The Jets are taking the "football as war" metaphor to a whole new level.
When a soldier makes a mistake, he or she often has to do pushups. When the Jets commit a penalty in practice, they use the disciplinary tactic, too.
While the pushups are intended to motivate the team to commit fewer penalties (the Jets are the fifth-most penalized NFL team this season), the team has turned the exercise into a bonding experience rather than a punishment.
On Wednesday, Rex Ryan made everyone except the offending player do ten pushups for each foul. On Thursday, everyone participated. Not just the players — everyone.
After Matt Higgins, executive VP of business operations, sent an email to all employees explaining the new exercise, about 60 men and women — from sales to community relations — joined in. At the Jets' practice facility in Florham Park, NJ, the staff lined up in rows and cranked out thirty pushups—10 pushups for each of the three fouls committed.
Over at the New Meadowlands Stadium, about 30 miles from the practice facility, the 10-person sales staff powered through the workout on the NFL logo at the 50-yard line
Even the owner got in on the action. Sixty-three-year-old billionaire Woody Johnson joined his team on both Wednesday and Thursday.
"I wouldn't want to be the cause of my owner having to do push-ups," defensive tackle Sione Pouha told ESPN. "But it's something special to see your owner out there, doing the push-ups. It's like he's out there in the trenches with us."
After two lackluster games in a row, the Jets could use a little boost. This Sunday against the Browns, the Jets will find out if a pushup can actually improve results on the battlefield.
