After celebrating the Jets by highlighting their players who someday could be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, we flip the script to give you New York’s Hall of Shame.

Worst breakup: Bill Belichick

Letting the greatest coach of all time slip away twice is a tragedy in itself. However, it probably wouldn’t have been as devastating a breakup had Belichick not signed with New England.

In 1997, Belichick, who had most recently served as an assistant for the Patriots, was named New York’s interim head coach while the Jets negotiated a trade for Bill Parcells. Once New York and New England struck a deal, Belichick was named Jets assistant head coach and defensive coordinator, a position he held for three seasons. 

Parcells stepped down after the 1999 season and the Jets named Belichick as his successor, but his tenure lasted only a day. Before his introductory news conference, Belichick submitted his resignation as New York’s head coach, infamously writing on a napkin, “I resign as HC of the NYJ.” 

Belichick spurned the Jets to take the head-coaching job in New England, where he has won six Super Bowls and dominated Gang Green for the past 23 years. Since Belichick became Patriots coach, New England is 36-10 against the Jets, with their most recent loss coming in 2015.

Worst draft pick: Outside linebacker Vernon Gholston

While Gholston wasn’t the highest-drafted bust taken by New York, it’s hard to argue that anyone else was much worse. After a stellar career at Ohio State, the Jets selected the outside linebacker with the sixth overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. 

It was evident from the gate that Gholston wasn’t fit for the pro level. He played primarily as a special teamer during his rookie year, recording only 13 tackles. The following two years saw the Jets have their most successful seasons in recent memory, though Gholston still failed to make an impact, totaling 29 tackles in that span. 

The lack of production was enough for the Jets to cut ties with Gholston, releasing him after three seasons and zero career sacks. Gholston attempted to catch on with the Bears and Rams but didn’t crack either team’s roster out of training camp.

Nine first-round picks who were drafted after Gholston went on to become Pro Bowlers. If the Jets had taken someone from that bunch, perhaps the 2009 and 2010 AFC Championship Games would have played out differently. The Jets lost both games — first to the Colts and then to the Steelers.

Worst free-agent signing: Neil O’Donnell 

Although O’Donnell had played dismally in Pittsburgh’s loss to Dallas in Super Bowl XXX, the Jets believed he was the answer at quarterback. The team, which finished 3-13 the season before, inked the former Steeler to a five-year, $25 million contract, and from there, everything spiraled out of control.

The Jets went 0-6 with O’Donnell as their starter in 1996 before he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. New York finished the season with the worst record in the NFL (1-15). 

After Parcells took over the following year, O’Donnell improved marginally until he fell out of favor with his new head coach. O’Donnell was benched for Glenn Foley, and when he later refused to re-negotiate his contract, the Jets released him. 

For his Jets career, O’Donnell completed 56.9% of his passes for 3,943 yards, 21 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. 

Worst loss: 1998 AFC Championship Game, Jan. 17, 1999

When a franchise has as many soul-crushing losses as the Jets, there’s plenty of room for debate about which one is truly the worst, but the implosion against Denver gets the nod. 

Not only did the 12-4 Jets boast a top-five offense that year, but their defense was even stronger, allowing 266 points during the regular season, the second fewest in the league. After knocking off Jacksonville in the divisional round, New York headed to the Mile High City to take on the defending champion Broncos. 

The Jets held a 10-0 second-half lead, but sloppy play (six turnovers) let Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway back into the game. The Broncos outscored the Jets 23-0 for the remainder of the game, and later blew out the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl XXVII, 34-19.