I've been saying this here for a while now that the "home of the Jets" chant has been around before the days of FB Tony Richardson. Just to prove to myself that I'm not crazy, I found this clip from 2003, after a victory in Oakland against the Raiders:
I know the quality isn't great, so in case you didn't notice, the game ball went to K Doug Brien, who nailed the game winning field goal in overtime. The score was 27-24. RB Curtis Martin led the chant. LG Dave Szott, C Kevin Mawae, TE Anthony Becht and QB Chad Pennington are visible as well. And I think that might be DT Jason Ferguson next to Curt. The players seemed more enthusiastic about it back then than today, apart from the postseason. To be fair, this was during a losing season when wins were few and far between.
The clip comes from a show called "Jets 24/7 with Herm Edwards". What I really liked about that show was that it featured clips from the locker room during halftime when the coaches were making adjustments and yelling and screaming and cursing, as well as practices during the week at Hofstra. This was before the revival of "Hard Knocks" (which coincidentally featured Herm as well when he was with the Chiefs).
I have no idea where the chant came from. I've noticed that they only do it after wins, regardless of whether they are home or away. At the time of this clip, T-Rich was still in Kansas City, where Arrrowhead fans have their own version of it during the National Anthem. I understand the assumption that he may have brought it to New York, especially since HC Rex Ryan always called on him to lead the chant. However, I think this was because he was the veteran leader at the time. Nowadays, RB LaDainian Tomlinson is the one who breaks it down.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who is curious about this Gang Green tradition. It's certainly possible that another former Chief brought it to New York. The difference is that "home of the Chieeeefs" is more drawn out, while "Jets!" is more quick and forceful. Kansas City's is done by the crowd in the open stadium and only at home, while Gang Green's is done by players in the locker room after wins whether at home or away.
Watching "Jets 24/7" through the years, my wife and I always chanted it ourselves after Jets wins. I've often wondered where this tradition came from. My own theory is that since the Jets haven't had a real home until 2010, "and the home of the Jets" became some kind of a mantra during their days at Shea and/or Giants Stadium.
When Herm went on to coach Kansas City, the show became "Jets 24/7 with Eric Mangini". When Rex took over, the show changed to "Jets Flight Plan", with the team producing it internally instead of hiring an outside company. Hey, maybe they can do a feature on it and explain where the chant came from.