The New York Jets quarterback Kellen Clemens could not hide his emotions back and burst into tears last Thursday when Pope Benedict XVI kissed and blessed his new born daughter Kate Elizabeth after his two hour mass at the National’s Park. The Pope who came across Clemens, his wife Nicole and their four week old daughter while greeting the 45,000 odd people who attended the mass blessed the little child.  

Clemens said that his eyes were immediately filled with tears when the Pope blessed his daughter and he felt it to be a very touching and surprising experience. He said that it was one of the most special and joyous occasion for his entire family and he felt like his daughter has been blessed by the direct inheritor of Peter. Kellen Clemens has been awarded with the starting job for the Jets half way through the last season and is ready to compete with Chad for the No. 1 quarterback position in the jets football team.

The New York Jets have recently signed unrestricted free agent right back Chatman from the Miami Dolphins to play for them this season. The signing of Jesse Chatman was made public by the Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum. Jesse was an in-form player for the Miami Dolphins last season and he had recorded career highs in receptions, receiving yards as well as rushing yards for the Dolphins in 2007. He recorded 124 rushing yards against the Buffalo’s in a game last season and had made 27 carries as well in that game. Jesse has played in the NFL for the past five seasons.

Jesse Chatman’s career statics are: five touchdowns, 37 receptions for a distance of 276 yards and 207 carries in 943 yards. He has earned 56 starts in the total of 55 career games and majority of his achievements have come for the special teams. Chatman came into the NFL scene in 2002 playing with the Chargers and was signed by the Dolphins as a free agent in 2005. He got traded to the Saints in October of 2005 and did not play the entire season of 2006. The New York Jets have signed a total of five unrestricted free agents so far.

The New York Jets head coach Eric Mangani has announced the appointment of Kevin O’Dea as their special teams’ coordinator. Kevin worked as a special teams assistant coach for the Chicago Bears for the last two seasons. During his tenure at Chicago, he was instrumental in guiding the Bears kicker Robbie Gould to lead the NFL table with 63 field goals and also guided him in being the ninth kicker of the NFL history in back to back seasons with 30 field goals. He also led the Chicago Bears special team to the leading position in the overall rankings for the past two seasons.

O’Dea has been the special teams coach for the Cardinals (Arizona) in the year 2004 – 05. He helped Neil Rackers to get selected to the Pro Bowl in the 2005 season for the record of scoring the most field goals in a season. The Cardinals claimed three records in the 2005 season: most field goals by an individual, most field goals by a single team and most field goals over the 40 yard mark. O’Dea is a well known wide receiver and defensive back in his playing days at Lock Haven. The other teams that he has coached include Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Diego Chargers and Detroit Lions.

The Jets and Chiefs have been advised by the NFL that their Dec. 30 regular-season finale, originally scheduled to be the Sunday night game, has tentatively been moved to a 4:15 p.m. EST kickoff that day. If the change is made, CBS would air the game. An official announcement from the league may not be made until late this Sunday night. All fans planning to attend the Chiefs game should be aware of the tentative time change. The Chiefs game was originally the Jets’ second national-TV game this season.

On Sunday, the Cleveland Browns played against the New York Jets. The Browns have been placed as a 3.5 point favorite against the New York Jets. This is for the first time in a few weeks that the Browns will not be allowed to play with the highest over/under in the NFL as football experts have made the total point score 47.5.