The support of organizations including the NY Jets, Canon USA, USA Football, and Outback Steakhouse is a great example of how corporate America can make an impact in bettering the communities where employees work and live.
I played on the Jets during Namath's last four years, and we used to ask ourselves, 'When is it going to happen? When are they finally going to replace him?' We'd wait for it, week by week, but it never happened.
Growing up, I was fascinated with Buck Rogers' airplanes. As I began to mature in World War II, it became jets and rocket planes. But it was always in the air.
I received a call from Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum and head coach Eric Mangini. They asked me if I was ready to become a New York Jet. I quickly answered 'yes' and began to hug everyone at the table.
At the Jets training facility in Florham Park, N.J., we have strength and conditioning staff but also a nutritionist, Glen Tobias, who helps to whip everyone into shape. There is a heavy emphasis on grass-fed meat and on foods that aren't genetically modified.
I grew up in a lot of different places. I always saw the bigger picture. I was around rich kids with country houses and private jets. No disrespect to those people, but I never thought they were super geniuses. I couldn't see how I wasn't going to have those things, too.
The dirty little secret is that the pool man, who's making $30,000 a year, is subsidizing the million-dollar mortgage for the family whose pool he cleans. No wonder people want to get rid of tax breaks for corporate jets.