Woody Johnson was interviewed by FOX Business Channel on Tuesday and his comments about the decision to trade for Tim Tebow have generated some headlines.
Most of them focus on his response to a question about the role he played in pushing for the trade, which came shortly after Johnson compared Tebow to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
“If he turns out to be a great player, I will take full accountability for that,” Johnson said.
It looks juicy on paper, but Johnson was laughing as he said it and went on to say that Rex Ryan and Mike Tannenbaum are the ones making the football decisions. The more interesting portion of the interview came when Johnson downplayed the notion that Tebow’s impact on the financial bottom line played a big role in the decision to make the deal.
“Not really,” Johnson said. “Jerseys aren’t really our main line of business. Our main line of business is winning games. I expect if we do well, we will continue to sell. We’re pretty well sold out on PSLs despite what you read about.”
Two pretty big apparel companies just settled a fight about who had the right to profit from Tebow jersey sales, so it isn’t a particularly insignificant line of business even if the Jets aren’t looking at it that way.