1968 New York Jets season The 1968 New York Jets season was the ninth season for the team in the American Football League ( AFL ) . The team had the most successful season in franchise history . Trying to improve upon their 8 – 5 – 1 record in 1967 , they won the AFL Eastern Division with an 11 – 3 record . They defeated the Oakland Raiders in the AFL Championship game , and earned the right to play in Super Bowl III against the NFL champion Baltimore Colts . In a stunning upset , marked by quarterback Joe Namath ' s famous " guarantee " of victory , the Jets defeated the heavily favored Colts 16 – 7 . Offseason . On May 21 , Sonny Werblin sold his shares in the Jets to his partners Don Lillis , Leon Hess , Townsend Martin and Phil Isselin . Lillis became the President on May 21 but died on July 23 . Isselin was appointed President on August 6 . Regular season . Heidi Game . The 1968 season also saw the Jets involved in one of the most notorious incidents in television history , an incident that would change the way television networks carried sporting events for decades to come . On November 17 , 1968 , just before 7 : 30pm Eastern time , the Jets scored late to take a 32 – 29 lead over the Oakland Raiders with 1 : 05 left . NBC cut to a commercial , and then everywhere but the West Coast showed the movie " Heidi " , a show which NBC had promoted extensively for the sweeps period . Outraged fans bombarded NBC headquarters in New York with phone calls demanding the game be restored ; so many phone calls were made that they eventually knocked out the NBC switchboard . Even though a decision was made to carry the game to conclusion , this decision could not be communicated , thus resulting in the movie starting on schedule . Fans ' ire was further fueled when they discovered that NBC ' s cutting away from the game denied them from seeing live a dramatic finish . On the Raiders ' second play from scrimmage on the next drive , Daryle Lamonica threw a 46 - yard touchdown pass to Charlie Smith , giving the Raiders a 36 – 32 lead . On the ensuing kickoff , Earl Christy of the Jets fumbled at the 10 yard line , which the Raiders ' Preston Ridlehuber converted into another touchdown , ultimately giving the Raiders a 43 – 32 victory . Much of the country learned of this final outcome only via a bottom - of - screen crawl line shown during the movie . This incident , dubbed the Heidi Game , resulted in most television networks and sports leagues amending their television policies to ensure that games in progress would be broadcast to their conclusion , no matter what , even if it meant delaying or canceling the rest of the network ' s lineup , and even if the game ' s outcome seemed assured . Postseason . Super Bowl III . The Guarantee . In 1969 , the Jets would reach the pinnacle of their existence and provide the moment that would indicate the AFL ' s coming of age . Under Namath ' s guidance , the Jets rose to the top of the AFL , defeating the Oakland Raiders in a thrilling AFL championship game , 27 – 23 . The win qualified them to represent their league in a game that was being referred to for the first time as the Super Bowl ( and referred to retroactively as Super Bowl III ) . They were pitted against the champions of the NFL , the Baltimore Colts . At the time , the AFL was considered to be inferior to the NFL , and most people considered the Jets to be considerable underdogs and treated the Jets as such . That would change three nights before the game while Namath was being honored by the Miami Touchdown Club as its Player Of The Year . Namath took exception to a heckling Colts fan and used that moment to lament the lack of respect his team had gotten to that point . He then said " The Jets will win Sunday . I guarantee you . " His audacious remark proved correct , as the Jets created one of the greatest upsets in football history by defeating the Colts 16 – 7 . This victory showed that the AFL " was " capable of competing with the NFL .