Former defensive lineman, New York Sack Exchange icon and Jets Ring of Honor member Marty Lyons tackles some Gang Green Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby
Q: Describe the first time you met Joe Klecko.
A: When I came in in ’79, the rookies always got there early. You got in line to get taped. If a veteran cut you off, you can’t say anything. Practice is done, veterans go in, they get iced down first. I was coming out of the weight room, and he was coming out of the training room. And I started to walk by him, and he took that index finger of his and stuck it right in the middle of my chest, and he said, “Where are you going?” And I said, “I’m going to get changed,” he goes, “Not so quick. I gotta play alongside of you for a long time, you need to get stronger. So from now on, you don’t leave this complex until I leave.” I go, “OK.” I started to walk off, he goes, “Where are you going?” I said, “I’m done, Joe.” He goes, “What did I just say? You don’t leave till I leave.” We became best friends ever since.
Q: Tell me about the fight Klecko got in early in that season.
A: I went in there and put my arms around him and pulled him out of the fight. He was spitting at me and he says, “You ever do that again I’ll kick your ass right here in front of everybody. You either fight with me or you leave me the f–k alone.” Right then and there, I knew I had a friend.
Q: Why did you two have a bond?
A: What made it so special is I could always trust him and he could always trust me.
Q: What made Klecko, Klecko?
A: His desire to win. He wasn’t intimidated by anybody. You could put him up against somebody that was 6-8, he didn’t care. You didn’t realize how good Joe was till you watched the film on Monday. You’re playing right alongside of him, but you don’t realize what he did to make that offensive lineman look so silly. Once Joe got into the heads of the offensive lineman, he could do anything you want. He would just look at me and give me a nod, or move his head in one direction, and I knew what he was gonna do.
Q: How could you see that he got in their heads?
A: You can see the so-called quote word “fear” in a man’s eyes. How wide are their eyes? Are they coming to the line of scrimmage looking in both directions like, “Who’s going to help me on this particular play?” And when you look around and there ain’t no help, when you’re playing against Joe, it’s a long afternoon.
Q: What is one play that epitomized the violence that he brought?
A: You look at the way he threw an offensive tackle around, just picked him up. Against Seattle, he just takes the center all the way back, takes the running back, knocks him out, and still gets a sack.
Q: What was your ritual when you were winning in 1986?
A: As soon as practice was over on Friday, we’d play nine holes of golf, go out to dinner, have a bite to eat, go home, take a nap, meet down at his bar around 11, have a couple of beers, head home. … We won, Joe goes: “This is a pretty good combination. What do you think would happen if we tried this on Thursday night?” Won another game. “Why not, Joe?” So then it went Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. You know, pretty soon you start to run out of days (laugh).
Q: Describe when he tore his patellar tendon 1982.
A: I remember seeing him in pain, I remember seeing his kneecap being all the way up by his thigh. … I think he came back a little bit too early.
Q: What was it like when Klecko was released by the Jets after the 1987 season?
A: Saddest day. … For all of us. … I remember talking to [coach] Joe Walton before I left the complex. There was trouble in the locker room. There was a huge communication gap between Joe Walton and the players. And there was a team meeting, and Joe got up and defended his teammates, and Joe Walton didn’t like it. We knew Joe was gone, we knew [center] Joe Fields was gone. He called me in, he wanted to know what was going on in the locker room. He goes, “Do you want to be a Jet next year?” And I said, “I certainly do.” He goes, “Well then you might want to consider telling me what’s going on in the locker room.” And I said, “Joe, I’m not telling you anything about my teammates. I’m just telling ya I want to be a Jet.” I got in my car, I was driving home to the farm in Alabama, and by the time I got off the Jersey Turnpike, there was a breaking news, that the Jets had just released Joe Klecko, and released Joe Fields. Sad day. … I think that he went to the Colts just to prove to everybody and to prove to Joe Walton that he had a little bit left in his tank. And that’s what he had, he had a little bit left. But a little bit left in Joe Klecko’s tank? Is a lot more than somebody’s full tank.
