Joe Klecko has been waiting for his moment since the former Jets defensive star was first eligible to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The moment finally came on Wednesday as Klecko, now 68, found out he was a finalist on the senior ballot and will likely be headed to Canton, Ohio as part of the 2023 Pro Football Hall of Fame class.
But instead of being at home waiting for the official announcement, Klecko was getting a scheduled MRI done in the afternoon. He found out he had made the cut by checking his phone after the procedure.
“I never knew your phone could catch on fire,” Klecko joked when he talked to the media Thursday at Jets training camp. “I had 65 text messages on my phone and I don’t think I’ve ever seen that in my life.”
Klecko, along with former Chicago Bears and Dallas Cowboys linebacker Chuck Howley and former Bengals cornerback Ken Riley were announced as the three senior finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Wednesday.
Klecko will be elected to the Hall of Fame if he receives support from 80% of the voters in January, which is mostly a formality for senior candidates. Then he would then be enshrined next summer with the rest of the ‘23 class.
Klecko says he is excited about the possibility of being inducted, but he won’t become overjoyed by the moment until it becomes official.
“I’ve been in the construction business all my life and I have had times where I’ve had the job and I walked in the door to get the contract to sign and I get the excuse something went wrong and it is going another way,” Klecko said. “You learn to take the rejections in business and it is something I didn’t want to let myself get up for.
“I’ve learned not to get excited about anything unless the check is in the bank. This is kind of one of those situations, but not as negative. Everyone knows the last hurdle of this thing comes in January when you have to get 80% of the vote among 48 voters.
“That is a pretty tall mountain to climb. Until the check is in the bank, I’m going to maintain my civility about this and live my normal life.”
During his 11 seasons with the Jets, Klecko was a mainstay on the team’s defensive line as he dominated at three positions — defensive end, defensive tackle and nose tackle. He was an All-Pro twice, including in 1981, when he unofficially led the NFL with 20.5 sacks.
He finished second to Giants great Lawrence Taylor in the AP Defensive Player of the Year voting and won the Pro Football Writers of America Defensive Player of the Year. Sacks didn’t become an official stat until 1982.
During the 1980s, he teamed up with Mark Gastineau, Marty Lyons and Abdul Salaam to form the “New York Sack Exchange.”
Klecko ended his career with 78 sacks. That is good for second in Jets history, trailing only Gastineau’s 107.5.
After a season with the Indianapolis Colts in 1988, Klecko ended his 12-year career. At the time, some Jets fans might have thought Klecko would be in the Canton, Ohio shrine as early as the minimum five seasons after he retired. However, that proved not to be the case.
A Hall of Fame snub for years, Klecko was a Modern-Era candidate before becoming a senior candidate. He had never advanced to the finalist stage until this year.
“[Hall of Fame offensive guard] Joe DeLamielleure makes a great case for me,” Klecko told the Daily News earlier this year. “He said if I just stayed at one position I’d be in the Hall. But what’s the difference? I still dominated at every position.”
On Thursday, Klecko — who has his No. 73 retired by the Jets and is a member of team’s Ring of Honor — also talked about the joy he got from playing in the biggest media market in the country.
“Playing in New York is one of the greatest things you can do,” Klecko said. “Winning in New York is the next best thing. I remember when we were the Sack Exchange and we were doing this photo shoot down at Wall Street and we drove down there and we turned the corner and it was mobs of people.
“It was that exciting. It is New York, they do everything big. When we got out of the car, it was a surreal moment but a long-lasting moment.”
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