Green Smoke

By Alasdair MacKay

Okay—the title of this blog is one of those things that you will either get immediately or not get at all. If you get it, you’re welcome. If you don’t get it—just take it as a sign that this article is going to be a lot about Woody Johnson, the Jets very own ambassador that really does appear to be spoiling us. At least, that’s how it appears.

For those of you on here that don’t know me, I am a co-host of a London Jets podcast, a regular at the watch parties in Leicester Square, and a serial contributor to Green Smoke. I am well and truly established in the London Jets community and the wider NFL London community that meets on a Sunday at the Hippodrome casino.

Many of my friends from that community have reached a point with me (and other regular Jets fans that come along) where the banter and teasing have stopped. All they have left is pity and a deep look of sorrow in their eyes as the Jets succumb to another embarrassment of a season. Just this week I have had separate messages from friends who support other teams gently suggesting that I would be welcome if I decided to make a change. A Lions fan sent me a meme of a roaring lion as encouragement. Hard to say no to the Lions right now. All of us are going to be tempted to jump from the sinking ship, but the best way to stay afloat is to stay together.

On Sunday at the Hippodrome casino, there was a formal organised watch party of Raiders and Dolphins fans. Between them they took up the middle third of the entire sports bar. On one side of them were a smattering of fans from other teams in the NFL. On the other side of them were the Jets fans—no formal gathering or official Gang Green UK or Green Smoke party, just a regular Sunday amid another inevitable losing season. There were at least as many Jets fans as Dolphins fans, many of whom had travelled from across the country to be at the formal watch party, and there were probably more Jets than Raiders. That level of loyalty and comradeship genuinely makes me proud to be a part of it all. Together in arms, standing at the last post to the bitter end.

It is with that spirit that I extend a formal invite to another Jets fan who lived in London for a few years and may shortly be returning. The once and future ambassador to the UK, Robert Wood Johnson. Mr. Johnson may well be personally responsible for this disaster of a season (and many before it); many of us may share the same deepest desire that he sell the team and never step foot in MetLife Stadium again; many of us may question his true business acumen or football experience; many of us question his politics or his taste in jewellery, but all of us share something in common with the man: he is a Jets fan and, therefore, is welcome at the Hippodrome or as a guest on the Hippodrome Jets podcast. He can even come to our Christmas party if he likes.

The decisions this season have seemed baffling at times—firing a head coach so early in the season; allowing our successful defensive coordinator to take one eye off the ball to assume more responsibility; allowing Hasson Reddick to play the franchise for fools for 7 weeks; and now the latest debacle of firing GM Joe Douglas with almost half a season still to come. Maybe Woody Johnson is playing at a level we don’t understand; maybe he sees things we don’t see. Maybe he has less control than we all think. The only thing I am sure of is that we deserve an explanation. After a playoff drought almost old enough to go from birth to driving a car or being tried as an adult, we deserve an explanation.

– Why, Mr. Johnson, was Adam Gase hired when everyone could see he was inept from his time on the Dolphins?

– Why was a QB with one good season at a relatively small school in a sleepy state in the midwest allowed to be drafted as the saviour of a franchise in the biggest media market in the world?

– Why did the franchise fail Geno Smith and Sam Darnold consecutively when it is now apparent that either one could have been good enough to QB the Jets through this era?

– Why has a GM who less than three years ago drafted two rookies of the year in the same draft AND an elite running back in the second round, then been allowed to fall so far from that perch that he be fired mid-season?

– Why was a QB allowed to call out a teammate so publicly on one failed route when every Jets fan had seen that same receiver make several big catches, despite limited targets and despite coming back from a long injury layoff?

There are so many questions that we all have. Articles are being written and sources being sought by journalists that are actively looking for someone to blame, so often that is the man at the very top, the easiest target, the team owner. That may well be true. It may all be Woody Johnson’s doing, but he at least deserves a chance to explain himself and to ask for more support from a tired and battered fan base.

Mr. Johnson, you can fire all the coaches and GMs you like, but you can’t fire the fans. All the Lions memes in the world won’t shake me from my post on the front line of Jets fandom. I can confidently say the same thing for the 900+ members of Gang Green UK, for the 60+ members of the Hippodrome Jets, for everyone still keeping up with Green Smoke on a regular basis, and for anyone still reading this article. When you get to London to serve your country once again, you are cordially invited to speak your truth on a podcast that isn’t looking for a scapegoat but is simply looking for an answer. You are cordially invited on the Hippo Jets podcast. See you then.