Jets fans go on the road to Pittsburgh

"I sooooo much want to go to the Super Bowl."

That's no idle chatter from die-hard Jets fan Marvin Schaffer, 61, with his wife, Barbara, 59, in frigid Pittsburgh for Sunday's AFC Championship Game, deep in enemy Steelers territory.

When the Glen Head couple said "I do" to each other in 1971, they practically said the same to the Jets. Marvin, already a season ticketholder since 1964, then started buying for two.

Over the decades, the Schaffers have traveled a lot of miles with their hopes riding high on the Jets - and this year is no exception. Last week they drove to Massachusetts for the Jets-Patriots game, and the week before that they flew to Indianapolis for the Jets-Colts matchup.

"For someone who lives and dies with this, this is extremely important," said Marvin, who Saturday sported a No. 24 Gang Green jersey in honor of cornerback Darrelle Revis, while his wife wore No. 6 for quarterback Mark Sanchez.

Some families show off their sporting allegience by squaring off as rivals against one another. But for the Schaffers, it's all in the family: Their adult son and daughter cheer for the team, too, and in their living room is an original LeRoy Neiman serigraph from the 1969 Super Bowl, signed by the artist and legendary Jets' quarterbacks Joe Namath. (Marvin Schaffer couldn't go to the big game that year because he was young and couldn't afford it.)

The Schaffers were part of a pilgrimage of Jets' faithful - and Steelers Nation fans, too - from Long Island to Pittsburgh, a city where virtually everyone cheers for the Men of Steel.

Jets fans started booking Pittsburgh hotel rooms three-quarters of the way through last Sunday's battle against the Patriots.

Jim Olsovsky, general manager of the Pittsburgh Marriott City Center, welcomed the Gang Green invasion. Football fans are usually well-behaved, he said, though he'd arranged for a handful of police officers to patrol the lobby, just in case.

"Generally in the hotel itself, there is some good-natured ribbing," he said. "We have not thrown anybody out, but we have asked some people to go to their room and go to sleep."

Roslyn resident Jerry Rokoff and his son-in-law Eric Stam are a mixed match: Rokoff roots for the Jets, and Stam for his beloved Steelers.

Rokoff already has a ticket to the Super Bowl at Cowboys Stadium in Texas two weeks from today and said he will buy another - for Stam - if the Steelers win.

"It's so much fun being at an out-of-town game," Rokoff said. "I love sports and it's great being with my son-in-law for a whole weekend."

The pair wouldn't say how much they paid a broker for the tickets at Heinz Field.

"They're expensive," Rokoff said. "We'll just leave it at that."

And each man was certain his team will come out on top.

"I think the Jets are going to win," Rokoff said.

"Of course you do," his son-in-law answered.

Mike Stallone of Kings Park is 37, and for most of his life the Jets have given him nothing but heartbreak. He was taking his son Louis, 8, with him.

"We're hoping to see something no one has seen" in 42 years, "them making it to the Super Bowl," said Stallone, an area manager for Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurants.

Stallone spent $675 on tickets, and while the seats are high up, he's just happy he can be there. "I don't care where I sit," he said. "I just want to be there in case something special happens."

He's prepared for any outcome, but he has a good feeling going into the game. And he thinks the Jets already scored their most meaningful victory a week ago when they beat the Patriots, their bitter rival.

"I honestly think the Super Bowl happened last weekend," he said. "They got over the mental hurdle. I don't think they are going to be denied. They've got that taste in their mouth. They know what it's like to be on the big stage now."

Stallone isn't worried about walking into a 65,000-seat stadium where fans in Jets green will be vastly outnumbered by the home team's partisans in black and gold.

"I'm not intimidated by the fans," he said, adding: "It helps that I'm 6-6."

Tom Reinwald, 25, who works at his parents' Huntington bakery, set his alarm for 5 a.m. Sunday to take a bus from Manhattan to Pittsburgh in time for the big game.