Courtesy NY Jets PR Department<\/p>\n
WOODY JOHNSON<\/strong> We went through this process for the same reason we\u2019ve been running the team all along with Mike [Tannenbaum] and Eric [Mangini], to try to improve this team each and every year. I just want to say it was difficult with Chad [Pennington] because Chad came at the same time I did and we owe Chad a lot of gratitude for the dedication for his dogged, team-oriented persistence even in light of all the adversity that we had in some years. He was always concentrated and always a good teammate so thanks to Chad.<\/p>\n Today we\u2019re here to talk about what we\u2019re going to be doing going forward so I\u2019d like to toss it over to Mike and he can describe what has happened the last 24 hours. Fundamentally, the decision was made between Eric, myself, and Mr. Johnson from a standpoint that if this opportunity presented itself, we felt we were getting good play at the quarterback position. We felt this was a good opportunity to improve that and that\u2019s why we went ahead and made the decision. We did a luminous amount of research on Brett as a player but also as a person and making sure we thought he could fit in the locker room. We were extremely comfortable not just with what he did on the field, but as importantly, what he did off the field and what he stands for.<\/p>\n We are happy. We are excited. We\u2019re really glad he\u2019s a member of this team. I can say on [Brett Favre\u2019s] behalf that I think we\u2019re all looking forward to getting past this stuff and going out there and playing some football.<\/p>\n BRETT FAVRE Did I ever think this scenario would present itself? No. Am I excited about the opportunity? Yes. I\u2019ve had a great career in Green Bay. That goes without saying. The things that have happened there this offseason, in my opinion, are over and done with. I wish them well. I will use their term\u2014we\u2019re moving forward. I hope that I play at the level that I\u2019ve always played at. There\u2019s no guarantees, there\u2019s never been any guarantees for me. The game of football is just that and anything can happen, but I\u2019ll bring the leadership and durability. I\u2019m a little bit out of shape compared to all the other guys, but I\u2019m so excited about this opportunity and I\u2019ll tell you, my family and everyone involved has just been treated unbelievably by this organization. I\u2019ve never looked forward to doing a conditioning test as much as I have at this point [joking].<\/p>\n I\u2019m so tired of doing interviews and talking about this or talking about that. Tomorrow, hopefully, the mad rush is over and we can get that conditioning test at noon tomorrow. I\u2019m looking forward to that [joking] and we go on. The most important thing in this whole process is the guys in that locker room. I know some of these guys by name, Bubba Franks I played with and know personally, but I really don\u2019t know these guys and they don\u2019t know me. I think when they get to know me they\u2019ll like me and they\u2019ll like the way I play and they\u2019ll figure out that I\u2019ll do whatever it takes to win and it\u2019s about the team. I hope after today and tomorrow that the distractions are at a minimum. It\u2019s ok to have attention as long as it\u2019s based on this team and I\u2019m just one man, one of 53, so we\u2019ll see what happens and I\u2019m excited about the opportunity.<\/p>\n On the Packers fans moving on… It\u2019s a little bit different scenario now but I\u2019m really excited. It\u2019s refreshing, not that I needed that. I think to the fans, I would say \u2018continue to be Brett Favre fans.\u2019 There may be some who say \u2018no.\u2019 And for those people, maybe they were not die-hard Brett Favre fans to begin with. Packer fans are Packer fans, there\u2019s a 40,000 or more waiting list for a reason and that will continue. It\u2019s a great tradition. I\u2019m thankful that I was a part of it. I\u2019m not a traitor. I never will be. It\u2019s a business and that\u2019s the way it works. I gave everything I possibly could give while I was there and I don\u2019t think people will question that and I hope that the Jet fans see the same thing and so I hope I continue to have fans all over, that\u2019s what we play for.