Q: Why did it take him so long to get to Canton?
A: Working with the kids, why are kids born with a defect? Why do 60 percent of the kids that I work with don’t live to see 18? I don’t ask why anymore. There’s a reason why everything happens. I used to tell Joe all the time: “It’s gonna happen, Joe. One day it’s gonna happen.” And, when it did happen, I thought of that quote from Martin Luther King Jr. in 1960: “If you can’t fly, run. If you can’t run, walk. If you can’t walk, crawl. But whatever you have to do, you have to keep moving forward.” Joe kept moving forward for 30 years. His stats never changed. He was All-Pro at three different positions. Three things happened in 30 years: 1) He went into the Jets’ Ring of Honor; 2) They retired his number; the third one, is in 30 years Joe became a man of faith. And maybe, after becoming a man of faith, God said, “Hey you know what, Joe? You deserve to be in the Hall of Fame because you deserved to be here a long time ago. You used your platform for the benefit of others. And now you found your purpose in life, now you’re gonna be in the Hall of Fame.” That’s the only thing that I can think of, because I don’t want to say why. ’Cause there is no answer.
Q: How feared was the New York Sack Exchange?
A: You never want to use the word fear. I think professional athletes, when you start fearing somebody you line up with, you’re done. I think that they respected the Sack Exchange. I think that they respected the fact that we knew it wasn’t if we were gonna get to the quarterback, it was how many times we were gonna get to the quarterback. It wasn’t just how many times you were gonna sack him, how many times were you going to hit the quarterback?
Q: What were your emotions when the Mud Bowl ended, the 14-0 AFC Championship loss in January 1983 in Miami?
A: You just felt empty. … Walk off the field and you’re 60 minutes away from that childhood dream of playing in the Super Bowl, and you go in the locker room and the locker room is completely quiet. Coach [Walt Michaels] comes in and tells you, “Hey, we had a great run and it’s been a great year, we’ll get ’em next year.” And that next year never came. … If Walt hadn’t been fired and we hadn’t dismantled the team the way we did, I think we would have won more games in the ’80s, and we might have had another shot at the Super Bowl.
Q: Describe the 23-20 double-overtime playoff loss after blowing a 10-point, fourth-quarter lead in Cleveland in 1986.
A: It’s one of those, “We had it. We had it right there in our hands.” I feel sorry for Mark [Gastineau], ’cause everybody points the finger that hey, Mark had a late hit on the quarterback. That’s just one play. That one play did not cost us the game. One play will not dictate whether you won or lost.
Q: Describe your pregame speech before a 17-14 win over the L.A. Raiders in the 1982 playoffs.
A: I remember before every game I would just get pumped up, and sometimes if there was a table there, I’d hit the table and it would break and it splintered and stuff would go everywhere. It fired me up, it fired everybody else up. … Nobody thought we could beat [Los Angeles] in the Coliseum. I thought it was a sheet rock wall, but it wasn’t, it was a painted piece of glass, and I hit that thing so hard my hand went though it. On the other side of it was [team president’s son] Mike Kensil, glass goes all over Mike Kensil. I pulled my hand out, there was blood everywhere. Bob Reese is the trainer, he’s going, “Hey man, let me clean it up,” I just started putting it on my pants.
Q: Would you say you were a gladiator?
A: I think all of us were gladiators. Free agency didn’t exist. You had to play hurt, and you had to play hard. There were many times where I would sit there with the doctors and they’d take that needle and put it in front of you and say, “Well you know, you can play if .” If you want to have that shot. Now the decision was on my shoulders, not his. “If that’s what I need to play, give it to me.”
Q: No regrets?
A: None whatsoever. For three straight weeks in that [1982 season] playoff run, I had a torn hamstring. I was getting my hamstring shot up. And I remember asking the doctor, “What’s the worst thing that could happen?” They said, “You could tear it in half and we’ll sew it back together.” … “Let’s do it.”
Q: What exactly were you doing in 1986 when you were “giving the business” to Jim Kelly?
