NY Jets owner Woody Johnson surprised by media coverage created by Tim ... - New York Daily News

Robert Sabo/New York Daily News

New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan and general manager Mike Tannenbaum bring owner Woody Johnson up to speed on the goings-on at Jets camp.

CORTLAND â€" The circus around Tim Tebow has been even grander than Woody Johnson imagined.

Johnson arrived at camp for Monday night and attended his first practice Tuesday.

“I think the enormity of the coverage kind of surprised me a little bit,” the Jets owner said. “I knew there would be press. The interest, even by our standards, this is pretty amazing.”

The public has been given a close watch on all things Jets since the famous quarterback arrived in Cortland nearly two weeks ago. Since then, ESPN has shown live coverage of practice and President Obama has weighed in (and criticized) the Jets acquisition of Tebow.

“I thought we did ‘Hard Knocks’ a couple years ago,” said Rex Ryan. “Every time you look up it’s like, hey, the Jets are on there. And you know what? That’s fine. I’d rather have ’em talking about us than being a team that nobody cares about.”

Johnson concurred.

“We’re in a media business. We want to give our fans an insight,” Johnson said. “The fact that they’re interested I think it portends well for us. I would rather have them interested rather than apathetic and not paying attention to us.”

Johnson downplayed any marketing value that Tebow might provide the Jets. “I don’t know if any single player does that,” Johnson said.

The owner also responded to critics President Obama and Boomer Esiason, both of whom have spoken out against the acquisition of Tebow.

Robert Sabo/New York Daily News

Johnson says Tim Tebow is going to be ‘a very valuable’ member of the Jets.

“I’m glad he’s a New York Jets fan first and foremost,” Johnson said, poking fun at the Commander in Chief. “That’s important. The President of the United States being a Jets fan.
That’s good. … The fact that he’s a Jets fan, he cares and is passionate about the New York Jets obviously, I think is a positive.”

Johnson said he disagreed with Esiason that Tebow ought to be cut.

Tebow played a predictable role in Tuesday’s gassers: Leading the pack. If Tebow was tired while Ryan punished the team for fighting on the second day in a row, he didn’t show it: All 11 times the team ran back and forth Tebow finished first.

Those penalty runs provided the most excitement in what was an otherwise mediocre practice for both Tebow and Mark Sanchez.

Sanchez finished just 2-for-8 in 11-on-11, with one touchdown and one interception. He was sacked twice. Tebow finished 2-for-3 with one sack.

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