Joe Namath has blasted the New York Jets for various reasons over the past several years. It’s unclear if Broadway Joe is just attempting to remain in the spotlight or legitimately hates the way the current ownership group is running the team, but he feels the need to be heard. On Thursday, Namath took aim at the Jets once again and criticized them for misleading the fans.
“The team’s declined while we fans are being told how good they are constantly, how this new player’s so good,” he told our friends Boomer and Carton on WFAN in New York. “They haven’t played up to how they’ve been touted. And so I think they’ve misled the fans more or less. They’ve made some bad decisions on personnel the last couple of years.”
As Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio pointed out, the Jets’ brass doesn’t really have a choice when it comes to hyping up the team. No team is going to come out and admit that it expects the product to be disappointing this year, otherwise they would have an incredibly tough time selling tickets.
Namath also acknowledged that his relationship with the team has gotten to the point where it’s “uncomfortable,” noting that he and owner Woody Johnson have not been on good terms for a few years.
“I wouldn’t say bad terms, you know?” Namath explained. “Uncomfortable. Because I was saying earlier, you don’t like to hear negative things, negative vibes, and Woody I’m sure doesn’t like the criticism. I mean, when we’ve brushed shoulders in the past it hasn’t been the same as it was originally. We don’t talk — ‘Hi, how are ya?’ “
Namath basically criticizes everything the Jets do, the most recent example of which came when he blasted them for their approach in the draft last month. Aside from Mark Sanchez, who Namath supports unconditionally for whatever reason, there are few people within the organization he has been pleased with. As a fan, you can’t really blame him. As someone who is a Jets icon, it’s getting to the point where I wish Namath would just go away.