<\/p>\n On if No. 4 will be retired in Green Bay… On why he wouldn\u2019t talk to Tannenbaum until 24 hours ago…<\/strong> He was convincing, I knew this team had a lot of talent. I knew they struggled last year and he went out and worked his tail off. I know he\u2019s worn out. He\u2019s relieved now but I know at the end of the season he\u2019s going to be more relieved. There came a point when I realized my initial thoughts were not going to come true, that I had to look elsewhere. I haven\u2019t played in New York. I\u2019m a south Mississippi boy. [Mike] came to my place today and he saw it\u2019s a little bit different, it\u2019s a little laid back. I know how tough it can be and I know how great it can be in New York city. Am I ready to face it, handle it and deal with it? I think so. I think it\u2019s a great opportunity. To me the most important aspect of winning is chemistry. You can have the best players possible, but it doesn\u2019t guarantee you wins. Chemistry, how you play together and I think the Giants are a good example of that. They started off shaky last year with the same guys. The chemistry got better and they got better. We\u2019re up against the clock. I want these guys to know me, know what I\u2019m about, how I play, what type of leadership I have. I\u2019m not going to call team meetings, I\u2019m not going to \u2018rah-rah,\u2019 I\u2019m going to do what I have to do, pat guys on my back, hug them, pick them up off the ground and hope they do the same for me and hope that\u2019s enough to win. I still think the same. I think they have as good a chance as anyone in this league of getting back to not only where they were but to the Super Bowl. I had a lot of fun with those guys,the coaching staff. We had some differences between myself and a couple other people. But you know what? There\u2019s nothing like Green Bay fans. That team is going to be good with or without me and it really serves no purpose to continue talking about it. I know people will try to fuel the fire throughout the season, but once again, I\u2019m here for one reason and that\u2019s to help the Jets win. I don\u2019t think they need to be asked questions about it. I hope that they are left alone so they can deal with what they have to deal with. The same thing for Green Bay, at some point it has to be let go.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Courtesy NY Jets PR Department WOODY JOHNSON I want to apologize for the interview that I did the other day where you asked me what was going on and I couldn\u2019t give you the answers. Now you can see there is an answer to what the questions were last week. We\u2019ve got Brett Favre as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[213],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1434","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-jet-news"},"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/peLffi-n8","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1434\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nI want to apologize for the interview that I did the other day where you asked me what was going on and I couldn\u2019t give you the answers. Now you can see there is an answer to what the questions were last week. We\u2019ve got Brett Favre as a new member of the Jets.<\/p>\n
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\nMIKE TANNENBAUM<\/strong>
\nThanks, Woody. I don\u2019t have much more to add since the last time we spoke. I don\u2019t know if we\u2019ve gotten a chance to sleep since that time. It is a bittersweet moment. We have released Chad. I have spoken to him, Eric has spoken to him and Mr. Johnson has spoken to him and again, on the record, I have all the respect in the world for Chad and what he\u2019s done on the field as well as off the field. He\u2019s a good player and a great person, he\u2019s done a lot of great things for our organization and I wish him nothing but the best.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Thanks, Mike and Mr. Johnson. The last 24 hours have been crazy. Really the last three weeks and this whole offseason has been bizarre or whatever you want to call it, but it is what it is. I am a member of the Jets. I am excited about it. I\u2019m excited about the opportunity, and no one works as hard as this man right here [Mike Tannenbaum]. I was told by numerous people to at least talk to Mike over the last month and, as I told him today, the only reason that I wouldn\u2019t talk to him up until 24 hours ago was because I knew how I\u2019d be convinced once I talked to him.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>I can\u2019t answer that for them, all I can say is I\u2019ve always wanted to be a Packer. I think I always will be a Packer. Sixteen years is hard to forget for everyone and I\u2019d like to think that those 16 years, people will say \u2018it\u2019s the best 16 years I\u2019ve ever watched.\u2019 It was a lot of fun for me. I think it was made clear this offseason that they were moving forward. Some things happened in between that and that\u2019s OK and it\u2019s time for me to move on. I had forgotten that I had been traded 17 or 18 years ago and what that process was like.