The New York Jets lost two legends who used to play for the team in the mid-1980s over the weekend. Both were offensive linemen that played together on the New York Jets during the 1984 and 1985 seasons.
The entire New York Jets family and long-time fans of the team would like to wish condolences to the families of Marvin Powell and Jim Sweeney who died at the ages of 67 and 60 over the weekend according to an announcement from Woody Johnson on the Jets’ social media outlets.
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Marvin Powell, Jr Career Highlights
Marvin Powell, Jr was born on August 30, 1955, in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The football legend attended the University of South Carolina and played on the Trojans during his college football career.
He joined the New York Jets in the first round selection of the NFL Draft for the 1977-1978 season. Powell was named the MVP of the New York Jets for the 1979 football season. He was also named an All-Pro for the 1979 to 1982 seasons.
Powell was cut from the New York Jets and moved on to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1986. He played nine games for the team during that season before he formally retired. Eventually, he became President of the NFL Players Association while he was still formally playing football.
Outside of football, Marvin Powell, Jr also studied law. He assisted with George H.W. Bush’s presidential campaign and interned for the New York Stock Exchange. By 1991, he had joined a local law firm based in Beverly Hills, California to practice his law degree.
Marvin Powell III, the son of Marvin Powell II, said that his father died of heart failure on September 30, 2022, with no other details within the disclosure.
Jim Sweeney’s Career Highlights
James Joseph Sweeney, otherwise professionally known as Jim Sweeney, was born on August 8, 1962. He attended college at the University of Pittsburgh. In his early professional football career, Sweeney was an offensive lineman on all five fronts as well as a tight end for the Pittsburgh Panthers from 1980 to 1983.
The Pittsburgh native did more than be an offensive lineman for the New York Jets when he was drafted in 1984. In the 1986 to 1987 season, he acted as a left guard and left tackle. From 1988 to 1994, he was the full-time center back for the team.
Sweeney loved playing the game no matter what position he was in. During interviews, he would remark that he did not mind changing positions every so often based on their talents and overall plan of the game because that is how he grew up playing football in grade school, high school, and college.
Jim Sweeney remarked that his father used to tell him that the more he was able to do, the longer that he would be able to stay on a professional football team. We hope that more football players on the New York Jets continue to take this page from Sweeney’s book so that they can help the team out in more ways than fulfilling one position.
Sweeney died on October 1, 2022, with no other details provided on his cause of death as of yet.
The Future of the New York Jets
The double whammy of losing two New York Jets legends in the weekend was upsetting, but players, other members of the organization, and fans are all looking forward to the future of the New York Jets.
The New York Jets have only won one Super Bowl, which was their first and only appearance against the Baltimore Colts back in 1969 at Super Bowl III. By learning from legends like Jim Sweeney and Marvin Powell, the New York Jets can live on and win more Super Bowls in their honor and in the honor of other Jets legends that have passed before them. Go Jets!
