Fireman Ed says he’s being silenced by the J-E-T-S! Jets! Jets! Jets!
Ed Anzalone, the superfan whose famous New York Jets chant has reverberated at the team’s home games for decades, said in a social media post that he hasn’t been getting as much screen time on MetLife Stadium’s video boards.
“I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but they’re phasing us out,” Anzalone said in an Instagram video posted Tuesday. “I’d like to know if somebody knows anything, please let me know, because it’s evident that it’s happening, and it needs to stop because we need home-field advantage.”
Anzalone, known for wearing his Jets-themed fireman helmet while starting his chant at key points in games, said the lack of screen time was apparent during the Jets’ previous two home games at MetLife Stadium, which were losses to the Denver Broncos and Buffalo Bills. He said, after the loss to the Bills on Monday, he received text message and e-mails from fans “about the big screens.”
“Last night in particular — although on the Denver game also — last night in particular, we scored a touchdown and normally as a tradition we’re always put on the screen,” Anzalone said, referring to himself and two other fans. “[We] do the Jet chant to get the crowd going, which is a staple in JetLife Stadium.
“Also on the defensive end, which is the most important, normally they will put us on the screen to get the crowd going. It gives it more of a widespread experience for the fans to see and we can get the defensive chant going. But something is going on in the Jet production team over in JetLife Stadium.”
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Anzalone has been a fixture at Jets games since the late 1980s, then at the team’s previous home at Giants Stadium. He briefly stopped attending games in 2012 following the infamous play known as the “butt fumble” by former Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez. He returned in 2015 and resumed his role of stadium hype man.
But his post on Tuesday received mixed reactions from his nearly 55,000 followers and fellow Jets fans.
“You quit in 2012. You quit once, how its time for the Jets to move on,” wrote one user.
“Man u have that stadium in the palm of ur hands. Keep doing ur thing Fireman,” wrote another.
“Aaron [Rodgers] doesn’t want to hear your chants,” wrote another.
The Jets, who have lost three straight games to fall to 2-4, are on the road for their next two games. They return to MetLife Stadium on Oct. 31 for a Thursday Night Football matchup against the Houston Texans.
Fireman Ed will be in attendance to do his trademark chant, but how often will he be shown on the video boards by the J-E-T-S?
“Something is going on,” Anzalone said. “Please let me know if you know something. Thanks a lot. Go Jets!”
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