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>I hadn\u2019t really thought about it. I\u2019m sure it will at some point but you know what, they talk about statues they talk about having streets [named after you]. I\u2019m not just talking about me, you hear that throughout sports, that\u2019s not what it\u2019s about with me. It\u2019s like records I gained at Southern Mississippi. I look back and my experience there is much more important\u00a0than the records and when and if that ever happens, great. I don\u2019t need a jersey retired, a statue or a street named after me or anything like that for people to remember me, for me to feel like I\u2019ve done something. I think the way I\u2019ve played, the way I\u2019ve handled myself is the most important thing, and I think it will be postponed for a while.<\/p>\n
\nI\u2019ll tell you exactly why. The decision or decisions that were made this whole offseason, right or wrong, I knew I was going to be faced with another tough one, whereas if you\u2019re dealing with one team, the decision is easy. [James] Bus [Cook] would say \u2018at least talk to him.\u2019 Several other people in this room said the same thing, \u2018talk to him.\u2019 I told Bus that if I talk to him that we\u2019re going to be scratching our heads saying \u2018now what do we do?\u2019 I knew I would be convinced. Jon Gruden, I tip my hat to him too. It was a long time ago when we were working together but he sold me as well. There\u2019s nothing more to it than that. I knew it would make it a real tough decision. Mike is a worker, I woke up this morning and the trigger was pulled.
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\nOn how he was convinced to come to New York…<\/strong>
\nI was never not interested in the Jets. I think my interest at first, I\u2019m sure as we all know, was to stay within our division. Maybe that was a little bit of a vindictive nature or competitive nature or whatever. I think in the end that was probably the wrong motive and I realized that was not going to happen. That\u2019s only one or two games a year playing against your old team so you still have a lot more to play. It had nothing to do with other teams. I look at the talent level and believe me, I heard it from [Tannenbaum]. I was sent everything about the Jets you can imagine, it was sent to my house and he told me everything I needed to know.<\/p>\n
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\nOn being on a big stage in New York…<\/strong>
\nKind of like the last month? [joking]. Green Bay is a small market but is there a bigger team? I\u2019ve been in front of a lot of media. I\u2019ve been in big games. I\u2019ve won big games. I\u2019ve lost big games. I\u2019ve had my share of criticism and glory. This is unique. I haven\u2019t faced anything like this. I don\u2019t know anyone in this locker room and to a certain degree I really don\u2019t know what I\u2019m getting in to. I\u2019m talking about it from a team standpoint. What can I do in a short amount of time to get this team where we want to go and get myself ready? It doesn\u2019t matter what city it\u2019s in. I\u2019m here for one reason, not to do commercials, Broadway, all those things. I\u2019m here to help the Jets win, that\u2019s why they got me.
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\nOn how he will get himself ready…<\/strong>
\nYou have to dive into it. The only way you\u2019re going to know these guys, know how they play, know the coaches is to be in meetings, is to go to practice. Now I\u2019d be kidding myself if I thought after the second day I wouldn\u2019t be walking on eggshells, my feet will be hurting, shoulder will be hurting, all the fun things about camp. That is the way you build chemistry.<\/p>\n
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\nOn why things went bad in Green Bay…<\/strong>
\nThat\u2019s a good question. I think we\u2019re probably both at fault. I\u2019m not going to sit here and blame it all on one side or the other. A lot of things happened this offseason, a lot of shocking things. I think we\u2019re both at fault. Who is at fault more? It\u2019s a matter of opinion but I really think at this point it\u2019s irrelevant. They probably are tired of talking about it. I know it\u2019s great for the media, it\u2019s a great soap opera but I\u2019ve got a lot of respect for the guys in Green Bay. I said last year and I said the year before that, that is was probably the most talented team I\u2019d ever played on and everybody thought I was crazy.<\/p>\n