Damien Woody retired from the NFL following the 2010 season, where he helped the New York Jets reach the AFC Championship game for the second year in a row. Since then, Gang Green has failed to make the playoffs, the longest drought in the four major North American professional men’s sports leagues.
From 2011-25, while Woody was building his broadcasting career at ESPN, the Jets managed just one winning season. Now, Woody is starting his life away from the Worldwide Leader, but he still has an eye on his old team.
Woody trashes ‘tanking’
On Wednesday morning, Woody took to X to criticize long-suffering Jets fans who want to see the team suffer a little bit longer to ensure they get a premium draft pick in 2027.
“Been seeing ‘tanking’ amongst some in the #Jets fan base and it’s the dumbest thing I’ve seen,” Woody wrote. “Establishing a winning culture, especially with a young roster, is far more important than the perpetual cycle this organization has been in.”
Fans weigh in
Hordes of Jets fans responded to Woody’s post, with some fully agreeing and others still believing that losing for a quarterback is the way to go.
“While I agree w/ you. To end the perpetual cycle you need a franchise QB,” one fan said.
“There’s been years where latching on to the tank mindset made sense, And permeated the fan base deeply. Not the case this year…at least amongst the Jets fans I interact with! We want W’s!” countered longtime radio host and Jets fan Brandon Tierney.
“Nah what is dumb is winning meaningless games and instead of getting Trevor Lawrence or Fernando Mendoza we get Zack Wilson and Geno Smith and we perpetually wonder why the Jets haven’t won in 57 years. I can’t imagine what has been missing,” a third fan chimed in.
“The ‘fans’ that constantly scream for this truly don’t want the cycle to end. They thrive off negative content creation and engagements,” a fourth fan said. “You’re NEVER going to get it right if you’re hiring and firing every 2-3 years. As an experienced tank supporter I don’t root for losses until a season is lost. Doing it in July and August is performative. They’d rather be right than see the Jets actually get it right.”
“And while I agree, as long as Woody [Johnson] owns the team it will be impossible to establish a winning culture,” a fifth fan lamented.
A never-ending debate
This conversation is one several NFL fanbases have each year. One portion of supporters wants to win as much as possible, while the other is pulling for a better draft pick.
We can see both sides to this argument. The Jets have been so bad for so long, all the losing has to get tiresome. At the same time, the chance to maybe (finally) hit on a franchise quarterback in the draft is enticing, though there’s no guarantee any player can be a savior.
As it stands, Gang Green will have three first-round selections in the 2027 NFL Draft, thanks to the Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams trades. They have enough ammo to make something happen, even if they win too much to be in position to draft the first or second QB off the board.
The post ‘Dumbest thing I’ve seen’: Former ESPN star rips NFL fanbase for ‘tanking’ mindset appeared first on The Comeback: Today’s Top Sports Stories & Reactions.