Class of 2023: Joe Klecko — Versatility and perseverance were his trademarks

Enshrinement Published on : 8/5/2023


By Barry Wilner 
Special to the Pro Football Hall of Fame 

Sixth-round draft choices must show something extra to make it in the NFL. JOE KLECKO was so versatile and so determined that he now has a bust in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Drafted 144th overall in 1977 by the New York Jets out of Temple, hardly a college football factory, Klecko made his mark early in the Big Apple. He never stopped being a major factor whether shutting down opposing run games or rushing the passer. And, in unprecedented fashion, Klecko did so at three positions on the defensive line.

“I wanted to be remembered as a player who gave it his all,” Klecko said. “I wanted to win every down, every battle. I always felt that if you’re not mad at yourself if you lost one battle, you don’t belong on the field. And if you did lose one, what were you going to do to never lose that battle again? That’s how you play the game.”

After a solid rookie season that included unofficially eight sacks as a defensive tackle in a classic 4-3 alignment, Klecko then moved to end in 1978 – and again had eight sacks. The following year, Klecko was back inside, and through 1984, he kept shuttling positions while terrorizing offenses. As the key member of the New York Sack Exchange, Klecko totaled a career-best 20.5 sacks in 1981 playing as a defensive end, making the first of his four Pro Bowls and being selected an All-Pro. He finished second to the local rival Giants’ Lawrence Taylor for Defensive Player of the Year honors. 

“Once I asked my D-Line coach, Dan Sekanovich, a guy I really looked up to, about making the Pro Bowl,” Klecko recalled to the crowd at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. “He said, `Joe, you’re not going to have to worry about making the Pro Bowl. You’re going to have to worry about someday being enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.’ 

“From that day on, I played even harder.”

In his prime, Klecko had 73 sacks, including 7.5 as a nose tackle in 1985. Yes, as a nose tackle, a position rarely associated with knocking down quarterbacks. No one other than Klecko has been an All-Pro and to the Pro Bowl at the three defensive spots up front.

He managed those achievements despite battling a series of injuries, including a ruptured patella tendon in 1982, when he appeared in just two contests. Klecko was back for two playoff victories before a loss to Miami in the AFC title game.

He returned full time the next year with a vengeance and was selected to the Pro Bowl.
 
Sixth-round draft choices must show something extra to make it in the NFL. Joe Klecko was so versatile and so determined that he now has a bust in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

In his 12 pro seasons, Klecko set team records at the time for most games played on the defensive line (140) and most consecutive games with a full sack (10, in 1977-78.) In 2010, he was a member of the inaugural class of the Jets Ring of Honor. Now, as a senior class candidate, he’s a member of the Hall of Fame. 

“Well, this speech has been in my desk drawer since 1993,” he joked Saturday. “Thirty years I have been waiting to give this speech.”
He learned of his selection from Joe Namath.

"Honestly, it was exhilarating," Klecko said recently. "The best part of it was Joe, it really was. I give Joe every accolade. He's one of the greatest people for the NFL, he's just an icon. For him to come to my house — what a great feeling. It was a cheerful, glorious time when it happened."

It never would have occurred had Klecko’s then-girlfriend and future wife Debbie not laid down the law when he went for a tryout with a semi-pro team.

“Debbie drove with me to a football field in Ridley Township, Pennsylvania,” he told the crowd. “But when we pulled up, I got cold feet. I made a few excuses to Debbie about not trying when she suddenly grabbed the keys out of the ignition and threw them out the window.

“I said, `What the heck did you do that for?’

“Then the guys seen me and called me to come over. So, I went to the tryout and made the team. If it wasn’t for Debbie making me get out of the car that day, I wouldn’t be sitting here today wearing this Gold Jacket.”

While wearing the Gold Jacket, Klecko unsurprisingly and unapologetically led a cheer of J-E-T-S that resounded throughout the stadium at the conclusion of his speech.



 

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