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Rich Cimini
Frank Ramos, the New York Jets’ public relations director from the golden days of Joe Namath and Super Bowl III through the turn of the century, died Tuesday in hospice care in South Florida after a bout of pneumonia. He was 87.
A franchise fixture from 1963 to 2002, Ramos worked under seven owners, seven team presidents, five general managers, 11 full-time coaches and two interim coaches. He never missed a game, working a remarkable 681 straight over his career: 486 regular-season games, 14 postseason and 181 preseason.
Ramos was hailed by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, Jets owner Woody Johnson and Namath as a master of his craft, someone who cared deeply for the Jets and the NFL. In 2024, he received an Award of Excellence from the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which recognizes individuals who made significant contributions to the game.
Goodell, who got his start in the NFL as a PR intern under Ramos, called him «a trusted confidant of the players, coaches and executives — and he never missed a game. Frank was the consummate communications professional, always dispensing sound counsel with a kind touch. … Frank was a terrific friend and influence to those of us fortunate enough to be in his orbit and he will be greatly missed.»
Ramos was the longest-tenured public relations official for all New York sports teams at the time of his retirement in 2002.
«Frank had an encyclopedic knowledge of this organization,» Johnson said. «He remembered everything, big and small, about every player and every employee who came through the building. Whenever you talked to Frank, you felt like you were getting the true pulse of the Jets. He even gave me the Jets’ Super Bowl III playbook, which I still treasure. Frank was the glue that held this place together, and I’ve met very few people in my life quite like him.»
We’re deeply saddened to announce the passing of Frank Ramos, 87, who was the head of our Public Relations department from 1963-2002. Sending our love and support to the Ramos family.
— New York Jets (@nyjets) January 28, 2026
Ramos was involved in most of the seminal moments in Jets history. He was with Namath the night the brash quarterback made his famous guarantee to the Miami Touchdown Club before Super Bowl III in January 1969. In fact, Ramos was the one who broke the news to coach Weeb Ewbank the next morning by showing him a copy of the story in the Miami Herald.
«Frank was a really fine man,» Namath told ESPN on Tuesday night. «His job sometimes wasn’t easy. Ballplayers, we have up and downs and get cranky at times, but Frank knew how to approach us.
«He was a wonderful gentleman, and I was just so thankful that I came to the realization of how good he was, how good a man he was. He was wonderful at his job. I don’t know that I’ve ever heard a foul remark or criticism of Frank. He was a blessing in my life.»
On Jan. 4, 2000, Ramos kicked off the infamous Bill Belichick news conference, introducing the Jets’ new coach only to be shocked — like the rest of the world — when Belichick replaced Ramos at the podium and resigned on the spot.
Ramos played a key role in the creation of the «New York Sack Exchange,» the nickname of the Jets’ famous 1980s defensive line that consisted of Mark Gastineau, Joe Klecko, Marty Lyons and Abdul Salaam. In 1981, a fan won a preseason contest by submitting «New York Sack Exchange,» and Ramos began using it in his weekly press releases. It soon caught on with the media.
Lyons recalled how Ramos almost always wore his Super Bowl III ring.
«You never saw Frank — whether it was a casual dinner, whether it was at a bar, seeing him walking around the complex — without it,» Lyons said. «He always had that ring on and that ring meant the world to him.»
Ramos was two years into his job when Namath arrived in 1965 as a ballyhooed rookie from Alabama — and everything changed. Namath credited Ramos with helping him navigate a high volume of media demands. Namath was so popular, Ramos said, that they had to create alternate routes to get him in and out of the team hotel because the lobby was packed with fans.
«A police officer said to me, ‘I haven’t seen anything like this since the Beatles,'» Ramos once said, recalling the mob scene outside a Manhattan restaurant where Namath received his Super Bowl MVP award.
One of Ramos’ strongest moments came in 1992, when Jets player Dennis Byrd broke his neck in a game and was temporarily paralyzed.
«Frank wrote the PR crisis handbook for how to handle things,» said New Orleans Saints vice president of communications Doug Miller, who worked under Ramos at the time. «[That] was his best work. We spoke of it many times, and anytime anyone has ever said, what’s his biggest moment? It wasn’t Super Bowl III. It was that scenario and how he handled it.»
In addition to his 39-year career with the Jets, Ramos worked for the NFL PR staff during Super Bowl weeks and was a key voice in shaping the league’s public relations positions.
Ramos was born in Valley Stream, New York, but moved to Miami with his parents as a youngster. He attended high school in Miami and graduated in 1960 from Florida State, maintaining his devotion to the Seminoles his entire life.
He worked at the Miami News and Atlanta Journal-Constitution before enlisting in the U.S. Army. He was assigned to the sports information office at West Point, where he worked for two years until joining the Jets in 1963 — the year they changed their name from the New York Titans.
Ramos is survived by his wife, Jackie.
