Jets Owner Says There's 'No Mandate' to Make the Playoffs
Jets owner Christopher Johnson says there is “no mandate” to make the playoffs in 2018 https://t.co/hO8kuSXz5V – @danielrpopper pic.twitter.com/ZektvBXJ1h
— NY Daily News Sports (@NYDNSports) January 2, 2018
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NYDN – Head coach Todd Bowles and general manager Mike Maccagnan are entering their fourth year in charge of the Jets. In their first three seasons together, the partners led the team to a 20-28 record, including 10-22 over the last two years. Going back further, the Jets have not made the playoffs since 2010. They haven’t played in or won a Super Bowl since 1968.
The fan base’s patience is running on empty.
Yet, despite all this, interim owner Christopher Johnson said Tuesday there is “no mandate” to make the postseason in 2018. Johnson gave Bowles and Maccagnan two-year extensions last week that keep both under contract through 2020.
“I want to get to the playoffs. I want to build a team with Mike and Todd that can compete for the playoffs every year, and that can’t happen fast enough,” Johnson said in Florham Park. “But there’s no mandate.”
Sometimes we all need to see how the other half lives in order to truly appreciate how good we have it. In the same way watching TV spots about Third World poverty will put your problems in perspective and make you grateful for all your blessings. It’s like that old expression, “I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet.”
For instance, last night I was pissed off about the idea that my team’s owner and quarterback might be fighting with his coach over who gets credit for all their success. Until I met a team whose owner doesn’t mandate that his team makes the playoffs. And it makes me realize how truly insignificant my problems are.
Not that I’m putting words in Christopher Johnson’s mouth. He’s not saying he doesn’t want to make the playoffs. In fact, it would be nice. Just no pressure, guys. If you make it, you make it. If not, that’s OK too. You’ll get them some other year. There’s no reason to set the expectations too high and get all disappointed. If Bowles and Maccagnan go 10-22 again with a ton of high draft picks over the next two years, that’ll be just fine. No one said the Jets are in the results business.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go read more fake gossip about a team that considers any year they lose the AFC title game a crushing disappointment. And I thank God for it.