Jets Country

New York Jets Owner Passed Over for Previous Role in Trump Administration

New York Jets owner Woody Johnson was previously President-elect Donald Trump's Ambassador to the United Kingdom during his first term.

Dylan Sanders

Sep 9, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; New York Jets owner Woody Johnson walks on the field before the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium.
Sep 9, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; New York Jets owner Woody Johnson walks on the field before the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium. / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
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New York Jets owner Woody Johnson left the team to work for Donald Trump during his last presidency as the ambassador to the United Kingdom. If Johnson is to be part of the administration, it won't be in that role.

In a post made to his Truth Social account, president-elect Trump announced that Warren A. Stephens would serve as the ambassador to the United Kingdom.

Stephens is currently the chairman and CEO of Stephens Inc, which is an investment bank based in Little Rock, Ark.

Johnson held that role during Trump's first presidency, from November 2017 to January 2021.

His brother, Christopher Johnson, was the one that ran day-to-day operations for the Jets that time around.

There is still a chance that New York's owner will be given another role by Trump. The two parties still seem to be on good terms and Johnson speaks highly of his time in London. But, if there is another job on the horizon, it would have to be in a new role.

Many fans were hoping that Johnson would take the chance to get back into a non-sports role as an opportunity to prompt him to leave the day-to-day to his brother or even sell the team. Since coming back to the team, seemingly nothing has gone right. But that's nothing new.

The Jets have a 171-228 overall record since he took over back in 2000. They have a 6-6 record in the playoffs and haven't been back in the postseason since the 2010 season. New York also has not had a double-digit win season since 2015.

If the franchise wants to take that next step, something will need to change.

There are already massive changes coming this offseason, so maybe the timing was off for Johnson to leave now.

He will have to find a new general manager, head coach and possibly quarterback.

Finding a new general manager could prove to be the toughest of three positions to fill, given the optics of Joe Douglas' tenure.

Johnson is an owner that is very hands-on and has made a lot of the decisions that seemingly led to Douglas being let go. It is not viewed as a desired job at the moment.

The insistence of ushering in the Aaron Rodgers era for the Jets has completely backfired. It is hard to blame them for him getting injured so quick last season. However, they doubled down on making Rodgers happy and the team now sits with a 3-9 record.

No matter what happens, 2025 should be an interesting year for Johnson.

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Dylan Sanders
DYLAN SANDERS

Dylan Sanders graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree from the Manship School of Mass Communication in 2023. He was born in raised in Baton Rouge, LA but has also lived in Buffalo, NY. Though he is a recent graduate, he has been writing about sports since he was in high school, covering different sports from baseball to football. While in college, he wrote for the school paper The Reveille and for 247Sports. He was able cover championships in football, baseball and women's basketball during his time at LSU. He has also spent a few years covering the NFL draft and every day activities of the New Orleans Saints. He is a Senior Writer at Inside the Marlins and will also be found across Sports Illustrated's baseball sites as a contributing writer. You can follow him on Twitter or Instagram @dillysanders

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