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1998 Pepper Johnson Game Used New York Jets Home Jersey

When Bill Parcells took the contols in 1997 he turned a moribund Jets franchise into an AFC title contender in two seasons. Part of his strategy was to bring in proven winners to serve as leaders on the field and in the locker room. As a Superbowl winning LB with the Giants, Pepper was one of those "Parcells guys" brought in to help change the culture. 

A second round pick out of Michigan in 1986, Pepper learned his trade as a member of the elite Giants LB corps on two superbowl winning teams. Pepper followed Belichick to the Browns in 1993 and had a brief stint with the Lions before finishing his playing career with the green and white in 1998.

1998 was also the season the Jets returned to the vintage uniform style of the Namath era. The jersey is a home green Starter size 48L, with correct tagging, including '98' year tag swatch. All numerals and identifiers are sewn on including 'P. Johnson' as there were three Johnsons on the '98 club.

This style is uniques for two reasons: the necks were very tight; players complained, and the 1999 jerseys had much larger necks. Second, there is no shoulder gusset between the shoulder yoke and the first white shoulder stripe. The equipment personnel complained that is was difficult to get the jerseys over the shoulder pads. In 1999 the shoulder gussets were added and have become a standard feature on all subsequent Jets jerseys. 

But beyond the technical specs, what makes this jersey rare is that when Parcells came in he changed the culture in every way, including clamping down on allowing game used gear out of the equipment room. While there are abundant examples of early to mid '90's Jets gear, I have seen only a handful of real game used 1998 jerseys hit the hobby over the last 12 years. Parcells simply would not let them out.

This jersey shows a full season's worth of punishing LB wear. It sports one dozen repairs, inlcuding a 3 inch blowout on the back of the left shoulder. It shows numerous hit marks and  paint stains, easily identified as the result of collisions with Patriots and Dolphins. A couple of unrepaired tears are also evident.

The jersey also features custom underarm gussets, and a perfect bold signature on the front '5'. The consignor obtained the jersey from a personal friend of Pepper's.

No Jets collection is complete without an example from the first year of the Team's return to its classic style.  

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