The Jets-Patriots rivalry of over 60 years has included side switching and a scandal

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New Englanders take sports very seriously, and rivalries between Boston and New York teams are typically intense. 

The proximity between the New England Patriots and the New York Jets was enough to get a rivalry brewing between the two. 

But there are other factors that have fueled the rivalry.

The Patriots and Jets have had a decades-long rivalry.  (Al Pereira/Getty Images)

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The Jets and the Patriots began their professional football journeys as part of the American Football League (AFL). At that time, they were the New York Titans and Boston Patriots. 

The first game ever played between the two teams was Sept. 17, 1960. And it was a wild one. 

During the fourth quarter, the ball got away from Titans punter Rick Sapienza, and the Patriots recovered and ran it back for a touchdown. The Jets argued the ball was kicked, an illegal motion, but the call stood. The Patriots won 28-24.  

Nothing fuels a rivalry quite like players and coaches switching teams. While players and coaches do move around in the NFL, these two teams have seen a lot of side switching, sometimes in surprising ways. 

Bill Parcells was the Patriots' head coach before he moved on to the Jets. He switched teams after the 1997 Super Bowl, which the Patriots lost to the Green Bay Packers.

Bill Belichick was supposed to assume the head coaching role for the Jets but wound up coaching the Patriots. (Al Pereira/Getty Images)

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