The NFL’s 32 teams have done a great job of staying on the same page regarding the ongoing labor dispute. When it comes to which of the two teams who share a stadium will play at that new stadium, unity has yielded to the notion of really rich guys wanting to always get their way.
Jets owner Woody Johnson has issued a statement complaining about the procedure that the league used to determine that the Giants will play the first regular-season game at their mutual new venue. And Johnson essentially is saying that he thinks the league cheated.
“An NFL coin toss has a few fundamental elements that are missing here, most notably the presence of the teams involved,” Johnson said. “That’s how it’s always done in the League, whether it’s determining the order of the draft or deciding who’s going to kick off the game. When the issue of which team would be hosting the first regular season game could not be resolved on the merits, I suggested a coin toss as the fairest way to resolve this issue. The League rejected that idea. Then, I was told on Friday that a coin toss had taken place at the League office and that the Jets had lost. We rejected a process in which neither team was present. The League departed from our time-honored tradition and declined the opportunity to set the matter straight with a transparent process.”
In other words, Johnson thinks that there was no coin toss. Or that if there was, a Mulligan or a best-of-three (or five or seven) format was employed.
Either way, the Jets -- who have escaped multiple instances of suspected (or actual) cheating under the tampering rules -- are now basically accusing the league of cheating. Just like the Jets accused the Patriots nearly 2.5 years ago of cheating.
Apart from the fact that Johnson apparently thinks he was cheated, why does he care enough to issue a statement to which many could react by concluding that he’s being petty?
As Peter King of SI.com put it, “Hey Woody: Care about something that matters.”
Regardless, the clip we posted a few days ago now has even greater relevance.