Aaron Rodgers’ plans to celebrate Jeff Ulbrich’s first win spoiled by teenage Jets heir
New York Jets' ownership dysfunction undermined Aaron Rodgers celebrating Jeff Ulbrich's first win as head coach.
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Brick Johnson, teenage son of Woody Johnson spoiled Aaron Rodgers celebrating Jeff Ulbrich's first win (Image via Bleacher Report/X)
Aaron Rodgers has been in the NFL long enough time to know how things work in the league. One of those traditions is to hand the game ball to the head coach when they win their first win. In this case, it was New York Jets Jeff Ulbrich.
That first win for the interim head coach came on Halloween this season when the Jets beat the Houston Texans at home. That would mean the team leader would hand the game ball to the coach, in this case, Rodgers to Ulbrich.
But the Jets are as dysfunctional as they get, and the ownership of Woody Johnson proved that notion on that day. The Athletic released a report earlier to reveal how dysfunctional the franchise has become. One of the examples of that dysfunction was in this very situation involving Rodgers and Ulbrich.
But before Rodgers could speak, Brick Johnson took another game ball and awarded it to wide receiver Garrett Wilson in a profanity-laced exclamation, which the owner’s son later posted to Instagram. Woody Johnson then gave Ulbrich the ball Rodgers had been holding. Multiple players said the energy felt drained out of the room.
The Athletic report on Jeff Ulbrich’s first win read
The fact that Johnson’s teenage son Brick Johnson had first say after that win suggested he was exercising his right as the owner’s son. But by doing that, he undermined the occasion for Jeff Ulbrich by handing the first game ball to Garrett Wilson for his unreal catches.
This past Halloween, the Jets registered their first victory since Robert Saleh's firing four weeks earlier. It was a significant moment for a struggling team. Aaron Rodgers walked into an energized locker room with a game ball in hand, and it was expected that he’d give the ball… pic.twitter.com/inDElE1Fde
— The Athletic NFL (@TheAthleticNFL) December 19, 2024
But Woody Johnson made it even worse when he took the game ball from his quarterback to give his interim head coach his honors. The power play at hand shows they violated unwritten rules of NFL locker rooms for their own interests.
Aaron Rodgers and Jeff Ulbrich’s future with Jets uncertain
Jeff Ulbrich was assigned Jets’ interim head coach after Robert Saleh was unceremoniously fired. But that shuffling did not go according to Woody Johnson‘s plan as the spark they needed to turn their season around did not come.
The New York Jets struggled to match their playing efficiency under Saleh and lost their next three games. The last of those was an embarrassing close loss to the lowly New England Patriots. But in the following week, Rodgers and Ulbrich riled their team on to famously win over the playoff contending Houston Texans.
That win was supposed to be their spark. However, it did not materialize as the franchise went on to lose their next four. Last week, they won against the bottom feeder Jacksonville Jaguars, which does not account for much.
Their final three games could go on to decide the futures of Aaron Rodgers and Ulbrich. Both might want to continue in their roles. But considering how impulsive and dysfunctional the Jets have become, those uncertainties just loom larger.
Related: Rob Gronkowski has high expectations from Bill Belichick for his UNC stint
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Joseph Varghese
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