Nov. 20, 1963 - The New York Jets, even without a real concerted pitch, have already sold more than 5,500 season tickets for next season, their first at spanking new Shea Stadium. “It’s tremendously encouraging,” said club president David (Sonny) Werblin (pictured). “The majority of ticket requests has come from Long Island, although they’ve been spread pretty well over the whole metropolitan area.” Werblin expects the new stadium will seat 64,000 — or slightly more than Yankee Stadium — for football. Where the Polo Grounds parking lot is limited to 1,500 cars or less, Shea Stadium will park 8,000 next year and, after the World’s Fair, 12,600. Werblin declared the Jets haven’t decided when to play their games next year — in conflict with the Giants’ home games on Sunday, with the Giants’ TV coverage of road games, or on Friday and Saturday nights. Jet coach Weeb Ewbank still feels his club “has a chance to win the Eastern Division” this season. The Jet coach points to how close his team — with a record of 4-5 — is to being No. 1. “We’re only two field goals and one fumble away from first place,” he said. “No one works any harder than our boys are working right now. They are giving 100%. They may not be good enough — in some cases — but the effort is there.” The Jets’ advance sale of 7,000 for Sunday’s game against the Chiefs is the largest — at this point in the week — of the season. Ewbank also explained why Jet tackle Sherman Plunkett was a better player in Denver last Sunday than he had been the week before in Houston. “When I studied movies of the Houston game,” said Weeb, “I decided I had better get Sherm back on the scales. In his contract, it says he’ll be fined every time he goes over 300 pounds. Sure enough, he was over 300. He complained: ‘Coach, I’m not eating anything. I can’t understand it.’ When I told him the fine stood — although he did get back down under 300 for Denver — he had another question. ‘Do you mind if I give it to my favorite charity?’ ‘What’s that,’ I asked. ‘Sarah Plunkett.’”
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