Woody Johnson Returning as Jets Chairman After Serving as US Ambassador

Woody Johnson will return to the New York Jets as the organization's chairman, according to Kim Jones of NFL Network, after serving as the United States ambassador to Great Britain for the Donald Trump administration.

Since 2017, when Woody Johnson was appointed as an ambassador, his brother Christopher Johnson served as chairman and CEO. Christopher Johnson will now serve as vice chairman. 

Per Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post, Christopher Johnson will "remain heavily involved in day-to-day operations, but Woody reassumes principal ownership duties."

Woody Johnson, 73, purchased the Jets in 2000 for $635 million. As of September 2020, the Jets were worth an estimated $3.55 billion, per Forbes. Under his watch, however, the Jets have reached the postseason just six times and have had nine winning seasons. The team did reach back-to-back AFC Championship Games in 2009 and 2010 during the Rex Ryan era. 

Woody Johnson was not without controversy during his ambassadorship. In August, the State Department inspector general investigated Johnson, stating he "sometimes made inappropriate or insensitive comments on topics generally considered Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)-sensitive, such as religion, sex, or color."

"If I have unintentionally offended anyone in the execution of my duties, I deeply regret that," Johnson said in response to the State Department's report.

Trump also reportedly asked Johnson to convince the British government to "steer" the British Open to Trump's Turnberry resort in Scotland, per Mark Landler, Lara Jakes and Maggie Haberman of the New York Times. According to that report:

"The ambassador's deputy, Lewis A. Lukens, advised him not to do it, warning that it would be an unethical use of the presidency for private gain, these people said. But Mr. Johnson apparently felt pressured to try. A few weeks later, he raised the idea of Turnberry playing host to the Open with the secretary of state for Scotland, David Mundell."

While the British government released a statement saying no conversations regarding the British Open took place, the reported situation "left Mr. Lukens and other diplomats deeply unsettled."