Joe Klecko, the versatile and relentless pressure alongside the Jets’ line of defense from 1977-87, has cleared one other hurdle within the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s seniors choice course of and is now one closing vote earlier than Super Bowl LVII on Feb. 12 from being inducted into the sport’s Canton, OH, shrine.
The Hall’s 12-person Seniors Committee met Tuesday in Canton, with every committee member discussing one of the 12 Senior finalists intimately. Klecko was one of the three Seniors who have been introduced Wednesday who might be despatched to the total Selection Committee for consideration at its annual assembly in Arizona earlier than Super Bowl LVII. He is joined by Dallas LB Chuck Howley and Cincinnati CB Ken Riley because the Seniors who transfer on to that closing vote.
At that assembly, all or any of the three Seniors finalists could possibly be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. As Gary Myers, the Jets’ consultant on the Selection Committee, tweeted, “The 3 then need 80% of vote of full 49-member committee in Jan. That is usually a formality.”
The highway has been lengthy for Klecko and he hasn’t reached its conclusion but, however he has proceeded farther this 12 months than he had in any 12 months beforehand. He was eligible for the Hall from 5 years after his retirement as a participant, in 1988, first as a Modern-Era candidate after which as a Senior, however had by no means superior to the finalist stage in any 12 months.
Yet Klecko has all of the achievements, awards and accolades one might wish to obtain the Hall’s cherished gold jacket and have his bust put in within the hallowed constructing on George Halas Drive in Canton.
He was the Jets’ sixth-round choice within the 1977 draft and had a direct affect with 69 video games performed, 53 begins and 33.5 sacks over his first 4 seasons. All these sacks have been ‘unofficial,” since the NFL didn’t make sacks official until the 1982 season.
Also unofficial were Klecko’s career-defining 20.5 sacks in season No. 5, 1981, as he teamed up with Mark Gastineau, Marty Lyons and Abdul Salaam to form the short-lived yet dominating “New York Sack Exchange.” The Jets defense that season posted 66 sacks, which remains the franchise single-season record.
Klecko was named to the NFL Pro Bowl rosters four times, after the 1981, ’83, ’84 and ’85 seasons. In the process, he became one of the league’s rare players to be named to the all-star squads at three different positions — defensive end, defensive tackle and nose tackle.
He was also recognized as an All-Pro first-team selection in 1981 and ’85, was named the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year in ’81 and was the ’82 George Halas Award winner that goes to the NFL player, coach or staffer who overcomes the most adversity to succeed.
Teamwise, Klecko has received every accolade there is. His iconic uniform No. 73 was retired in 2004 and was a member of the New York Jets Ring of Honor’s six-member 2010 inaugural class. Jets fans voted him as a member of the New York Jets All-Time Team in 2019.
Now one other main award could possibly be in Klecko’s future. The Hall of Fame reminds that Senior Finalists’ election to the Hall of Fame will not be computerized. It must be encouraging to Klecko followers in every single place that since 1972, when the choice of Old-Timer/Senior candidates started, by way of the Class of 2022, 77 Seniors have been finalists, with 53 of them being inducted of their first 12 months as finalists and one other 12 being inducted in a subsequent class.