Five decades of Jets camp ends for Connie Carberg: 'Nothing was able to stop me - except COVID-19!'

Connie Carberg’s streak ends this year, the first female scout in NFL history having attended New York Jets training camp for over five decades. The streak ends due to COVID-19 restrictions and although heartbroken, Carberg will cherish the memories of friendships and her passion for football.

It was 1965 when, as a 14-year old, Carberg attended her first Jets training camp. Her father was Dr. Calvin Nicholas and her uncle was Dr. James Nicholas, who partnered to become the team doctors back when they were the New York Titans. She has been surrounded by football the entirety of her life but that summer, it took hold. That training camp, ironically, was when Joe Namath was a rookie.

Since then, she hasn’t missed one training camp. Carberg continued to make the trip when she moved out of the tristate area down to Florida in 1981. She’d fly up to take in several days of camp, often a notepad and pen in hand to write down her thoughts on the team that she would publish on her blog.

“Whether I was watching as a young teen, just excited to know the players and then see them win the Super Bowl or watching after I was scouting while working there, I treasured every moment and knew how lucky I was,” Carberg said.

“Then coming back, year after year, through so many regimes, and still being treated like family and getting to know current players just kept my love for this team so strong.”

By design, she was always noticeable on the sidelines. At camp, Carberg would wear a Jets great t-shirt and white shorts with white socks and sneakers. Very often, she would accompany this with green dangling earrings. Always, she had on a Jets cap.

This year, the Jets like the rest of the NFL are restructuring due to the coronavirus pandemic. Fans and media are not allowed to attend training camp. This means that Carberg will miss her favorite part of attending training camp, the meeting of the alumni at ‘Jets Legends’ weekend.

There, she connects with new alumni and reconnects with players she knew from her time with the Jets.

At Ohio State as an undergrad, she developed a friendship with legendary head coach Woody Hayes that included him letting her in to watch practices – even closed ones. She learned and watched the game under the mentorship of Hayes, who encouraged her to pursue her passion to work in football at a time when women simply did not hold personnel roles.

And after college, Carberg began working for the Jets. First, she was a receptionist in the team’s personnel department who would file the scouting reports on college players before becoming a scout, the first female scout in the history of the NFL. She is even the first woman to make a selection in the NFL Draft.

She held a pivotal role in helping to discover Mark Gastineau, the Jets defensive linemen who went on to become one of the best pass rushers of his generation and is a part of the team’s ‘Ring of Honor.’

So football and training camp has been a part of her life. While the media, players and even coaches often complain about the drag of the long, hot days of camp it is nothing but a pleasure for Carberg.

She would make the trek both as an employee of the Jets and now as a fan. She remembers when they were at Hofstra at their training facility or, when in 2009, then head coach Rex Ryan moved camp to upstate New York in the small college town of Cortland. Over the past few years, however, the Jets have been at their team facility in northern New Jersey.

Wherever they have called training camp home, Carberg has been there and loved every minute of it.

“Nothing was able to stop me,” Carberg said. “Except COVID-19!”

Each year is unique, she says, including in 2010 when HBO’s Hard Knocks followed the team through camp. She has become a bit of a celebrity herself with players stopping by after practice, drenched in sweat, to talk with her and share a hug.

“Because of Joe Namath, there were always celebrities around from Johnny Carson to Ann Margaret, to Dr J (Julius Erving). THree summers ago, there was all this commotion under the tent where I was sitting,” carberg said.

“Next thing I knew everyone was coming towards me, but it wasn’t for me - of course not. I was sitting next to George R.R. Martin, creator of the Game of Thrones  and I didn’t know who he was but everyone else, including the players, sure did! A big New York Jets fan - he was super nice!”