The NY Jets can't give their fans a minute to savor any sort of positivity. Even as they relished a win against the Jacksonville Jaguars, reports started to surface that showed exactly how far Woody Johnson is going to make this team bend to his will at the cost of the overall success of his franchise.
The Athletic came out with a bombshell report that highlighted how messy this godforsaken team is. While many of the funnier hits related to Johnson's iron-fisted grip on the Jets' roster, a story relating to former Jets quarterback Mike White speaks to just how nasty and toxic Johnson and his ownership circle can be when things aren't going well.
According to Dianna Russini and Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic, White, who was playing through broken ribs in the 2022 season, was berated by Johnson in the locker room after a loss to the Seattle Seahawks. After throwing his helmet, Johnson told White that he "should throw your helmet, you f—ing suck."
Johnson apologized, but the damage was done. Between this and stories that Johnson and his family will often hang out in the locker room in a way that is unusual for members of the ownership circle, the Jets are just as chaotic and dramatic as ever.
NY Jets owner Woody Johnson berated Mike White after playing with broken ribs
Perhaps the most concerning part of this article, outside of the fact Johnson reportedly vetoed a trade with the Browns for wide receiver Jerry Jeudy due to his low Madden rating, was the fact Johnson's two teenage sons reportedly have so much influence within the organization.
Johnson has routinely looked at Jets blogs like this one for advice on personnel moves at the request of his sons. Joe Douglas reportedly bemoaned this fact often, claiming that he answers to teenagers. No wonder it was tough to sustain any success with this team.
One of the more damning populations in this article was the assertion that the Johnson sons would read Jets blogs and websites before forwarding the information to their dad. Essentially, takes from fans and informed media members were helping Johnson make roster decisions, often against Douglas' judgment.
With the owner crowdsourcing personnel decisions from literal children and players being mocked despite gutting out an extremely painful injury to help Johnson's team win, the Jets have proven to be somehow even more of a dysfunctional mess than ever before.