Bob Raissman: Aaron Rodgers has turned the Jets into a primetime team for NFL and TV partners

NEW YORK — The Jets? America’s Team?

Those answering the question (after they stop laughing) would respond in the negative. That’s the long-term response. Yet considering the attention the Jets have received since the acquisition of quarterback/media magnet Aaron Rodgers, their spotlight has vastly expanded.

The NFL’s national TV partners bought into the Rodgers-led Gang Green by scheduling them for five primetime appearances. A sixth game, against Miami, will be nationally televised on Black Friday. And Week 4, vs. Kansas City, will be the first Jets appearance on NBC’s Sunday Night Football since 2011. Last season, the Jets appeared in primetime once.

SportsNet New York president Steve Raab doesn’t need the Jets to be “America’s Team.” New York will suffice. SNY has been the local TV home of Gang Green since the network launched in 2006. Among its Jets programming, the pre — and especially — the postgame shows have consistently provided viewers an unvarnished review of a Jets performance.

“I don’t think I’ve seen this kind of Jets optimism going into the season in the 18 years SNY has been in existence,” Raab said. “All our Jets content [on multiple platforms] has experienced viewership increases. Before a game has been played, Rodgers has taken interest to a new level.”

Rodgers provided a brightly lit runway headed into the season. It started with the coverage of the Jets courting the quarterback. A group of Jets officials, including Woody Johnson, Robert Saleh, Joe Douglas, and Nathaniel Hackett travelled to California in March to meet with Rodgers.

Then there was the Green Bay angle. Would the Packers be able to make a deal with the Jets? While the Free World knew it would eventually happen, the media’s coverage took on a cloak-and-dagger quality. When the trade went down, the coverage took another turn.

How would Rodgers be received? How would he handle the New York media, particularly those making their living covering the Jets? After all, these boss scribes have been chronicling a team coated in futility. They were looking for grains of hope to sell. With Rodgers, the silo runneth over. Rodgers knew what button to push —immediately.

During his April introductory press conference at the Jets Florham Park headquarters, Rodgers regaled the captivated audience with a story about how — as a kid — he watched Super Bowl highlights. Rodgers said he knew about the “guarantee” Joe Namath made before Super Bowl III against Baltimore.

“It’s been a while since then,” Rodgers told the notebooks, smart phones, and cameras. “I noticed walking in this morning that the Super Bowl III trophy is looking a little lonely.”

That line won the day for Rodgers. The media jumped all over it. It left a strong vibe. The future Hall of Famer was not in it for a cup of coffee. The want to deliver long-lost glory was there. As long as Rodgers has a place in Jets history, the “trophy” line will be replayed.

For the media, and Rodgers, it was a springboard to selling the multi-millionaire performer, with a quirky personality, as just a regular guy who seemingly was auditioning for an “I Love New York” commercial.

Rodgers was seen in Madison Square Garden attending Knicks and Rangers playoff games with a few of his new Jets teammates. The images served to show him as a fan, not just a player obsessed with own sport — or sports in general. The Culture Vulture has already attended some Broadway shows with his teammates and was seen happily bouncing during a Taylor Swift Meadowlands performance.

All these media opportunities have also shown Rodgers to be a man of the people — all people. On HBO’s “Hard Knocks” he is shown interacting with individuals from both sides of the ball. And his desire to “get to know” other Jets’ employees, who don’t play the game, has been portrayed as Rodgers taking the entire organization under his wing.

For a team under such intense preseason scrutiny, there have been few bumps. There was former Giants running back, and current FAN mouth, Tiki Barber, reporting as fact that then Jets cancelled a joint practice with Tampa Bay because Saleh couldn’t make it. Barber’s report was erroneous.

Then, there were Valley of the Stupid Gasbags “reporting” that Rodgers, not Saleh, is running the team. Perhaps this report was based on someone’s day-dream. Or designed to spark a debate. Just like the one that was bound to come when Saleh said Rodgers would play in the final preseason game against the Giants.

All the attention and anticipation could set an organization on a different course or, at least, temporarily alter the way it does business.

“No, the Jets haven’t changed,” Raab said. “There obviously is more attention during training camp, but the Jets have always been a good partner. Our access has been maintained. So has the level of accommodation.”

Win or lose, the Jets will be a storyline throughout the season. The Jets early schedule is rough. One of the initial, and impactful, reactions will come out of SNY’s postgame show where fans will hear from Rodgers and Saleh. Also, the in-studio cast of the show (Steve Gelbs, Bart Scott, Willie Colon, Connor Rogers), doesn’t pull punches.

Often, the negative can provide for a more entertaining spectacle.

“Losing only attracts interest for so long,” Raab said. “This [Jets] team feels like one that won’t necessarily be phased by any early losses.”

Nor would their bright spotlight suddenly disappear.