EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ — The NY Jets noted striking similarities between themselves, leading their division yet not being regarded as the team to beat, and NJ native Frankie “The Answer” Edgar, who despite his two dominant wins over lightweight legend BJ Penn is still an underdog in sportsbooks in his upcoming title defense, a rematch with the only man to hold a victory over him.

Thus, they invited him to provide a few motivational remarks at their pre-game meeting Saturday night before their home game vs. the Houston Texans. There's no way they could have predicted how timely the inspiration would be.

After amassing a 16-point lead going into the 4th quarter, the Jets suddenly found themselves down a point with less than 2 minutes remaining. The previous night, Frankie had relayed his story, citing instances such as during his first UFC fight when Tyson Griffin had him in a kneebar with 1 minute remaining, and he had to dig deep within himself to withstand the submission attempt and emerge the victor by unanimous decision.

Edgar attributed much of his success to his unfailing belief in himself, despite the doubts of others and the odds against him. In post-fight media, QB Mark Sanchez credited Frankie's speech for providing much-needed inspiration for their late-game rallying drive to secure the victory.

"The guy is barely taller than this podium, and this guy beat BJ Penn in a UFC Championship bout,” said the quarterback. “Everybody counted him out. They wanted a rematch and he went back and beat him even worse. Talk about a guy who is mentally tough and physically tough. He came in and spoke to the team last night. It was a perfect time. He talked about never giving up, being counted out, playing until the end; fighting and believing in yourself and your team and the people around you.”

“Those were the only one telling him he could win the fight. Everyone else was counting him out. I think there's a lot of people who counted us out tonight and last week and the week before that. We just look at each other look at the guys wearing the Jets decals, and we know we have a chance until the thing is over. It was perfect for Rex to bring in a guy like that and give us a little extra inspiration so it was great for Frankie to come in."

Special thanks for Shari Spencer.

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