New York Jets mourn loss of life of legendary determine from their Super Bowl heyday
A key member of the New York Jets‘ front office from their heights in Super Bowl III through to the new millennium has passed away.
Frank Ramos, the team’s public relations director, died on Tuesday in hospice care in South Florida following a bout of pneumonia at the age of 87.
Ramos worked for the franchise from 1963 to 2002, a whopping 39 years in service to the team.
The longtime staffer worked under seven different owners of the team as well as seven team presidents, five general managers, 11 full-time coaches and a pair of interim coaches.
His tenure included a perfect attendance record at 681 games in his career – including 181 preseason games, 486 regular season games and 14 postseason games.
Among those postseason games includes Super Bowl III, when the Joe Namath led Jets upset the Baltimore Colts to win the franchise’s only title.
Frank Ramos (L), a longtime Jets PR director, died at the age of 87 (right, Joe Namath)
In memoriam, Ramos received praise from all corners of the Jets organization as well as from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell – who began his journey in the league as an intern under Ramos.
Goodell remembered him as ‘a trusted confidant of the players, coaches and executives — and he never missed a game. Frank was the consummate communications professional, always dispensing sound counsel with a kind touch.’
The commissioner added, ‘Frank was a terrific friend and influence to those of us fortunate enough to be in his orbit and he will be greatly missed.’
‘Frank had an encyclopedic knowledge of this organization,’ Jets team owner Woody Johnson said.
‘He remembered everything, big and small, about every player and every employee who came through the building. Whenever you talked to Frank, you felt like you were getting the true pulse of the Jets.
‘He even gave me the Jets’ Super Bowl III playbook, which I still treasure. Frank was the glue that held this place together, and I’ve met very few people in my life quite like him.’
Ramos was witness to some of the most key moments in Jets history. He was with Namath the night he made his ‘guarantee’ to the Miami Touchdown Club that New York would win Super Bowl III and broke the news to coach Weeb Ewbank.
The veteran PR man also opened the press conference to announce that Bill Belichick would be the new head coach of the Jets in 2000 – only for Belichick to announce his resignation.
Ramos with former New York Jets linebacker Marvin Jones at a game in November 2015
Ramos was also one of the people to help popularize the ‘New York Sack Exchange’ nickname for the Jets defensive line in the 1980s.
Outside of his work with the Jets, Ramos also worked for the NFL’s PR staff during Super Bowl weeks.
The native of Long Island moved to Miami as a child, attended high school there and graduated from Florida State in 1960.
Following jobs with the Miami News and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Ramos enlisted in the US Army and was assigned to the sports information office at West Point. He would join the Jets two years later.
Ramos is survived by his wife, Jackie.
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