The Jets Came Out Of The Tunnel Today With a Boombox Blasting "Gangsta's Paradise" Before Getting Stomped By Buffalo And Continuing To Be The Biggest Clown Show In The League
Not going to lie, sometimes I feel bad for kicking the Jets while they're down.
Especially when they've been down for basically ever.
The Jets fans I know at the Barstool office are good guys for the most part - Tom Leigh especially. They're tormented by this franchise and curse their parents for raising them fans of gang green.
But then there's guys like Jack Mack. (More on him below.)
And, it still drives me up the wall that they came into Foxboro back in January 2011 and stunned the Patriots in the divisional round of the playoffs. That loss cost Brady and BB another ring and cost us a Tom Brady v. Aaron Rodgers Super Bowl match up.
So when I really think about it, I don't feel so bad.
You can argue there are plenty of horrendous franchises in sport, and in the NFL, namely the Bears, and you'd be correct. But nobody does it like the J-E-T-S.
Jerry blogged a "Jets Suck Megablog" last week, without me realizing that he included the piece Reags did on Woody Johnson taking advice on personnel decisions from the Madden video game via his teenage sons, which I also didn't realize was done. (As much as the front end of this site/app drive people nuts, you guys have no idea how rough the back end is. We are supposedly very near the new app and site being rolled out and I can't fucking wait)
So my piece was shelved. But like I told Hubbs when he texted me to tell me I blogged something that was already done, "I'll just keep it in my drafts because I'm sure it will only be a matter of days before Woody and the Jets do something just as dumb, if not more dumb, that I can repurpose it for."
We didn't even have to wait until kickoff today.
The 3-12 Jets (now 4-12) came marching out of their locker room, led by Mr. Enigma Aaron Rodgers, blasting Coolio.
Why?
I haven't the slightest idea.
Don't get me wrong. Fantastic 90s song. Iconic even. But time and place guys.
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NY Times- Woody Johnson decided to do his own research.
The New York Jets’ owner was at his house in Palm Beach, Fla., last February, discussing potential offseason acquisitions with team decision-makers as they watched game tape. Wide receiver Jerry Jeudy, a former Denver Broncos first-round pick, flashed on the screen. Jets general manager Joe Douglas expressed interest, according to a team source. Johnson took out his phone and started typing.
A few weeks later, Douglas and his Broncos counterpart, George Paton, were deep in negotiations for a trade that would have sent Jeudy to the Jets and given future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers another potential playmaker. The Broncos felt a deal was near. Then, abruptly, it all fell apart. In Denver’s executive offices, they couldn’t believe the reason why.
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.
The NY Times/Athletic did a great piece last week on what a cricus the NY Jets and their ringmaster Woody Johnson continue to be. I implore Chicago Bears fans to read it because it will actually make you feel ok about having the McCaskey's piloting your plane. Honestly.
Stories like this still astonish me, even though they should not in the fucking least, because it feels like NFL owners are in a constant battle to one-up-each other being bufoons. Think about it - Woody Johnson, Jim Irsay, Mark Davis, David Tepper, The McCaskey Bunch, Dean Spanos, Mike Brown, and of course Jurry. Hell even Robert Kraft and his slip-ups. You couldn't assemble a bigger group stereotypical old rich white guys.
Full disclosure, two weeks ago when the reports were "leaking" about Bill Belichick supposedly being interested in the Jets job, but the Jets choosing not to interview him or even entertain the idea, I sent them to Jerry right away. Without skipping a beat Jerry told me there was a negative-infinity-percent chance it was true. That "as long as Woody Johnson owns that shitstain excuse of a football team, Belichick would never consider working there. Even if his life depended on it."
As mentioned, Jerry blogged it, and knocked it out of the park, per usual.
(Sidebar - If I found a magic lamp with a genie in it, I would honest-to-God use one of my wishes to ask the genie to make me half as good a writer as Jerry. He could write blogs breaking down a priests homily and find a way to make it the most entertaining, informative, and funny thing you'd ever read on the subject. The guy pumps out A+ piece after A+ piece, day after day after day. I think he's the best sportswriter currently alive and we are beyond blessed to have him here. For all the horrendous "talent" Dave has hired over the years, seeing Jerry's talent from Day 1, and hiring twice more than makes up for all the misfires.)
Back to Woody Johnson and him running his billion-dollar organization like he's playing Madden on franchise mode
like it’s a Friday night in his mom’s basement.
Jerry Jeudy, a guy who’s now torching defenses for 1,000+ yards in Cleveland, could’ve been catching passes from Aaron Rodgers in New York. Instead, Woody said, “Nah, his overall rating is only 83.”
KFC nailed it on his one-minute-man last week on the subject -
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And it gets worse. This isn’t even the first time Woody let Madden dictate his decisions. He didn’t want to sign John Simpson because his “awareness” rating in the game was too low. Imagine being a grown man in a high-stakes business meeting, discussing multi-million-dollar contracts, and saying, “But what about his awareness rating, though?” How does nobody laugh in his face? Does everyone in that front office just have permanent poker face from years of trauma?
And while Woody’s out here treating Madden like it’s gospel, his teenage sons are running around the locker room like it’s a middle school sleepover. One of them apparently hijacked a game ball ceremony to give it to Garrett Wilson instead of the interim coach who just got his first win. You can’t make this up.
Let’s not forget how this all started: Woody vetoed Jeudy, so the Jets had to scramble and ended up signing Mike Williams, fresh off an ACL tear, and drafting some random kid from Western Kentucky who thought it was cool to drop the ball before crossing the goal line.
Then, midseason panic sets in, and they trade for Davante Adams. And yeah, Adams is good, (he’s Davante fuckin Adams), but he’s also 32, and this season is already circling the drain. Well done, Woody.
Meanwhile, Jerry Jeudy is thriving in Cleveland, probably laughing his ass off every time he checks Twitter and sees Jets fans melting down. Actually, no. He's blaming Chad Johnson.
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Honestly, who can blame him? He dodged a bullet. Playing for Woody Johnson is like working for Michael Scott if Michael Scott inherited the Scranton Branch from a billionaire oil tycoon and gave his kids access to the corporate credit card.
The Jets haven’t made the playoffs since 2010, and with leadership like this, it’s no wonder. Woody’s decision-making process is straight out of the “How to Ruin an NFL Team for Dummies” handbook. You’ve got a Hall of Fame quarterback in Aaron Rodgers, a stud wideout in Garrett Wilson, and instead of building a contender, you’re out here letting your kids and a video game call the shots.
And you have to L-O-V-E- LOVE Jets fans like Jack Mac who have such bad PTSD that they're stuck in a perpetual state of denial.
Yah man. It's a grand conspiracy to make Woody and the team look bad. Completely off-brand.
At least with the Bears, the McCaskeys are good people. Dumb people, but good people. They know they don't know shit about football, so they put their trust, (FAR TOO EASILY), in the hands of people who know even less about football- people like Kevin Warren, Ryan Poles, Ryan Pace, and Phil Emery.
With the Jets, you've got a shit-bag owner, who's also a moron, Woody Johnson, who also insists on inserting himself into major decision-making every opportunity he can get.
The Jets are 4-12. Their head coach is gone, their GM is gone, and their fanbase is stuck wondering how much longer this nightmare can possibly last. At least they have Madden ratings to guide them. Maybe next year, Woody will finally figure out how to turn the salary cap off.
p.s. - it also looks like Garrett Wilson is donezo if Rodgers is coming back next season according to Rappaport.