A: I was laying on top of him, and we had a few words, and he went to push me off. It’s kind of hard to push somebody off and not get hit. …I just started hitting him. … First of all, he said “get the f–k off of me.” And then I went “F–k you,” then it happened. … He told me two months ago, to throw the ball, he used to always keep his index finger, the fingernail, a little bit so longer so he could throw the ball. When he came through the face mask, that one fingernail got me on the side of the face.
Q: And then the ref ended up …
A: Blaming Mark [Gastineau]. He calls unnecessary roughness on No. 99 “giving the quarterback the business.” And then the TV announcers and everybody corrected him. And then they zoom in, and you could see I’m bleeding from the side of my face, but you also see the respect that I had for Jim and the respect that he had for me. I patted him on the helmet.
Q: What was it like playing against Dan Marino?
A: [Jets defensive coordinator] Bud Carson’s philosophy was, if there’s an interception, the first player he wanted to see on the ground was the quarterback — because his philosophy was once the quarterback throws an interception, he’s no longer a quarterback, he’s a defender. I got pushed by the quarterback, and Dan Marino threw an interception, and I waited and waited, and it’s not like Dan would have made the tackle, but just to make sure, as soon as he turned around, he wasn’t fast, but as soon as he turned around I popped him right on the shoulder pads and up into the helmet. He went down, and of course another fight broke out, ’cause they were protecting their quarterback.
Q: Describe your on-field mentality.
A: You hate to steal one of Rob Saleh’s quotes, but “All gas, no brake,” just let it go.
Q: What was Dennis Byrd like?
A: Tremendous person. Tremendous loss. He came in to take my place in ’89.
Q: Were you watching when he had his tragic collision with Scott Mersereau in November 1992 that left him with that spinal cord injury?
A: I was watching the game at home with my wife. As soon as I saw the hit, I said, “He broke his neck.” He had a bad, bad, bad habit that should have been broken way before he got to the NFL. And Greg Robinson, who was the defensive line coach, told him, “Dennis, at impact you have a tendency, rather than hitting with the front of your helmet, to dip your helmet down, and you’re hitting with the crown.” I went in to see him two days later [at the hospital], and he was laying in the bed, he had a pair of mirrored glasses on, and he had the halo, and he looked up and I said, “Dennis, how are you doing?” He said, “I’m doing OK.” And then he says, “You know, I’m glad this happened to me rather than any of my other teammates.” I said, “Why is that, Dennis?” He said, “ ’Cause I have faith.” And he goes, “You know what? I’m gonna walk again.” I said, “I know you are, Dennis.”
Q: What is the biggest lesson you learned from coach Paul “Bear” Bryant at Alabama?
A: Well, first of all, you don’t call him Bear. It’s always Coach Bryant. I think the biggest lesson that I learned from him is that you need to keep your core values of life in place, and those core values will stay with you — they’re more important than the game of football. He always said be proud of your family, be proud of your religion, get an education, then if we have time, let’s try to win some football games. We only lost six games in four years. He prepared everyone of his players to go on when the game ended to be successful in life, be a successful parent, be a successful father, a husband, out in the community — he was worried more about that than the game of football. He made sure that we understood that everybody out there on the football field, treat ’em like a member of your family. Treat ’em with respect.
Q: Three dinner guests?
A: God, Vince Lombardi, Ronald Reagan.
Q: Favorite movie?
A: “Remember the Titans.”
Q: Favorite actor.
A: Denzel [Washington].
Q: Favorite actress?
A: Halle Berry.
Q: Favorite singer/entertainer?
A: Luke Bryan.
Q: Favorite meal?
A: A big steak from Fred up at Kings Park Meat Market, with a baked potato.
Q: Describe your health scare.
