The New York Jets are, and have been over a decade, an embarrassment and an object of ridicule to their fans, their city, and the overall sport of football. Owning the longest current playoff drought in American professional sports of 15 years coupled with having an overall record of 46-108 in the last 10 years have turned the once respected franchise into a laughingstock.
The agonizing crumble of the New York Jets franchise, even in recent years, features humiliating and stupid losses, oscillating between uncompetitive blowouts to other teams or devastating down-to-the-wire games that are lost at the last second because of braindead penalties or overall incompetence.
Many point to the Jets’ failures in the yearly NFL Draft as the reason for the team’s horrific performance in most fan’s living memory, with an inane amount of regrettable high draft picks that have cost the Jets resources, time, and investment; third overall pick in 2018 Sam Darnold, eleventh overall pick in 2020 Mekhi Becton, and second overall pick in 2021 Zach Wilson stand out as spectacularly failed prospects on the Jets.
Others point to the ownership of the New York Jets franchise as the reason for its consistent failures; billionaire Woody Johnson, heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune, was ranked as the worst owner in the league by Jets players themselves. Despite his severe lack of qualifications, Johnson does not hesitate to meddle in team affairs. He has made disastrous decisions time and time again in ways that harm the franchise, the team, and make the New York Jets a laughingstock.
It has become common to see newspaper headlines ridiculing Woody Johnson, the Jets, or sometimes both at once. Johnson fired head coach Robert Saleh after a 2-3 start to the season last year, a decision that resulted in a 3-16 record since then. He cuts or signs players based off of what he perceives on social media, and this year he publicly belittled Justin Fields, his starting quarterback in a move many call idiotic.
To make matters worse, Johnson has indicated his eventual plans to pass ownership of the team to his son, 18 year old Brick Johnson. Brick reportedly already made a roster decision last year, famously based upon the player’s Madden rating.
Other, more conspiratory fans believe referees stack calls against the Jets, a take not unsupported by statistics. Since 2023, the Jets have accumulated the most penalties in the league by far. Many of these have come from subjective calls that change wins to losses, even when fans and analysts alike agree that the penalty call was incorrect.
With all these factors in consideration, the conclusion has been reached by many, including myself, that the New York Jets are a cursed organization doomed to suffer. Completely unlucky to the point of absurdity, this opinion is supported by: the fewest number of lost fumbles rolling to the Jets in the entire league, Aaron Rodgers tearing his ACL on his fourth snap as a Jet, and players regularly leaving the Jets and emerging as star players on other teams.
One touted theory is that Joe Namath, quarterback of the Jets during their sole Super Bowl win in 1969, placed a curse on the franchise in exchange for the win that will only expire when he passes away. Ironically, this may be a pointless curse, as there seems to be a real chance the New York Jets will be cursed for all of eternity regardless of what Namath does.
While it is true that the Jets have sucked and will continue to suck for the foreseeable future, it is also true that if and when they do find success, in 10 years or 50, Jets fans will be there to relish the moment. Often called the most loyal fans in the world, Jets fans carry a completely unreciprocated love and devotion for their team that unites these fans and keeps them filling up the seats of Metlife Stadium every gameday.
