Woody Johnson reportedly shares links from Jets blogs with top football decision-makers

By now, it’s well-known that Woody Johnson perhaps pays too much attention to the media.

He’s not totally at fault for the New York Jets’ shortcomings. As previously outlined, the media narrative absolving now-former general manager Joe Douglas of blame misses the mark. But there’s a common denominator her, as best exemplified by the team owner nixing trades due to a player’s Madden rating.

To miss the playoffs for 14 consecutive seasons — the longest current postseason drought in North American professional sports — there has to be some cosmic forces working against you. The Jets might have trouble luck, or they might be cursed — see Aaron Rodgers tearing his Achilles four snaps into his New York tenure — but they also have a problem that goes beyond satanic forces.

The root issue?

An owner who reportedly listens to non-football voices.

Johnson’s sons, Brick and Jack, have his ear, which is normal in family-run ownership groups. The New England Patriots’ Jonathan Kraft and the Dallas Cowboys’ Stephen Jones also play major roles in their respective organizations. But here’s the key difference: Kraft and Jones aren’t terminally online teenagers pushing forward links from fan blogs and social media posts.

In a revealing piece from The Athletic, Dianna Russini, Zack Rosenblatt and Mike Silver, it was noted that Johnson has a propensity for sharing X posts and articles from various outlets, including a blog called Jets X-Factor.

When Johnson left for the U.K. in 2017, his sons, Brick and Jack, were 11 and 9, respectively. When he returned, they were teenagers. Last year, Johnson started including his sons in some meetings at the team facility. For some Jets employees, the sons’ increasing involvement clarified their father’s propensity for sharing posts from X and articles from various outlets, including a blog called “Jets X-Factor,” with the organization’s top decision-makers.

“When we’re discussing things, you’ll hear Woody cite something that Brick or Jack read online that’s being weighed equally against whatever opinion someone else in the department has,” said one Jets executive.

“I answer to a teenager,” Douglas quipped to people close to him before the season in an acknowledgment of the perceived power dynamic.

And to be fair, Jets X-Factor is valuable to the Jets’ content space.

I mean, sheeesh (just a little-ole blawg ovah here). November 2023: Pointing out that it was Saleh’s general game-planning vision that was the top culprit for the #Jets offense (when everybody else was screaming at Zach Wilson). ✅ It always starts with the HC’s leadership and… https://t.co/prD871T7Gl pic.twitter.com/gy0hOEn7Ew

— Robby Sabo (@RobbySabo) December 19, 2024

But the problem is that Johnson constantly seeks approval and opinions from outside the building, including listening to his sons and fan blogs. He sends links to articles as if it proves he knows more than his football people.

He is, after all, the team’s top football decision-maker, and the buck stops with him. That said, the issue is that by constantly meddling in football operations, he casts doubt on those who are supposed to be steering the ship.

This isn’t meant to be a dig at Jets X-Factor — and perhaps the Jets would be in a better position than 4-10 entering Sunday if they listened more to the analytical and film-focused insights from this credentialed media company.

But in the context of this tell-all, which shines a light on the dysfunction that starts at the top with the former United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom, it shows that the line between fan chatter and organizational decision-making has apparently become dangerously thin.

[The Athletic]