and preseason moves the club has made, the move to the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center, which will be open for team business on Monday, and the New Jets Stadium that will be ready for the 2010 season. Also on the ballroom floor, beneath the ornate chandeliers, arches and Corinthian columns, awash with majestic NFL Films music, were four members of the Jets' 1968 Super Bowl team: RB Emerson Boozer, G Dave Herman and DBs Randy Beverly and Mike D'Amato. And 14 of the members of Jets Flight Crew added to the atmosphere. In fact, the Flight Crew has just filed past the room I'm working in now that the luncheon has concluded. The event, which Johnson tagged as "one of the biggest lunches in the NFL," is a great way to introduce the Jets to the fans and the area on the eve of their Sept. 7 season opener at Miami. But it is also a great way to raise money for two great causes: the New York Jets Foundation and the Alliance for Lupus Research. Dr. Joseph Trunfio, the president and chief executive officer of Atlantic Health was the honored guest at the event, which raised $700,000 for both causes — and that was before the live auction that ended the afternoon. Mangini, a major supporter of both groups, put what he called was an "optimistic" goal of finishing the event having raised $1 million. The Jets players left Cipriani around 2 p.m. to board buses and head right on across the city, to the New Jersey Turnpike, and on to Philadelphia, which will be the site Thursday night of their traditional fourth preseason game against the Eagles — and for the Jets' final tuneup for the season ahead. "Shoes" Is Made for Blogging Wischusen has a very busy week ahead with production meetings and other events surrounding his broadcasting role for the start of the college season, not to mention today's luncheon and the Eagles game. But "Shoes" found the time to provide us with his first blog as one of the new members of the expanded Randy's Radar blogosphere. His topic is topical, regarding to play Favre in the final preseason game or not to play him, and it can be found in the Radar section of newyorkjets.com. Then this weekend, we'll break out the third new blogger, current SNY commentator and former Jets QB Ray Lucas.

Kickoff Luncheon Brings Buzz to Wall St.

06/03 – The sun was still shining on Eric Mangini today. On hand for the fifth annual New York Jets Charity Golf Classic in Jericho, N.Y., Mangini remained on a high following his Football Fundamentals Mini-Camp in Hartford, Conn., last weekend. “We ended up with 700 kids who represented 71 schools and four states,” he said while taking a timeout in the shade under an umbrella this afternoon. “There were 200 volunteers and close to 130 coaches, so the amount of people there and the amount of kids who came to enjoy the experience was great.” Mangini and the Carmine and Frank Mangini Foundation (CFM) conducted the camp at his high school alma matter, Bulkeley HS. Seventy representatives from NFL teams assisted in the process with Mangini supported by the majority of his coaching staff, a few Jets veterans and the entire rookie class (minus Vernon Gholston, not permitted to be with his new team yet due to NFL rules). The celebrities also included ESPN personality Chris Berman. “It was Chris’ second year coming to the camp,” Mangini said. “It’s always nice because the kids love having him there. “We had some really outstanding efforts. Rob Ryan came in from Oakland with two other Oakland coaches, Rex Ryan came from Baltimore, so it was people from all over the place helping out.” There were 202 games of 7-on-7 played by 64 teams and the exciting contests were officiated by 65 high school and college refs from the area. For the second consecutive year, Leon Washington coached a team to a championship. “They went out there and got a two-point conversion to win the game. We were out there chest-bumping and jumping up and down and having fun,” said Washington, the Jets' 2007 MVP. “Those guys really pulled together and it was so much fun, man.” Washington was impressed with his older group, a team of high school juniors who may not have been the most talented group but came together to form a tough unit. “By far this past year was my best year I ever had,” he said. “I really feel like I bonded with the kids. There was maybe 12 kids on the team and I learned each kid’s name, so I knew I was having fun.” While Washington’s squad was the Cleveland Browns, the New York Jets got a good effort out of their high school seniors. In fact, QB coach Brian Daboll and DL coach Dan Quinn guided the Green & White to a first-place finish. “It’s the first time the Jets have won in seven years,” Mangini said before unloading some comic relief. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Mike Tannenbaum wasn’t coaching the Jets this year and Dan Quinn and Brian Daboll were, but he can stick to personnel.” Since its inception in 2002, Mangini has watched his camp grow appreciably over the past seven years. “It’s been great from the first time we put it together — Julie and I put the names into the Excel spreadsheet ourselves — and getting the fields lined up and all the loose things that went into the inaugural camp,” he said. “Now to be at this point where things are very efficient and we’re able to have so many kids, it’s very satisfying.” The CFM Foundation is named after Eric’s father, Carmine, and his uncle, Frank. Both men are deceased, but they instilled the importance of community in Eric when he was a young boy. Now 37 years old, Mangini uses his camp to help children out on a Bulkeley field he has never completely left. “It’s what he believes in," Washington said. "He always talks about that it’s important to give back to where you came from. He just basically says you are measured in life by how much you give and not what you get and this is so true.”

Another Fun Year at Mangini's Hartford Camp