When someone texted me the article from Dianna Russini at the Athletic this morning, I thought it was fake. I thought it was a joke like link like the large nude gentlemen on the end of the bed picture that was floating around during Covid (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, I would suggest you don’t google it).

“There is no way that could be real”, I thought. The more I read, the worse it got.

For the record, I had a working relationship with Dianna Russini from our days at ESPN together, and I find her to be one of the most credible reporters/insiders around. I know the lengths she goes through to make sure a story is accurate. So, to see what I thought was a joke headline this morning about the Jets, I didn’t know what to do.

But then I remembered something every Jets fan is reminded of year-in and year-out. Something that is at the core of the pain and misery Jets fans feel.

Even when they don’t know how to put a name on it, they know it’s there: Woody Johnson is an awful owner.

For those who haven’t read it, let me enlighten you. Joe Douglas had a deal in place with the Denver Broncos for former first round pick wide receiver Jerry Jeudy. The trade suddenly fell apart and the Broncos pressed for a reason why after thinking they had a deal in place. That’s when things get ugly.

Douglas told the Broncos that Johnson didn’t want to make the trade because the owner felt Jeudy’s player rating in “Madden NFL,” the popular video game, wasn’t high enough, according to multiple league sources. The Broncos ultimately traded the receiver to the Cleveland Browns. Last Sunday, Jeudy crossed the 1,000-yard receiving mark for the first time in his career.

Johnson, who declined The Athletic’s request for comment, soured on his franchise quarterback less than a year after betting big on him, denigrated his own players in the locker room and seemed to follow decision-making advice from his teenage sons, according to various team and league sources. And the proposed Jeudy trade wasn’t the only time Johnson cited “Madden” ratings when evaluating players.

But Woody wasn’t done there. Woody actually wanted the Jets to give a better draft pick in a deal in order to own all the pomp and circumstance that comes with picking the last selection of the draft.

When the Jets traded quarterback Zach Wilson to the Broncos last April, Denver asked Douglas to include the final pick of the draft (257th overall). According to a source familiar with the negotiations, Johnson instructed Douglas to instead trade the 256th pick — which the Jets also owned — so New York could select “Mr. Irrelevant,” the final pick of the draft who is annually celebrated upon his selection. 

“Can you believe that?” the source said. “He thought he needed the Mr. Irrelevant pick to get a Brock Purdy (the final pick of the 2022 draft who has emerged as a franchise quarterback in San Francisco). I don’t think that’s ever happened in the history of the NFL: A team wanted a worse pick.”

Woody Johnson is an egomaniacal mad man, who holds the entire fanbase hostage with his ineptitude. He doesn’t know the first thing about football or running an organization and submits to his terrible instincts for the business and the whims of whatever reddit thread he or his teenage sons happen to read that day.

His dysfunction knows no bounds. He is out for the prestige and the celebrity of owning a team. It’s not even about the money for Woody (I wouldn’t call him cheap). It’s not about winning. It’s not about the players, the coaches or the fans. It’s about Woody Johnson. It’s about feeding his ego and seeing his organization make headlines.

I had a friend of mine call me who is a Jets fan when he saw the article and he said it was Dianna Russini just posting “click bait”. One, he is wrong. Two, if the Jets want to stop being a punchline, they need stop having a joke for an owner.

Woody Johnson is currently looking for a new GM and head coach to end this 14-year playoff drought and I have as much confidence in him making the right hires and letting those people run the organization without his interference as I do in gas station sushi. Woody Johnson and his sons’ Madden rankings are the driving force behind the pain that has plagued Jets fans for decades.

My hope for the Jets and their fans for the last two home games is they let Woody know how the feel LOUDLY. Maybe someone could let him know what his Madden rating is an owner. I guarantee, he would nix a trade with numbers that low. 

Latest update regarding Jets coaching and GM search is an absolute joke that is actually happening

Imagine breaking up with your longtime girlfriend, who thought you were going to marry her and who treated you well. Now, picture it’s a few years after your breakup and you call her up and ask if she wants to grab a coffee. She sits across from you expectantly. You gaze in her eyes and […]