The Jets announced on Friday afternoon that Betty Wold Johnson, mother of team CEO Christopher Johnson and Woody Johnson, the United States Ambassador to Great Britain and Northern Ireland, died at the age of 99.
"There are very few people in this world who live to 99," former running back Curtis Martin said to the Jets official website. "And I'm sure if you go back and look at everything she did for other people, you could probably write a book on her from a philanthropic standpoint… She had such a charitable heart and a charitable way about her."
"She was just such a wonderful woman," Martin continued. "She was definitely the First Lady of the Jets. She had such a presence there. And as far as the players being like grandchildren to her, I can definitely see that because she was such a warm person. She had a personal interest rooting for the Jets, but just her energy, she had a younger person's energy. And she was just very approachable to everyone who met her. I just loved her as a human being."
Added former Jets QB Chad Pennington: "When I think of her, I think of her as The First Lady of the Jets. I think of Ms. Johnson as nothing but first class with how she treated people, how she carried herself and how she represented herself and her family."