Raised within the Brooklyn neighborhood of East Flatbush, Mike Stromberg was a Jets and Giants fan. “And now I can’t stand the Giants, but that’s only natural,” he laughed.
Attending Temple with the first objective to earn a level, soccer was secondary. But Stromberg would assist the Owls win the 1967 Middle Atlantic Conference championship, the varsity’s first-ever league title, with a 7-2 document.
Stromberg was the one participant from the staff chosen in that yr’s NFL Draft when he was picked by the Jets within the 14th spherical.
“Temple wasn’t big time football at all. And plus, I was an art student, a graphic designer. So consequently, I was surprised that they even knew who I was. I thought it was a gag, actually,” Stromberg mentioned.
“But my mom was watching the news and she saw a blackboard with my name on it. It was Buffalo or the Jets or the Giants. That’s how I found that. I still couldn’t believe it, but it was pretty cool.”
One of 18 gamers drafted by the Jets in 1967, Stromberg knew incomes a roster spot on the staff would not be simple. Or as he’d uncover, even anticipated by them.
“I think they expected me not to make the team, to be honest with you,” Stromberg mentioned. “As I remember, Topps (trading cards sent a photographer) to camp and was taking pictures. I was wearing No. 70 or something like that, and I don’t know who said this but, ‘It’s not the right number for a linebacker or defensive end. But it probably won’t matter anyway.'”
Not so quick. Stromberg confirmed that he may play nicely sufficient throughout coaching camp that the Jets needed to maintain him round. And so that they positioned him on their apply squad and in addition loaned him out to the Waterbury Orbits of the Atlantic Coast Football League.
“Coming from Shea Stadium with the saunas and the green carpeting, and even in those days it was luxurious, to a locker room in Waterbury, Connecticut that was worse than my high school… But I was really lucky about the whole thing, to be honest with you. I never expected to play pro ball,” Stromberg mentioned.
“So it was a hoot just being there. Every day we had to practice with the Jets and then on Wednesday evening, ride up to Waterbury and practice, and then play with the Orbits on Saturday. It was a wild ride, I’ll tell ya. There was a few of us that went up there and it was no fun, but we knew it wasn’t going to last.”
Indeed. Stromberg did not need to hitch a journey to Connecticut from quarterback Jim “King” Corcoran the next yr. He made the staff and was the Jets’ beginning center linebacker for the season-opener in Kansas City. New York’s protection held Chiefs quarterback Len Dawson to 98 passing yards, and their main rusher, Bert Coan, to 45 yards on 11 carries, and gained, 20-19.
“I remember throwing up with quite a bit,” Stromberg laughed. “Again, playing at Temple, I was a defensive and offensive end, but was too light to be a defensive end in the pros. So they made me a linebacker, and no less a middle linebacker. And it was hard. That year was my first year really playing big time football. But I was pretty good. In fact, I made the Defensive Player of the Week and was on the Kyle Rote Show. And because I was on the show, I got a double-breasted black jacket from Barneys. Pretty good, huh?
“But what I keep in mind most was not even taking part in, it was being within the locker room proper earlier than the sport. They had been saying the protection and I nonetheless can hear it. I nonetheless get goosebumps remembering, ‘Starting at center linebacker, Mike Stromberg.’
“I think I had enough foresight or intuition, whatever you want to call it, that this is not going to last long. I was always getting hurt for one thing. So I said to myself, ‘Remember this moment.’ And I did. To this day, I remember being in that tunnel right before the game. The game is a blur, to be honest with you. But we won the first two games that I started, so I can say safely, I never lost as a New York Jet.”
That’s as a result of in the course of the second sport of the 1968 season, a 47-31 victory over the Patriots, Stromberg suffered what could be a career-ending knee harm.
“I was fortunate enough to start the first two games of the Super Bowl season at middle linebacker and I think fortunate. I mean, I was pretty good, but it was an opportunity. Al Atkinson got hurt, and it was me. That was it,” Stromberg mentioned.
“I did what I was told to do. I followed my keys. I don’t know why the hell I was doing it though. I didn’t see the big picture. I mean, why did the tackle pull if I’m coming left? I really didn’t have a chance to learn them.”
Stromberg wasn’t in a position to play in Super Bowl III, however nonetheless contributed to the Jets’ upset victory over the Baltimore Colts.
On the sideline in the course of the sport, he was in communication with defensive coordinator Walt Michaels, who was calling performs from the sales space, and relayed his directions to the captains and Head Coach Weeb Ewbank.
Following soccer, Stromberg put his Temple diploma to work and have become a graphic designer in New York.
“I always wanted to do that. I wanted to be an artist of some sort. I didn’t know quite what,” Stromberg mentioned. “I was with New American Library, Dell Books. I did book covers. But after a year or so I decided to go out on my own (and become the founder of Great American Art) and freelanced for all the New York publishers.
“I did that my entire life. I’m nonetheless doing it. I design for a e-book journal referred to as boatsforsale.com. I do not do any of the boat advertisements. Marinas all put in advertisements for the journal, marine provides and stuff like that. I do this. Basically, I’m retired at this level. That’s my solely account and I adore it as a result of it form of retains my head in it.”
Stromberg and Carolyn, his spouse of 52 years, make their dwelling on Shelter Island, NY. They have a son, Matthew, who can also be a graphic designer, and lately grew to become first-time grandparents.
