Jets' 'AFC champions' gear to be sent to Haiti

Some of the Jets' AFC championship gear that was available for presale on the team's Web site last week is headed for Haiti to aid in the earthquake relief effort, an NFL spokesman said last night.

Brian McCarthy, NFL vice president of corporate communications, said "a couple thousand" of the Jets' AFC champion T-shirts and hats will be sent to Haiti via World Vision, a relief fund organization.

Karen Kartes, a spokeswoman for World Vision, said the Jets' shirts and hats are going to be sent "ASAP" to the organization's international distribution center in Pittsburgh for sorting and storing purposes.

"We are not sure yet when we will incorporate the Jets goods into our ongoing relief response," she said, "but they will go there."

Championship gear for all four teams in the conference championship games Sunday was available last week for sale on nflshop.com.

The Jets were the only team that chose to place the clothes for presale on its own Web site, which executive vice president for business affairs Matt Higgins said was another example of the organization's new "positive thinking" approach.

Fans who tried to purchase the championship gear ahead of time were given a message on the order page stating that their credit cards would not be charged if their team lost.