A: It was scary to the fact that it just happened so suddenly. … They took me to the hospital [St. Catherine of Siena], and they had a big cross there. I’m seeing three crosses. … I went to Huntington Hospital, went in for a brain scan, and then I got diagnosed with Stage 4 Palsy. Which means your eyes were paralyzed. So if I closed one eye, I could see perfect. So I had to alternate the eyes. I remember I was out there in Stony Brook seeing a specialist, and the doctor says, “I got good news and bad news. The good news is you’re gonna heal. It’s just a matter of time. The bad news is, this is your second stroke. The first one was mild where it didn’t affect you, but we see the scarring on your brain.” When I was sitting in the reception area, I would see all these people walk in, and some were in wheelchairs, some had the droopy face, some had the walkers, and I just said, “Lord, if this is my outcome, my eyes, I’m OK with it. I can live with this.” … I remember my wife Christine coming out. I was sitting out on the back deck. And she started ripping me a new ass. “Quit feeling sorry for yourself, you’ve gotta get back, you gotta do this, you gotta do that, you’re a motivational speaker, why don’t you listen to your own words?” I said, “OK. I’m going to work tomorrow.” She said, “How are you gonna get there?” I said, “I’m gonna drive.” … The doctor was right. The only four games that I have missed in 23 years of doing the Jets radio were the four games that I recovered, and I flew up and did the opening game that year in Buffalo.
Q: What are you most proud of about your football career?
A: The thing that I’m most proud of is the respect that your teammates have for you. There’s no trophy that’s gonna be in your trophy cabinet saying, “Your teammates appreciate you, your teammates respect you.” But I always felt that if they respected the effort that I gave, that it was good enough. … When you think of Joe [Klecko] as a teammate, he was respected by his teammates, but more importantly, he was loved by his teammates. And he was loved and respected by the fans. No telling how many times he played hurt. From the time I stepped on his foot, he went to a boot cast that he wore for 10 straight weeks. I don’t even know when it happened. But he did receive the Ed Bloch award that year and I told him, “If it wasn’t for me stepping on your foot, you wouldn’t have got the Ed Bloch award.” … When they introduced the defense, Mark would run out there, Mark would do his thing and get the crowd going. Abdul [Salaam] would put his head down, and he’d run out there. I would be next and I’d run out there head down. And then all of a sudden here comes this bulldog, arms swinging left and right like a little kid having a temper tantrum and I’d be waiting for him on the sideline, and this particular day I went, “C’mon, man, you gotta throttle down,” and he didn’t throttle down, so I jumped to slow him down. And then I swung, and I thought he had his chinstrap buckled, but he didn’t, and when I hit him, his face mask went back and chipped his tooth. After the game, he goes, “I don’t know when I chipped my tooth.” I said, “Joe, I think I did that during introductions.”
Q: Q: What are you most proud of about your Marty Lyons Foundation?
A: (Pause) You start from nothing … no money (tears well) … six people — Kenny Schroy, his wife Susan, three other people, helped me start it … and 41 years later (voice cracks) we’ve helped over 8,300 families. … at the end of this year, we will have raised over $43 million.
Q: How would you put into words how proud you are of Klecko?
A: He’s like an older brother. I’m proud, I love him. He deserved it a long time ago, and now that it is finally here, I’m glad he’s still alive to celebrate it.
Q: Better late than never, right?
A: You’d hate to be up there accepting the award on his behalf, or one of his kids. Because I think if that is the situation, then there’s a little bit of resentment.
Q: What will that Hall of Fame enshrinement day mean to him and to you?
A: I think the Over and Under is who’s gonna cry first?
Q: Will he cry?
A: Oh, yeah. I think he will. I think we both will. It took me a long time once he asked me to be his presenter, somebody would say, “Hey, how do you feel with Joe asking you to be the presenter?” I’d get all choked up. It’s a heck of an honor. Heck of an honor. He has an older son Michael; Michael grew up in the locker room. Danny grew up in the locker room and had three Super Bowl rings. And when Joe asked me, I said to Joe, “Are you sure you don’t want one of your boys to do it?” And he goes, “I’m positive. My boys, they would just talk about Dad. They didn’t know me as a football player. You knew me as a football player. And you know me as a friend.”