06/29 – Name: Michelle L. Current Occupation: Registered nurse What word best describes you? Sassy. If there was something you could change about yourself, what would it be? Nothing! If I changed anything I wouldn’t be me. What inspires you? Creative and intelligent people. What advice do you have for young people? Please, please, please get an education and always stay true to yourself. A pet peeve? When people do not hold doors open for others. What’s your favorite song? "Poker Face." If you knew the world was going to end in 24 hours, what would you do? I would eat nothing but chocolate and cheese for 24 hours with the ones I love. What is the best movie you’ve seen over the past two years? "The Bucket List." What’s your favorite thing about New York City? Tasty D’Lite. Do you have a favorite childhood memory? Summers at Misquamicut Beach.  

Flight Crew Q&A: Michelle L.

07/08 – How did you get the "Big Katt" nickname? I actually got it from a college teammate [at Tennessee]. I made a play — got to the quarterback and chased down the screen. And he was like, "Oh, you’re quick like a cat." And he just started calling me "Big Katt" from then on. Lane Kiffin is making his presence felt throughout the SEC at your old school.    What do you think about that? It’s good. I like it. It’s good to beef up that tradition again in the SEC with Alabama, Florida and Georgia, counting back to the days when we were there. Do you take care of your body differently now, at 31, than you did when you entered the NFL? Yeah, of course. Yeah, I just get a little massage and a little bit more therapy, hot tub, steam room — things like that. You need to play in just eight more games to have played more games than any other D-lineman in franchise history. How does that make you feel? I didn’t know that. I guess it’s a good accomplishment. It’s good. The team is headed in a new direction with Rex Ryan as head coach.   What do you think about him? I like him. He’s a straightforward guy. He loves to have fun and the team believes in him. We have a great system, so it’s going to be fun. He causes a lot of controversy from what people say. It’s a good thing. It gives us that extra "oomph" that we need. Have you always watched the Ravens’ defense and respected what they’ve done from afar? Oh, yeah, anytime you want to watch a defensive team you look at the Ravens. Now that we have him as our coach, I can see why they were playing like that. You’ve played in six playoffs games but haven’t been to the dance in the past couple of seasons. How bad are you itching to get back to the postseason? Oh, yeah, very much. You want to just have the opportunity to be a part of it, and then just go as far as we can and hopefully get to the big show. Quietly, you had a real nice season last season in the sack category with eight sacks. How challenging is it to put up big sack numbers in a 3-4 front? It’s very challenging because mostly you’re doing a three-man rush and you get double-teamed a lot. It’s a lot more fighting and clawing in the 3-4 to get the sacks. Do you think you’ll get moved around a bit more this year? It looks that way. We’ll have a little bit more freedom this year. The Dolphins are defending division champs, but the Patriots get Tom Brady back. Is New England the team to beat in the division? Yeah, New England is still the team to beat, but Miami is a great team. You can’t take that away from them and Buffalo is strong too, so it’s going to be a tight race. Who’s the most talented player you’ve played with and against? Played with? I’d have to say Abraham — John Abraham. Most talented player I’ve played against? I’d have to say LaDainian Tomlinson.

Player Q&A: Shaun Ellis

07/03 – The Jets Flight Crew has reached an entirely new altitude. For the first time in franchise history, the Jets have produced a cheerleader swimsuit calendar, which will be available to the public at the beginning of August. “This will be an incredible 16-month calendar,” said Chris Pierce, the club’s senior director of merchandise. “We’ll have the calendar available in the early stages of August. We’re going to launch it at Jets Shop Madison Avenue, hosting an unveiling with every model in the calendar." When we caught up with the affable Pierce in late May, he was at Jones Beach on Long Island, N.Y., for day one of the shoot. The background at a secluded Field 2 location along Bay Parkway was picturesque for photographer Steve Vaccariello as he snapped away at nine lovely ladies. “We’re honoring our heritage — where we’ve come from and where we lived for 40 years,” Pierce said. “We're also honoring our new home in New Jersey, doing a beach shot in Belmar on day two.” Vaccariello is an experienced calendar photog who has worked with the Eagles, the Cavaliers and Playboy and at locations ranging from Cleveland to the Dominican Republic. “Since I had so much experience doing that, I thought if the Jets would do this it would be phenomenal,” he said. “There never has been anything done like this in the New York market. The Jets are the only team that has NFL cheerleaders.” Crew director Denise Garvey, in her third season with the Green & White, watched a couple of her girls pose near the water and then paused for reflection on the soft white sand. "I’m enjoying every moment of it, to be quite honest," Garvey said. "Everything that we want the Flight Crew to be and become is kind of coming to fruition.” On this day, the crew, which included a makeup artist, a stylist and some in-house videographers, landed on the Long Island beach at 4 a.m. They got out the lights, scouted for a location and were ready to roll by sunrise. By late morning, Vaccariello put down his lens and gave Garvey a pretty progress report. “Every single girl knocked it out of the park,” he said with a smile. “It went off without a hitch — seamless.” Anne-Marie, one of the most athletic members of the ’09 squad, sported a turquoise halter and hipster as Vaccariello directed her. At one point, the photographer showed the Massapequa, N.Y., native her digital image and remarked, “This is sick.” “When Denise called and asked me to be a part of it, I was really flattered and honored,” Anne-Marie said. “This is my beach and we’re shooting a calendar here. That’s the best part.” Nicole P., donning a Shoshanna paisley two-piece, followed Anne-Marie before a lunch break. The Saddle Brook, N.J., resident, who studied Victoria Secret magazines in the days leading up to the shoot, was more than happy to change travel plans so she could participate in the historic calendar shoot. “I actually had a vacation planned for this week,” she said. “I was supposed to go down to Miami, Florida, to take a cruise, so I rescheduled the entire thing because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It was actually a birthday present for my boyfriend, but he was more than understanding. He was like, 'You have to do this. You cannot not do this.' ” While there was more than just one deserving candidate, Linda was selected to grace the inaugural cover. Linda, a Massapequa product who has been a Crew member since its inception in 2006 and also the Jets' Pro Bowl cheerleading representative in Hawaii following the ’07 campaign, looked ready for a Times Square billboard in her animal-print two-piece from Tommy Bahama. The 2009 Flight Crew Calendar will be available for presale in mid-July on newyorkjets.com and Pierce has tentatively scheduled the special official unveiling at Jets Shop Madison Avenue for early August.  “I feel really honored," Nicole said. "I feel like I’m going to wake up one of these days. Every night, I wake up and say it’s still happening. The last couple of weeks have been totally incredible. I just feel so many emotions all the time and I’m just really excited to get the season started.” “We’ve gone from 10 girls in 2007 to 22 girls last year to 30 girls and now we have a calendar,” said Anne-Marie. “We have truly taken flight, we’re really getting out there — 2009, it’s going to be exciting.”

Calendar on Deck for 'The Crew'