The long rumored ambassadorship of Woody Johnson has come to fruition. But with his presidential appointment, the Jets owner will now relinquish control of his club for the next four years.
Many expect Johnson’s brother, Christopher Wold Johnson (Do we call him Woldy?) to run the day-to-day operations of the club, although this is this isn’t set in stone yet and there were reports Jets president Neil Glat could take control of the franchise as well.
No matter whom it is Woody Johnson will still have a hand in the club, because he’s just a Skype call away.
But because Johnson will be entertaining the Queen over the next four year over in England, it may keep him away from doing something incredibly stupid with his club. Namely, because he’s away, Johnson will not fall in love with someone else’s quarterback and order general manager Mike Maccagnan to trade for a Tony Romo, Jay Cutler, or whomever is the flavor of the week on the market this off-season.
Although you can argue trading for Brett Favre was a football move back in 2008, Johnson was trying to put fannies in the seats and getting Tim Tebow in 2012 was a total publicity move, which ultimately blew up in the Jets’ face.
So if anything, Johnson’s new job may prevent something like this from happening again.
Instead what the Jets may have now is this novel idea: Football men making football decisions. There may be less pressure on Maccagnan to have a perfect draft this year and coach Todd Bowles won’t have to coach like his job is on the line.
Instead both men will get a chance to build a franchise the right way. There will be consistency and a plan instead of an owner meddling in order to sell his precious PSLs.
Sure Wold Johnson or Glat will be checking in with Woody Johnson, and yes, both Maccagnan and Bowles could be fired after a horrible 2017, but these decisions will be less reactionary and more thought out, because anything large like that will be made Woody Johnson and not his chosen segregate. There will be another voice chiming in and more time for deliberation.
The Jets are not going to fall apart with Woody Johnson in London. The team will persevere and so will the NFL, who will see the Jets owner resign his committee positions.
So, this move definitely won’t hurt the Jets and frankly can make them better, because it will prevent Woody Johnson from making rash decisions based on selling tickets.
Instead, if Maccagnan and Bowles are the right men for their jobs, this ambassadorship may help make the Jets a stronger organization, because now the football men will be in charge.
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