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Woody Johnson said on Monday:
“I have to look in the mirror and I have to be a better owner.”
During the press briefing that quote came out of, he also had another comment worth exploring.
He was asked about the recent Athletic story, from late in the season, that didn’t paint the most ideal picture of him as an owner. Among other things, the story claimed that Johnson “nixed” a possible trade for then Denver Broncos wide receiver Jerry Jeudy, “Over Jeudy’s player rating in the Madden NFL video game, according to multiple team and league sources.”
The story also claimed, “Johnson was tentative about signing Jets guard and then free-agent John Simpson in the offseason because of his Madden “awareness” rating.”
The Jets did sign Simpson, but Jeudy was traded to Cleveland.
The story claimed that the Madden ratings information came from Woody’s two teenage sons.
The story also claimed this: “Last year, Johnson started including his sons in some meetings at the team facility. For some Jets employees, the sons’ increasing involvement clarified their father’s propensity for sharing posts from X and articles from various outlets, including a blog called ‘Jets X-Factor’ with the organization’s top decision-makers.”
The story claimed Joe Douglas said, “I answer to a teenager.”
There was a lot more in this story, but we don’t need to get into it all – most of you have seen the anecdotes, but Johnson was asked about all the claims on Monday.
“You don’t believe those reports, do you?” Johnson shot back.
That is a very unique thing to say to a scrum of reporters interviewing somebody.
How do you answer that?
And surely some reporters do believe the reports.
“It was a lot of exaggeration and hyperbole, it really was,” Johnson added. “You really have to take all that stuff with a grain of salt because you don’t know how much — nobody knows how involved I was.”
The story had so many sources, and so many anecdotes, that you’d have to think, based on the law of percentages, some of it perhaps occurred.
Remember, a year earlier, The Athletic, had another blockbuster, about the 2023 season, with a reported 30 sources, pointing out some dysfunction.
Let’s be honest, there were probably a lot of disgruntled former and current employees willing to chirp. The last couple of seasons have not been a walk on the beach in Florham Park.
How many things are going to be shot down before you start to wonder – maybe some of this stuff is true?
NFL Network’s Colleen Wolfe reported in March 2024, that according to a “very reliable source” there was a “heated exchange” between Johnson and then Jets coach Robert Saleh at a party at the NFL Owner’s Meeting in Orlando.
Wolfe, who works for the league’s network, was forced to apologize for that report, and a beat writer claimed, according to team sources, it didn’t happen.
Does that mean it didn’t happen, because the NFL Network, owned by the league, forced her to retract it? I don’t know.
After all, in retrospect, it was very clear that Johnson and Saleh didn’t always see eye to eye, and the owner fired the coach on October 8, 2024.
Getting back to the recent Athletic story, two of the authors of that story, Dianna Russini and Mike Silver, have been around the league a long time, and have a lot of sources.
How do I know? I have seen it in action for years at league events and games. I’ve seen them operate. They know a lot of people. It is what it is. And I’m not on great terms with either one of them, so it’s not like I’m a special pleader for either.
Here is another anecdote from the recent story:
“When we’re discussing things, you’ll hear Woody cite something that Brick or Jack read online that’s being weighed equally against whatever opinion someone else in the department has,” said one Jets executive.
Statements were issued by the team criticizing the idea that Woody’s sons are involved in football decisions and that Madden data just provided “reference points.”
Johnson said they have “no role in the organization.”
But last month, according to a source, ESPN Rich Cimini said Johnson’s sons are “very much” involved in football matters.
The bottom line is this: When you have this many reports that something is amiss, something is amiss, no matter how much spin is attempted.
So Woody clearly needs to tweak his approach and has admitted as much.
January 31, 2025
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