NFL Owners: The 5 worst in professional football
By Randy Gurzi
5. Woody Johnson, New York Jets
Oh those New York Jets. Their new head coach Todd Bowles has worked very hard this season to make people forget what a dumpster fire they have been in recent years. Bowles has his group working hard as they have fought their way to a 9-5 record, with a shot at an AFC playoff berth.
Sadly they would probably still be awful if it weren’t for a sucker punch by team MVP linebacker IK Enemkpali (now of the Buffalo Bills) to the face of horrendous quarterback Geno Smith.
Smith’s name brings up the biggest drama in recent years for the Jets which highlights the insane state of the franchise. After allowing their brash head coach Rex Ryan to run the offense into the ground, owner Woody Johnson decided that releasing Mike Tannenbaum as general manager was the answer.
He then replaced the departed GM with the inexperienced John Idzik, Jr. Johnson must have realized Idzik was so inexperienced that he had to step in and help. He “helped” by making sure Idzik didn’t have to search for a new coach, forcing him to work with a guy the whole world knew was on the way out of New York in Ryan.
Izdik then continued to add to the awkwardness by drafting the entitled quarterback out of West Virginia, Geno Smith, in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft. Smith was then thrown into the lineup although it seemed obvious Ryan wanted nothing to do with him as their quarterback.
The result was terrible play by the whole team as they ran into a 8-8 season. After that rough year, the owner kept everything the same and saw a 4-12 record in 2014 as the result.
He fired Idzik after two years of forcing him to work with Rex Ryan. He fired Ryan after some good years, followed by two years of forcing him to work with a terrible passer.
To further prove Johnson is clueless at football, it appears he may have again been nudging for Smith at quarterback until Enemkpali broke Geno’s jaw. He was sidelined, Ryan Fitzpatrick took over, and the whole team looks different. In fact, Fitzpatrick’s stellar season may have helped save his owner from climbing higher on this list.
As a whole, Johnson has seen his team win only 48 percent of their games since he has taken over the team. Their record includes 117 wins and 123 losses.
Next: Number 4