Larry David Dec 15, 2012; New York, NY, USA; American actor and producer Larry David at the game between the New York Knicks and the Cleveland Cavaliers at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

Are you sitting down? You might need to for this one.

In a surprising turn of events, New England Patriots superfan Bill Simmons is throwing cold water on the hype surrounding the New York Jets. The Ringer founder is worried about the team’s offensive line, the age of Aaron Rodgers, the competency of coach Robert Saleh and the Hard Knocks curse.

“Because for some reason they’re doing Hard Knocks,” Simmons said on the latest episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast.

Now, we know Simmons hadn’t produced a podcast since July 14 prior to Sunday’s episode, and he’s supposedly amidst a six-week hiatus, so in case he missed it, the Jets didn’t willingly choose to do Hard Knocks. They’re seemingly unwilling to cooperate with HBO/NFL Films, as the limited access was apparent in the first episode of this season’s series.

That’s beside the point here. Simmons wanted to let Jets fans know that they aren’t allowed to be optimistic. They are allowed to be cautiously optimistic, but being confident they can be Super Bowl contenders is a step too far. Now, Simmons is using his conjecture, but at the same time, he’s comparing it to being a Boston Red Sox fan before 2004. Very fair.

What’s a bit out there, is he referenced a Curb Your Enuthisuam episode from Season 10 titled “The Ugly Section” as a reason why Jets fans are not allowed to be optimistic heading into the 2023 season. In the seventh episode of Larry David’s first season of Curb since the end of 2017, Larry seeks to court a woman (Jane Krakowski), the widow of his old golf buddy, Carl, who took his life days earlier, curling many years of disappointment from his beloved New York Jets.

“You’re not allowed to have optimism when you’re Jets fans,” said Simmons. “You can be cautiously optimistic. There was an entire Curb Your Enthusiasm episode once—season 10, episode 7—about being a Jets fan…There was this other plot, Larry’s buddy who loves the Jets kills himself and Larry becomes convinced that it was because of the Jets, that the Jets killed his friend.

“This was only a couple of years ago. Now, they get Aaron Rodgers and everything’s good. And they’re gonna win the Super Bowl. I don’t see it, guys. I don’t what to step on my football stuff too much, but I’d be shocked.”

In the clip below, David mentions how he feels like he was cheated out of a golfing win, as he asked Carl’s estate (his widow) for $100 that he never received. He compared it to a 2017 game when former Jets tight end Austin Seferain-Jenkins caught a game-tying touchdown pass against the New England Patriots, only for it not to be controversially overturned and not ruled a catch.

 

David then argues that the Jets have been his biggest cause of disappointment, saying that he hasn’t enjoyed a football season since 1969. As we know, David is a big sports fan and the native New Yorker’s football fandom lies with the New York Jets. He even tried to unsuccessfully convince the former general manager, Mike Maccagnan, to draft Lamar Jackson back in 2018.

“Maybe ’98 when [Bill] Parcells was a coach for a year,” David said during his rant. “But that’s it.”

For reference, the episode aired on March 1, 2020, and was likely filmed a long time prior to that. That doesn’t seem to matter to Simmons, who is convinced that the Jets are still the same old Jets.

[The Bill Simmons Podcast]

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.