A Look at the Historic 1970 TC Jets Season Over Half a Century Later

Half a century ago, after the Binghamton Triplets had left and before the Broome Dusters arrived, the Triple Cities Jets filled the pro sports void in the Southern Tier and became a local phenomenon. As the team prepares to celebrate with a reunion for the 50th Anniversary of the team’s creation (postponed a year due to COVID-19) let’s take a look back at the historic start of the T.C Jets. 

After playing for Binghamton’s North High School, Ray Stanton II went on to play quarterback for Auburn University. After returning home following college, he still had the football itch. 

“The adults around town were playing flag football down in Endicott. I called it the tavern League,” says Stanton. “It was pretty rough ball. Then we found out Oneonta had a semi-pro football team.”

This led to Stanton attending a meeting for the Empire Football League where the possibility of bringing a team to Broome County was discussed. Recognizing the opportunity, Stanton went to work to bring the Triple Cities Jets to life. 

“The baseball team had left, the hockey team was a couple years away and we had the spotlight,” says Stanton. “We outdrew probably any semi-pro football team throughout the season.” 

Operating as Part Owner, Head Coach and Starting Quarterback, Stanton recruited the top players in the area, many of whom played in the Tavern League. This included John Cornick, a Vestal High School grad that played football for Ithaca college, and Dave Burch, a native of Richmond Virginia that played college football for Johnson C Smith University. It became clear very soon the wealth of talent on the Jets roster and coaching staff. 

“Never expected it initially but as time went on with practices with some of the athletes that were on the team, it was very obvious,” says Burch. 

“We would play somebody and Ray and the first string would run up 40 or 50 points,” says Cornick. “Then we would put our second string in with myself and some of the other great players. We would get another 30 or 40 points because our second team at every position was pretty much as good as the first string.”

In the inaugural 1970 season, the Jets went 12-0 en route to an Empire Football League Championship, outscoring their opponents 731 to 13 on the season. The instant success of the led to the Jets becoming a smash hit in the community. Playing in front of crowds of 10 to 15 thousand people at North High and Ty Cobb Stadium. 

“It was so exciting the first game alone,” says Cornick. “At the old North High School we run on the field and here’s 6,000 people in the stands and it was just the first game, it was very exciting.” 

“You couldn’t run out of bounds because there were all spectators surrounding the rectangle on the field,” says Burch. “It was an outstanding contest. Then to go to Scranton to their stadium they had to close I-81 for the fans to get into the stadium because the traffic had backed up.”

The success on the field led to multiple players including Stanton and Burch receiving tryouts with the New York Jets. Stanton even had the chance to spend some time with Jets legend Joe Namath on and off the field. Looking at everything the T.C Jets accomplished 50 years later, Stanton says there’s one thing that sticks out above the rest. 

“The friendships, the friendships that have lasted through the years,” says Stanton. 

Ray, Dave and John invite anybody that was ever a part of any of the TC or BC Jets teams, or just fans of the teams to join them for the reunion. There will be plenty of food, drinks and stories to go around. It will take place November 20th from 4pm to 8pm at the The Relief Pitcher in Binghamton. Registration is required. You can register at the link here. If you have any questions you can email Dave at [email protected]