Gang Green keeps finding new ways to let their fans down.
The New York Jets canceled the on-field invite for a Long Island super fan to try kicking a field goal in a $100,000 halftime challenge just days before Sunday’s game.
Heartbroken season ticketholder Ashley Castanio-Gervasi — who attends games in honor of her late, diehard Jets fan dad — was told Monday by the 3-12 NFL organization that she couldn’t participate after earning her way into the final round of the “Kick for Cash” competition because she is the head coach of the Long Beach High School girls soccer team.
“This is life-changing money for me,” Castanio-Gervasi fumed to The Post after she was cut due to a rule that prohibited recent players and coaches from Olympic, college, and high school soccer, rugby, and football teams. “I was confident I could have made it.”
The 33-year-old former Stony Brook University goalkeeper — her college career from 2010 to 2014 didn’t count against her — had made a preliminary winning field goal to qualify for the challenge, scheduled for this week’s Jets vs. Patriots showdown at MetLife Stadium.
Since then, she has been easily drilling from 25 yards during a warmup in front of her team; however, the winning kick distance on the field at MetLife Stadium remains a mystery until the contest is held.
The Jets said the decision to rescind her eligibility was a simple case of following the rules.
“In accordance with competition rules and regulations, one individual who successfully made the qualifying kick will not be able to advance to the final stage of the challenge,” the team said in a statement to The Post.
“We understand the disappointment associated with this and have made an effort to provide an alternative benefit to show our appreciation,” the Jets statement added.
But to the would-be participant and long-suffering Jets fan, this could be the worst botched field goal from the organization in years.
Castanio-Gervasi, who is a math teacher, said that she received a call last week from Jets staff to review rules and go over details for the game. The coach was supposed to sign an affidavit like the three other finalists, she said.
“This was the first time I was hearing of any of these [coaching] questions,” she said.
The Jets had recruited Castanio-Gervasi after seeing her land a just-for-fun kick at a September Jets vs. Bills tailgate outside the stadium.
“These two workers for the New York Jets kind of chased me down and invited me back to get into this competition,” she recalled. “The one question I was asked was if I played college soccer, and how long ago.”
They had her return for the qualifying kick a month later, outside the stadium again, during the Jets vs. Panthers game. The former Division 1 athlete impressively reached the finals after nailing a field goal in front of a camera crew, becoming the only woman to reach the final round.
The Jets had even promoted Castanio-Gervasi’s participation and asked permission to reach out to local media, with her local paper, the Long Island Herald, picking up the story earlier this month.
The Dec.12 article identified her as the Long Beach Mariners varsity coach in its second paragraph.
Kicked while she’s down
It’s the latest Jets disappointment for Castanio-Gervasi, who has been fiercely loyal since childhood.
As a child, she said she even got to catch passes from former quarterbacks Vinny Testaverde and Chad Pennington at Jets training camp at Hofstra University.
Her dad, Frank, raised Castanio-Gervasi to succeed him as a new family football fanatic until he passed from esophageal cancer in 2011.
“My dad and my grandpa had season tickets since Shea Stadium,” she said, adding that her family has spent a conservative lifetime estimate of $1 million on the Jets.
“So growing up, obviously, in our household, our family, it was what we did on Sundays…He bleeds green, and that’s why we do.”
When she made the October kick, Castanio-Gervasi was surrounded by around 75 loved ones.
They came as part of an annual group game for the Esophageal Cancer Education Foundation and have raised a lifetime $50,000 in Frank’s loving memory, she said.
Frank would have been “freaking out” to hear his daughter had the chance to go on the field, she said prior to getting the awful news.
“He was always so proud of us in all areas of our lives, but especially sports,” she said. “He was super proud of me playing soccer…unfortunately, he didn’t get to see a lot of my success.”
Since losing her devout Jets fan father, Castanio-Gervasi and her three sisters, Lauren, Courtney, and Jaclyn, had taken turns bringing their mom, Lorraine, to games in Frank’s place.
This season, Castanio-Gervasi and her husband, Matthew, furthered the legacy and secured season tickets two rows behind her family’s other seats in the 200 level for nearly $3,000.
“Win or lose with the Jets, it’s a really big thing,” said Castanio-Gervasi, who travels to away games as well. “It brings my family together.”
At least 15 family and friends bought tickets to see Castanio-Gervasi kick this Sunday, she said. The Jets have offered to cover the costs to make amends.
But Castanio-Gervasi, who renewed her season tickets a few weeks prior, said her kin sold the tickets as a sign of solidarity — including her mom, who seldom misses a game.
Castanio-Gervasi was initially offered a consolation custom jersey and a $100 Visa gift card, but she will also be absent in protest — the first home game in a decade she’s skipped.
If Frank were still alive, he would “absolutely” ditch his season tickets over the incident, she said.
Had Castanio-Gervasi successfully made the kick, she said — before getting cut — that the money would have gone toward buying her first house and the Esophageal Cancer Education Foundation.
The Jets said the franchise would donate to the medical cause.
“The whole thing is extremely upsetting,” said Castanio-Gervasi. “Me and my whole family are let down.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
