FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- There have been many dark years in the history of the New York Jets, but maybe never a year like this.
And I'm not even talking about the won-loss record.
Six former players and one former coach have been buried in 2016. Sadly, the list is long enough to compile one of those "In Memoriam" tributes, like they do at the Academy Awards every year:
Cary Blanchard. Dennis Byrd. Winston Hill. Curley Johnson. Joe McKnight. Konrad Reuland. Buddy Ryan.
The photo sent across the news wires on Monday was profoundly sad and moving: Mark Sanchez, Bart Scott, Antonio Cromartie and Willie Colon carrying McKnight's casket at his funeral in New Orleans. Another pallbearer, D'Brickashaw Ferguson, is obscured in the picture.
You see those faces and your mind goes back to a happier time, Jan. 16, 2011, when McKnight, Sanchez, Scott, Cromartie and Ferguson helped the Jets to their stunning playoff upset of the New England Patriots. Now, in this picture, you see them a different way, experiencing the kind of pain that doesn't show up on an injury report.
"There's a brotherhood and camaraderie that we share, so it’s tough to lose someone like that, so we just wanted to show our support,” Sanchez told reporters at the church.
About 12 hours after McKnight was laid to rest, Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh announced that Reuland had died after suffering a recent brain aneurysm. He was 29.
Reuland was a journeyman tight end who played for the Jets in 2012-2013, catching 12 passes. A Stanford grad, he was humble and intelligent. His locker was a popular destination for reporters because he was Sanchez's high-school teammate in Mission Viejo, California, and he always was willing to provide insight on the Jets' highly-scrutinized quarterback.
Reuland and McKnight were teammates in 2012, the Year of Tebow -- one of the worst years for the Jets.
McKnight, 28, was shot multiple times last week in a road-rage dispute in New Orleans, killed in broad daylight on a street in his old neighborhood. Byrd, too, died on a road, a head-on collision with another vehicle near his home in Oklahoma. He was only 50, one of the most popular players in team history because of the grace and strength he displayed after a career-ending neck injury in 1992.
One of Byrd's closest friends on the '92 team, Blanchard, suffered a fatal heart attack in September. The former kicker was 47.
Hill, Johnson and Ryan, a former assistant coach, were members of the Super Bowl III team in 1969, ranging in age from 74 to 85. Hill was one of the greatest players in team history, Johnson was a beloved punter, and Ryan would go on to become one of the top defensive masterminds in the history of the sport. And quite a character, too.
Too many funerals this year. To paraphrase Bart Scott, the Jets can't wait for 2017.
