The team learned that its beleaguered general manager, Dick Steinberg, apparently has stomach cancer.
The players and most of the coaches heard the news after another Jet season came to a crushing close, this one with a 24-10 loss to the Oilers.
It ended the Jets' season with a fifth straight defeat, lowering their record to 6-10 -- against a team that had lost 11 straight games. Houston wound up with two victories for the season, but a one-game winning streak under the local hero, quarterback Bucky Richardson.
And the Jets have another losing December, all four games this month, and an 8-27 record for the month going back to 1986.
Reflecting on the losing streak, Coach Pete Carroll said: "Not being able to change it is something we won't be able to forget for a long time."
And Boomer Esiason, who presided over the demise of a sputtering offense, could only add: "I can't find words right now. Our coaches will take a look to find out how this free fall happened."
Before the game, the team's president, Steve Gutman, announced that Steinberg, according to a preliminary diagnosis, has "a form of treatable stomach cancer."
Gutman said that Dick Haley, Steinberg's top assistant, would take over when the general manager "may not be available."
The club felt it needed to deflect speculation in the news media that Steinberg was about to be dismissed or that a shake-up was imminent.
This was a key week for National Football League personnel people who assess the collegians. But Steinberg, who always is present at the practices for the Christmas Day Blue-Gray game in Montgomery, Ala., featuring top college seniors, was unable to attend. Friends were told that he had the flu.
Because of the Jets' poor season, Steinberg's absence from the Blue-Gray game workouts and his failure to make the trip here, there might have been intensifying speculation that his job was in jeopardy.
The Jets have explained his absence, while allowing him to be free of the pressure of such speculation. Apparently, phone calls to him at his home this morning about his future were the immediate reason the club made a hurried announcement 30 minutes before the game.
Gutman's statement about the illness was brief. It described Steinberg as having "a presumptive diagnosis of a form of treatable stomach cancer."
Haley, the director of player personnel, joined the Jets in 1991 after 20 years in the Steelers' front office. He played a major role in drafting many of the players who were involved in the team's four Super Bowl victories. He also played four years with Pittsburgh as a defensive back.
The 59-year-old Steinberg is finishing his fifth year with the Jets. They have a 32-48 record in his regime, with only one playoff appearance and no winning seasons.
However, he is widely regarded as a savvy judge of talent and a good administrator.
Had Steinberg been here, he would not have liked what happened on the field. The Oilers were playing as if they do this sort of thing all the time, and their small crowd of 31,176 loved it.
After all, the starting quarterback was Richardson, the former eighth-round pick out of Texas A&M two years ago. His legend was fixed that year when he threw a pass -- left-handed because the ball was knocked out of his right hand -- against the Cowboys in a preseason game. It went for the winning touchdown.
His heroics today were more subdued. He threw no touchdowns, but he did complete 17 of 29 passes for 220 yards and ran 6 times for 46 yards, including 1 score.
He was far better than the Jets' own bottom-round pick of this year, Glenn Foley, the Boston College rookie. He played two series, in the second and final periods, and threw 8 passes, completing 5. They were good for only 45 yards. His last pass, a desperation heave, was intercepted as time ran out.
An eerie twilight zone greeted people who showed up 90 minutes before game time at the Astrodome. This is normally tailgate time: wobbly footballs going through the parking lot, smoke rising from the outdoor grills.
Instead, it was quiet -- and smokeless. Just a trickle of cars made their way to the stadium, which has not aged gracefully.
And why should the crowd have been large? Just a year ago, these teams met here with a playoff berth at stake for the Jets. Instead, the Oilers vaulted into the playoffs with their 11th straight victory, while the Jets lost another December game and went home.
The Jets today did little defensively to halt a running game, and even Richardson churned over for a 1-yard score early.
Finally, the Jets responded with a touchdown of their own, on Johnny Johnson's 1-yard run in the second quarter. That was only the Jets' third score in the 15 quarters since they came apart against Miami.
Al Del Greco followed Johnson with a pair of field goals, though.
The Jets didn't get much of a chance to score on their first possession of the third quarter, either. Clifford Hicks fumbled while returning a punt and the Oilers took over on the Jets' 21.
For a moment, the Jets seemed about to right themselves when Richardson was intercepted by Marvin Washington, the Jets' defensive end. It was the first interception for Washington in his six seasons.
He couldn't savor it. He grabbed the ball a few yards in front or Richardson and had a clear path to the Oilers' goal. Only Richardson was in the way.
And Richardson, a 230-pounder, upended the 270-pound Washington with a rolling tackle. Washington lost the football, which squirted free and was recovered by the Oilers' Lorenzo White.
A few plays later, White scored from 3 yards out, Heywood Jeffires caught the 2-point conversion from Richardson, and the Oilers had a 21-7 edge. A Nick Lowery field goal later that period was offset by Del Greco's third field goal in the final quarter.
At the end, hanging over the team was the start of its most recent slide: the now-legendary loss to the Dolphins with 22 seconds remaining after the Jets led at one point by 24-6. Instead of being tied for first in the American Football Conference East, they began a descent that was symbolized by today's inept performance.
EXTRA POINTS
ART MONK extended his record pass-catching streak to 180 games. He had one catch for 5 yards.
