Jamal Adams takes shot at Woody Johnson in tweet: 'We need the RIGHT people at the top'

New York Jets safety Jamal Adams takes shot at Woody Johnson, who bought the Jets in 2000.

Jamal Adams didn’t pull any punches on Tuesday, responding to recent media reports about former New York Jets owner Woody Johnson. In doing so, the Jets safety may have potentially widened the gulf between himself and the team.

On Tuesday, a report surfaced that Johnson, who gave up his day-to-day role as owner of the Jets in 2017 when he became ambassador to the United Kingdom, allegedly made racist and sexist remarks while serving as a diplomat. The report from CNN claims that Johnson “made racist generalizations about Black men and questioned why the Black community celebrates Black History Month.”

In addition, the same report said that Johnson made “cringeworthy” comments about women. He is reportedly under investigation for these comments that are highlighted in CNN’s detailed reporting on the allegations.

Adams has made comments in recent weeks about social justice issues, highlighting claims of police brutality in light of the death of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. He tweeted about the reports of Johnson’s alleged comments.

In retweeting CNN’s report about the former Jets owner, Adams added that "We need the RIGHT people at the top. Wrong is wrong!”

Johnson bought the Jets in 2000 from Leon Hess. His brother Christopher Johnson is currently the team’s CEO while he serves as ambassador.

Since taking over the team in 2017, Christopher has made several prominent moves including the firing of head coach Todd Bowles following the 2018 and then firing general manager Mike Maccagnan last offseason.

Christopher was the face of the organization in the hiring of head coach Adam Gase as well as general manager Joe Douglas. He also played a prominent role in addressing the team several weeks ago over issues of social justice and police brutality, even offering his personal information to the players to continue the discussion.

The meeting and his tone reportedly were well received by the players.

It is unclear how much, if any, influence Woody carries in the decision-making process with regards to the team while he is an ambassador.

It should be noted that during his time with the Jets, Woody has never seen accusations like this levied against him as an owner. He promptly handled a sexual harassment issue in the team’s locker room in 2010 relating to the presence of TV Azteca reporter Ines Sainz in the team’s locker room and comments made about her physical appearance.

Woody went so far as to personally apologize to the reporter.

As for Adams and his tweets, it continues a difficult and strained relationship with the team over the past few weeks. A month ago, Adams requested a trade from the team citing frustration over his contract situation. He has publicly made similar statements about wanting out from New York.

Taking a shot at the team’s ownership group certainly will widen the supposed rift between the team’s All-Pro safety and the organization itself.


Published