On a day the Jets pressed reset on the franchise by trading away a pair of foundational players for three first-round picks, a second-round pick, defensive tackle Mazi Smith, and receiver AD Mitchell, it’s worth remembering that the team continues to be owned by Robert Wood Johnson IV.
Two weeks ago, owner Woody Johnson publicly criticized quarterback Justin Fields. It was a stunning display, especially since his comments were made with nonchalance and in cold blood. As one source familiar with comments Johnson has made privately said at the time, “You should see what he says when the mic is off.”
Enter former Jets quarterback Jordan Travis. Two years ago, he was on the short list of Heisman Trophy candidates. On November 18, 2023, he suffered a serious leg injury.
The Jets nevertheless made Travis a fifth-round pick in the 2024 draft, taking a flier on the possibility of Travis fully recovering and becoming the player he seemed destined to be. It didn’t work out. He retired from football in April 2025.
Last week, on the Travis Takes Two podcast, Jordan Travis talked about the things Johnson had said during Travis’s time with the team.
“I gotta tell you, that guy, no disrespect, but there were things said to me, not obviously to that point because I never got on the field to play, but about my leg,” Travis said. “Like, just slick comments, I don’t know if he was trying to be slick about it. You know how some older people, they just say whatever comes to their mind, and it kind of made me feel a certain type of way.
“‘You ever gonna get healthy?’ And I’m just like, ‘Damn.’ Not like, ‘How you feeling?’ Never that, it was always comments like that. It kind of upset me, but kind of rolled over my head.”
It’s not a surprise. Last year, TheAthletic.com reported (among other things) that Johnson once said to quarterback Mike White, who threw his helmet to the floor of the locker room after a Jets loss to the Seahawks, “You should throw your helmet, you fucking suck.”
So, yes, the Jets are trying to take one step back in the hopes of someday taking multiple steps forward. But, like every chronically dysfunctional team, the tone is set at the top of the organization. Johnson’s alleged comments to Travis provide yet another concrete example of the fact that, for as long as he runs the team, it makes little sense to expect true and sustained success.
If it ever happens, it won’t occur because of Johnson. It’ll happen in spite of him.
