It’s one thing for NFL Media, which is owned by all 32 NFL teams, to spread a rumor about the owner of one team. But it’s different if that rumor turns out to be wrong.
That’s what people are questioning now after Colleen Wolfe said on the Around the NFL podcast that there was a “very intense conversation” between Jets owner Woody Johnson and Jets coach Robert Saleh at the league meetings in Orlando.
It’s not clear if this report is true. The Jets strongly believe it’s not. We’ve asked the team for an official comment.
Some are pointing to a post from Connor Hughes of SNY.tv as proof that nothing happened. Hughes said there was no argument between Saleh and Johnson at the NFL’s annual meeting reception. He was there and didn’t see anything happen.
But there are some issues with this. First, Wolfe initially said the conversation happened on Sunday, not Monday Hughes suggests.
Second, it’s hard to see everything that happens at these events because there are so many people and things going on.
This story is unusual because NFL Media, which is owned by the NFL and its teams, reported it. Whether the conversation happened isn’t the main issue. The issue is that a media company partly owned by Johnson was the one to report it.
This isn’t like a serious investigative report on something important. It felt more like gossip or a joke.
The Jets aren’t happy about it, especially since they think the claim is wrong. We’re waiting for an official comment from them. Until then, Hughes’ post shouldn’t be seen as definitive, especially if he’s talking about Monday when NFL Media said the conversation happened on Sunday. And it’s still not clear if the conversation even happened at all.
