Jets superfan’s high‑tech tailgate features 1,500‑pound grill and iconic green bus

Sean Winters, a longtime New York Jets season-ticket holder, brings a full-scale tailgate production to every home game at MetLife Stadium, including a remotely controlled, truck-sized grill and a memorabilia-filled green party bus that serves as a mobile meeting point for hundreds of fans.

Winters, who estimates he spends about $1,200 to $1,500 on each tailgate, said the setup feeds roughly 100 to 120 people and can produce about 200 pieces of meat in two hours. "I probably spend about $1,200 to $1,500 bucks between beer, meat, and dessert per Sunday," he said. "We probably feed about 100 to 120 people and cook about 200 pieces of meat in two hours."

The centerpiece is a green, lifelike replica of Winters Bros., the Long Island trash-hauling fleet Winters formerly owned. The grill, which Winters said weighs about 1,500 pounds, is mounted on golf-cart wheels and moves via an "electrical hydraulic" system that allows it to roll autonomously around the tailgate area. Winters hauls the machinery to the Meadowlands on a special trailer hitch, and the grill is also used at company events and employee appreciation barbecues.

Winters said the operation requires a team of four or five longtime friends to run the cooking station. Richie "The Knife" Shire of Islip, who Winters identified as the designated grill master for nearly 35 years, said the menu is more elaborate than typical tailgate fare. "Today we have some marinated filet mignon, marinated ribeye steaks, marinated chicken, homemade sausage and peppers — hot and sweet — plus some pork carnitas," Shire said.

Security and organization at the E-lot — the section of the stadium parking where Winters and his group set up — have helped the tailgate grow. Winters said his green bus departs from a Smithtown parking lot and arrives each game with large speakers and a crowd that has come to be expected by stadium staff. "Everybody knows where we are…security holds the spot for us at the stadium," he said.

Winters traces his fandom to the 1980s, a period that included the Jets' famed defensive line nicknamed the New York Sack Exchange. He has been a season-ticket holder since 1991 and said he began tailgating with his wife 34 years ago. The bus and grill operation dates to about 2010, and over the years the bus has accumulated team memorabilia, images of past players and a 9/11 tribute on its exterior.

The tailgate has drawn attention from Jets figures, Winters said, including owner Woody Johnson and past players such as Joe Namath and Nick Mangold. Winters said he once asked Johnson if the bus could be included in a Super Bowl parade; Winters said Johnson told him "no problem." The tailgate is an invite-only event in practice, though Winters feeds parking-lot staff and said the scene has become a family tradition for many attendees, some of whom started coming as children and now attend as adults.

Weather has not deterred the operation. Winters noted that rain affected the Week 1 opener this season, but the team still cooked and served as usual. The logistics include using five bags of charcoal each game and pulling the grill over the George Washington Bridge on its trailer.

Winters said he covers game tickets for the core group that helps run the tailgate as a way of thanking them for their service. He described the most rewarding part as the communal experience: getting people together early on Sunday and watching multiple generations of fans gather in the parking lot. "My favorite part is the excitement…getting so many people to meet at 8 in the morning on Sunday, there's nothing like it," he said.

Winters acknowledged the challenges of being a Jets fan over recent decades but said optimism persists at the start of each season. "It's exciting at the beginning of the year," he said. "Nobody is better than us yet."