New York Jets Fans Show Extreme Irony with Monday John Idzik Protest

Sep 7, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets fans pass through a security check before the game against the Oakland Raiders at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

New York Jets fans are a rabid bunch. We are all passionate fans of our team. Remember the show “Damn Yankees”, where the lead character sells his soul in order for the Washington Senators to beat the New York Yankees? Most Jets fans would do the same thing for a Super Bowl championship. I know I would, in a heartbeat.

This article is not for the majority of Jets fans. Most Jets fans are great fans, passionate for our team, proud when they win, and happy when they lose. We debate the team amongst ourselves, all with the common goal of seeing the Jets win a championship. This piece is not directed at us.

This piece is for that other group of Jets fans. These are the Jets fans that have taken their anger at John Idzik to ridiculous levels. It’s OK to be disappointed in his performance, but the extreme protest is not only silly, it is also extremely ironic. Let me tell you what I mean.

Jul 24, 2014; Cortland, NY, USA; New York Jets general manager John Idzik looks on during training camp at SUNY Cortland. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

You all know the protest I am talking about. It started with the Jets fans that started the “Fire John Idzik” website. Not just because they started a website, but they took donations, and made enough money to place three billboards outside MetLife Stadium! Think about that for a minute. Jets fans actually spent their hard-earned money on placing billboards outside the stadium.

And then, it went even further yesterday. A different fan attached a banner to a plan, championing the same “Fire John Idzik” cause.

This is the banner that flew over the Jets practice yesterday. We have all seen it by now, all of the beat writers tweeted out pictures from their various vantage points. A “Fire John Idzik” banner, which happened to fly while John Idzik was attending practice. First of all, it is highly inappropriate to try to embarrass the guy like that. Whomever made this decision didn’t embarrass John Idzik, they embarrassed the Jets fans as a whole.

And it goes further than that.

Oct 12, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets owner Woody Johnson watches warmups before the game against the Denver Broncos at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

It is all completely ridiculous for Jets fans to act this way.

Let’s think about this for a minute. To those of us that think John Idzik should go, and I know there are a lot of you, let me ask you a question. Do you think Woody Johnson is going to make a change in response to these actions? Is he going to look up in the air, see a banner, and decide that Jets fans are right, that John Idzik should be fired? NO.

Is Woody Johnson reading the web, locating anti-Idzik websites, and changing his thinking about how to run his franchise? There is no chance. Not only are you embarrassing all Jets fans, you are also wasting your time. These actions won’t even faze the Jets owner. Stop wasting your time on nonsense.

But wait, there is more.

May 8, 2014; New York, NY, USA; New York Jets fans cheer as Calvin Pryor (Louisville) is being selected as the number eighteen overall pick in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Through the years, especially during the Rex Ryan era, the term “circus” has been thrown around the New York Jets. The Jets have always been a laughingstock, but in recent years, they have been a “circus”.

There is a lot of blame to be tossed around. The Jets have traded for a backup quarterback that needed a private plane to arrive in town for the only press conference in the universe for a backup quarterback. The media likes to hone in on problems and blow them up, causing undue attention to the team, and feeding the “circus” atmosphere. Jets fans like to complain about how much they hate the beat writers, and the local media in general.