Bills Central

Even Jets QB Aaron Rodgers knows there's only one NFL team in New York

Veteran passer Aaron Rodgers referred to his team as the "New Jersey Jets" during a recent podcast appearance to the delight of Buffalo Bills fans everywhere.

Kyle Silagyi

New York Jets QB Aaron Rodgers during the 2023 season opener.
New York Jets QB Aaron Rodgers during the 2023 season opener. / Danielle Parhizkaran / USA TODAY NETWORK
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It’s a point of (perhaps comical) pride amongst the Western New York faithful: the Buffalo Bills are the only NFL team that plays in New York State.

In a league that boasts two franchises in the United States’ largest media market, the Bills are the only club that actually calls New York home. Both the New York Jets and New York Giants play in the shadow of New York City, as MetLife Stadium is located in East Rutherford, NJ; there are obvious and explainable reasons as to why the city struggles to fit an 80,000-seat football palace into the middle of one of the most densely constructed concrete jungles in the world, but this doesn’t change the fact that neither the Jets nor Giants play in the state they claim to represent. 

Both New York City-based clubs are also headquartered in New Jersey, meaning that the Bills—with their Orchard Park, NY-based stadium and offices—are truly New York’s only professional football team. Buffalo supporters often like to throw this into the faces of New York fans, specifically those who cheer on the division-rival Jets: it’s a light-hearted jab that, in addition to being objectively true, hurts nobody.

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Even Jets signal-caller Aaron Rodgers realizes that there’s no rebuttal to the sentiment. During a recent appearance on Barstool Sports’ Pardon My Take, the four-time NFL MVP spoke about his adjustment to the New York metropolitan area following a near-20-year stint in Green Bay, joking that his team really doesn’t have anything to do with New York proper.

“[I live in New Jersey], nobody lives in New York,” Rodgers said. “If you’re a Giant you can, but still, I don’t know why you would, just because of the traffic and the tunnel. All of our stuff, I joke about, I know that the stadium used to be on Long Island, but we’re the New Jersey Jets. So are the Giants, the Giants play in New Jersey.”

The hosts then joked that Buffalo is the only team that plays in New York State, which prompted a nod from the 10-time Pro Bowler.

The clip of Rodgers referring to his team as the “New Jersey Jets” will undoubtedly be added to the arsenal of every Buffalo fan, and they’ll get to use it as early as Week 6 of the 2024 campaign when the Jets host the Bills in a Monday Night Football contest. It will (hopefully) serve as the first time that the Buffalo faithful sees Rodgers complete a game against the Bills in a Jets uniform; the veteran ruptured his Achilles in a Week 1 contest with Buffalo in the 2023 season.

The Bills are set to remain New York State’s only NFL club for the foreseeable future, as the team is currently constructing a new stadium directly across the street from its current venue in Orchard Park. The franchise signed a 30-year lease as part of the stadium agreement.

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Kyle Silagyi
KYLE SILAGYI

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