Green Smoke

By Warren Thomas

As a Jets fan for 40 years, I’ve faced quite a few uphill challenges. It certainly hasn’t been the easiest of journeys, has it?

However, one thing supporting the Jets has done is prepare me well for some of life’s challenges. I love a challenge. I love that feeling of taking something on and, hopefully, beating it. As a long-distance runner, I’ve always set myself tough targets and tough challenges.

I remember talking to Anth Cook and Steve Rowe from Gang Green UK about one challenge I was contemplating taking on. We had been discussing the horrible illness Motor Neurone Disease (MND) and what we could do to raise some money for charity. I came up with the idea of running the date equivalent of December in miles. So, on the 1st I would run one mile, on the 2nd I would run two miles and so on, all the way through the month. That meant 24 miles on Christmas Eve, 25 on Christmas Day, 26 on Boxing Day and eventually 31 miles on New Year’s Eve.

The first thing these legendary Jets fans did was design a hoodie and a T-shirt to commemorate the event and raise further funds. Of course, it was Jets themed.

The month started and we were immediately hit by a series of storms in the UK, which made even the easier early runs difficult. Despite that, the support I received from both the UK and US Jets fanbase was incredible. Donations started coming in, along with messages that really kept me going. Jets fans I had befriended over the years rallied around to offer their support. These were people we all know: Mikey Hulk Hands, Frank West, all the guys from One Team Our Team and many others.

One day stands out more than any other, and that was 6th December. Before I explain why, I need to give you a little backstory.

I started following the Jets in 1986 after watching Channel 4’s highlights show featuring the Jets against the Dolphins. The game was fantastic, an offensive explosion, with two Jets players standing out above everyone else: Ken O’Brien and Wesley Walker. From that day, I fell in love with American football, the New York Jets and I found my childhood hero, Ken O’Brien.

I idolised him throughout his career and even into adulthood I recognised him as a key figure in shaping my life. I even had a New York Jets sleeve tattooed on my arm, with an action shot of Kenny O as its centrepiece. I played British American football for 27 years trying to emulate him, making lifelong friends along the way. Through my love of the Jets, I made even more lifelong friends, many of whom I still speak to and see regularly today.

So what does all this have to do with 6th December 2024 and a running challenge raising money for the MND Association?

Well, on 6th December we had been hit by another storm in the UK. Although the run was only six miles, it was through driving rain, strong winds and freezing temperatures. Later that evening, after finally settling down at home, I received a message from Anth Cook. It was a video message.

The first 20 seconds or so showed footage of my feet trudging through flood water before the video suddenly switched to a very familiar face.

It was Ken O’Brien.

What? How? No way!

Suddenly, in my living room, I was watching a personal message from my childhood hero. He wished me luck, told me how proud he was of what I was doing and even joked about my fandom and the fact I had him tattooed on my arm. It was one of those moments I’ll never forget.

Those messages of support helped carry me through every run. There were some very difficult days. I remember Day 11 in particular. I was working in London, so I had to drive there, find my place of work, put in a full day’s work and then find my hotel. Being a 54-year-old northern bloke trying to navigate central London is difficult enough before you even think about running 11 miles. The weather was awful, I had no idea where to go and eventually completed the entire run on a hotel treadmill.

Christmas Day was probably the toughest run of the challenge. I was up at 3am to get my 25 miles done and was back home by 7am to bacon and egg butties (sandwiches in case you’re wondering) made by my wonderful wife before opening a pile of Jets-related Christmas presents.

Thanks to Anth Cook and Frank West, I also received personal messages from the greatest wide receiver ever to wear Gang Green, Wesley Walker, and arguably the most famous Jet of all, Super Bowl-winning Hall of Famer Joe Willie Namath.

As special as those messages were, the real impact they had on me was because they were organised by our people, the Jets fanbase. The loyal supporters of a team that has broken our hearts year after year. The Anth Cooks, the Frank Wests, the Anthony Triolas, the Mikey Hulk Hands and everyone else we’ve met at MetLife, the London Games and the Tottenham tailgates, drinking beer at 9am before yet another defeat.

Just for the record, the challenge was a huge success. I ran over 500 miles during the month and raised more than £13,500 for a very deserving charity, supported by what I genuinely believe is the best fanbase in the NFL.

I’ve been fortunate enough over the years to attend quite a few Jets games, both home and away, including some unforgettable experiences with travelling fans in London. The Hippodrome nights watching football and eating chicken wings, and the tailgates in Tottenham before the Vikings and Broncos games, will stay with me forever.

But one experience I will always be grateful for was the opportunity to be a plus one of International Fan of the Year Anth Cook at the 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh. Being on the front row of the Inner Circle, celebrating every Jets pick and shouting the Jets chant alongside fellow fans from around the world was an incredible experience. One of the highlights was being part of a celebratory selfie taken by David Bailey, the explosive Texas Tech edge rusher selected second overall by the Jets.

However, as everyone has since reminded me, I somehow managed to do the most Jets thing ever.

Whilst away in Pittsburgh on what should have been the trip of a lifetime, a trip that money simply cannot buy, I became seriously ill. What started as severe stomach pain quickly developed into something much more serious and I eventually collapsed with a ruptured gangrenous gall bladder, bringing my trip to an end three days earlier than planned.

Emergency surgery followed, along with three days spent pumping the infection out of my system. It was a frightening experience and, looking back, one that could have ended very differently. Lying in a hospital bed in “The Pitt” gave me plenty of time to reflect.

I thought about the incredible experiences I’ve had through supporting the Jets, the lifelong friendships I’ve made through this fanbase and the support people showed me during both the MND challenge and my recovery. Most of all, I realised just how lucky I have been and how much more I still have to give.

We only get one life, right?

So, rather than slowing down, I’ve decided to do what I’ve always done and set myself another challenge.

Following surgery to repair a torn meniscus in December 2025 and then the emergency gall bladder surgery, most people would probably take things a little easier. Instead, I’ve committed to running the Chicago Marathon in October 2026 in support of the Stroke Association, a charity that is very close to my heart.

Will it be difficult? Absolutely.

Will there be days when I question why I signed up for it? Without a doubt.

But if being a Jets fan has taught me anything over the last 40 years, it’s that no matter how tough things get, you keep showing up, you keep believing and you keep going.

After all, I love a challenge.