Gang Green Nation
By now you have likely heard about the comments New York Jets owner Woody Johnson made about his 0-7 team earlier in the week.
There are a number of different angles we could from this.
I couldn’t help but think about a complaint I hear constantly from Jets fans about the team. That is a lack of accountability within the franchise. Fans have complained about this for years.
Comments like Woody Johnson’s go a long way towards explaining why there is seldom accountability with the New York Jets. The man who has been in charge as the Jets have put together the longest postseason drought in professional sports immediately pointed the finger at somebody else when discussing the reasons for the team’s struggles.
Why would anybody ever expect accountability from an organization whose leader never takes responsibility for his own failings?
We could also discuss how unnecessary and harmful these comments were.
Justin Fields is a 26 year old player going through the toughest sort of stretch a young athlete can experience. He is playing poorly. He is a lightning rod for criticism within the fanbase and the media. His confidence level is likely low. Now as he’s trying to fight his way out of a potentially career-altering slump, he needs to answer questions like this.
Aaron Glenn is a first year coach trying to execute a massive turnaround. Little has gone right so far. The last thing he needs as he tries to boost the team from a disastrous start is to deal with an owner generated controversy.
I’m not convinced that there are many “good” owners in the NFL. Most of them seem to not know what they are doing. I think as a fan you really hope that they just do as little harm as possible.
Even considering how little most owners add to their teams, I would be pretty confident in the vast majority to avoid creating a needless controversy like this in the middle of a dire period for their team. The few I wouldn’t are guys like Jerry Jones and yes, Woody Johnson, who are known for being particularly damaging for their respective teams.
There are a number of other takeaways we can and should have. I offered some the other day.
One thought I could not shake was that these comments actually offer a lot of insight into the way Woody Johnson views the NFL and why the Jets have struggled so much under his watch.
It is not easy to build a good NFL team.
A team needs 22 starters. Beyond that, there are a number of role players and backups who are significant parts of a team. A roster has 53 players. A practice squad has 17.
With all of these players, complex schemes need to be developed on both sides of the ball. Along with the number of players and positions that need instruction, this requires a large coaching staff to be assembled.
The number of players on a roster...
