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He was frustrated. He was annoyed. He, like so many Jets fans around him, wanted to leave MetLife Stadium as fast as possible on Oct. 19 following another lifeless loss. So when a microphone from an influencer was thrust into his face, he tried to find the words to express the disappointment and agony he’s felt for years. “I hate this team,” Winston Sullivan deadpanned, staring directly into the camera. “I was born into this and I’m not going to – I’m always a Jets fan. But I hate this team.” Almost all Jets fans can empathize with that, right? They have the longest playoff drought of the four major North American sports teams. They cycle through head coaches and quarterbacks every season. And they lose. A lot. Here’s the difference: Winston is 12 years old. Losses like that 13-6 defeat to the Carolina Panthers are all he’s ever known. That honest outburst, minutes after 4 p.m. ET, soon made the seventh grader from Sea Girt an icon among sports fans. He conveyed a message of frustration and loyalty that spread on social media and to the airwaves of ESPN and countless radio shows and podcasts. Within 24 hours, millions had seen the video. The original TikTok post by “dandremac” has more than 10 million views, 9,200 comments and 186,000 reshares. “I just said what I felt,” Winston told NJ Advance Media this week. “Bad plays,” he said. “Bad offense. Disappointed by the coach, as well … I was quite embarrassed with my team. Didn’t believe my team was even going to get a win. I mean, we lost to the Carolina Panthers.” Winston and his family never imagined the attention he would receive. “We weren’t even saying anything,” Winston said about the start of the ride home. “We were just so disappointed in our team.” But about five minutes into the drive, Winston turned to his dad and started laughing. “What did I just say?” A viral moment Rebecca Piccone didn’t think much of it that Sunday night when her husband and son, Winston – the middle of three children – walked in the door upset after another Jets loss. Though not much of a sports fan herself, she wasn’t surprised by their disappointment. When her son and husband are watching the Jets at home, she keeps the windows shut so their vocal frustration – and occasional joy – doesn’t reach the neighbors. “The next day I saw the video,” Winston said. “And I was like, ‘Wow. I did pretty well.’” In that moment, he had been truly upset – the eyes give it away. But Winston composed himself and communicated his disappointment calmly and clearly. “I guess I said the right words,” he said. “And people like me.” For one of the only times, looking at the social comments was actually not the worst idea. “This kid deserves season tickets for his honesty,” one commenter wrote. “He meant that from the soul,” read another. “A true Jets fan,” another commenter wrote. Piccone didn’t think much when her son told her the video was posted on social media and rapidly gaining views and likes. She was just happy her son finally had something to feel good about after a Jets game. But as the day went on, Winston’s star turn built. On Monday night, the family enjoyed dinner in Hoboken, where Winston grew up. He watched the views on one account surge from 30,000 to 150,000. “I have no social media skill, so this doesn’t mean anything to me,” Piccone said. “I was like, ‘Good for you!’” By the time they got home, Piccone’s phone was lighting up with calls and texts – some from people she hadn’t connected with in a long time. “And then our cousin from Bakersfield, Calif., texted me and is like, ‘Oh my god, Winston has a million views,” she said. “And then a few seconds later he texted back – nope, two million views.’ Just like that. And then I was like, ‘This is nuts. No way!’” Winston had gone viral. Immediately, her protective instincts kicked in. Social media isn’t always the kindest place, and she worried about how the reactions might impact her son. “I was not excited about it,” she said. “I was like, let’s just hope this blows over. Let’s move on. And then when I realized he actually touched a nerve in a really positive way – that’s when I was really happy and excited for him.” Winston struggled to wrap his mind around it. He never imagined this. “I don’t know, it was just so weird,” he said. “Then, when I got on ESPN, I was like, ‘Holy crap, this is a thing. And yeah, I was just surprised, but I was happy.’” If it felt surreal on Monday – an off day for school – it was even stranger on Tuesday when he walked into class for the first time after the game. It turns out his friends, and seemingly everyone else, had also seen the video, including his history teacher, who played it in the middle of class. “It was way overwhelming,” Winston said. “Lots of kids I’d never met before coming up to me, congratulating me. Like, ‘Wow dude, you’re a thing.’” Being a Jets fan is not an easy existence, but it’s especially difficult being a 12-year-old Jets fan who has never seen his team in the playoffs and is close to witnessing its 10th straight losing season. In a brutal twist of fate, Winston was wearing a black No. 95 Quinnen Williams jersey in the viral video. Williams, naturally, was just traded as part of the Jets’ fire sale this week. Winston’s best memory as a Jets fan came in one of the most devastating games in franchise history: Xavier Gipson’s game-winning, overtime punt return for a touchdown in the Jets’ 2023 season-opening win over the Bills – the same game that former quarterback Aaron Rodgers tore his Achilles on the fourth snap of his first drive as a Jet. The good news is there has been some winning in his life: Winston is a competitive swimmer, excelling in the backstroke and freestyle – he set personal bests in both disciplines last month, not long after he went viral. He’s also a Knicks and Yankees fan – and he’s gotten to watch both make deep playoff runs early in his fandom. The Jets haven’t seriously contended for the playoffs in any of the three seasons since Winston started watching the team closely. Winston is also smart enough to know that there are less painful paths he could take, and he is young enough that no one would blame him. Still, he’d take one thing over the fame. “I told some of my friends this,” he said. “I’d rather the Jets have won that game than me ever getting interviewed.”
