Woody Johnson, owner of the NY Jets, took the players to the 9/11 Museum for a curious reason

N ew York Jets owner Woody Johnson has spent a quarter-century carrying memories of September 11, 2001, with him.

As the 25th anniversary approached, he decided that it was important for a new generation of Jets players to experience those memories for themselves.

On September 9, 2026, Johnson and several members of the Jets traveled to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum in Lower Manhattan.

The group included quarterback Geno Smith , linebackers Demario Davis, safety Minkah Fitzpatrick , defensive tackle Harrison Phillips and punter Austin McNamara , along with Jets vice chairman Christopher Johnson . Former Jets quarterback Vinny Testaverde also attended.

The reason for the visit was not football preparation.

Johnson wanted players who were either very young or not yet born when the attacks occurred to understand the significance of the tragedy and its lasting impact on New York.

“I think for the young guys that hadn’t seen it before, it was really a wake-up call to the meaning of what New York is, what being a New Yorker is,” Johnson told PEOPLE. “And just how important New York is to the world.”

The Jets contingent received a tour of the memorial and museum before viewing the special 25th-anniversary exhibit In Their Honor. The museum experience included the memorial pools, where the names of those killed in the 2001 attacks and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing are inscribed.

For Johnson, the visit also became unexpectedly emotional.

“You truly see the enormity of what fell down that day,” Johnson said.

He recalled entering a particular room at the museum that he had never previously visited.

“There’s a room, I’d never been in it before, and it’s just a dark room with benches and it scrolls through names of people who died, and then there’s video of the relatives talking about them, and it really got to me. I didn’t think it would, but yeah, it really got to me.”

Johnson added: “I think it had a profound impact on the players. You go in that room, but you come out a different person.”

Johnson's 9/11 memories go back to the days immediately after the attacks

Johnson's connection to the tragedy is particularly personal. He lost friends in the attacks and, in the days afterward, arranged for several Jets players to visit Ground Zero and meet first responders.

He said then-Jets quarterback Vinny Testaverde played a significant role in the decision to cancel NFL games following the attacks.

“Vinny really brought it home for the commissioner and me,” Johnson said. “He goes, ‘I’ve lost 25 first responders, firemen and policeman friends today, and I’m not playing on Sunday.’ And we canceled before we even knew that flights would be shut down. It was the right decision.”

Johnson later received permission from then-New York Gov. George Pataki to take Jets players to the site.

“It was hot, smoking, and they were sorting through all this horrific stuff,” he recalled.

The experience, Johnson said, provided players with a different perspective on what the city and country were experiencing.

“I think it also gave the Jets a sense of reality, that America is still gonna survive, and we will get through this together,” he said.

That theme of resilience was also reflected in the stories shared with the current Jets players. Harrison Phillips, one of the team's veteran leaders, said the visit offered an opportunity to hear directly about the people affected by the attacks and those who responded.

“My generation, we're in our 30s, so we were young when it happened, but our parents were super invested,” Phillips said. “I think there was a whole other form of patriotism that was built in. You try to find positives out of negatives. Obviously, it's a huge tragedy.”

The Jets' current roster includes several veteran leaders who are old enough to have experienced the aftermath as children. Smith is 35, Davis is 37 and Phillips is 30, and all three are among the team's captains for the 2026 season.

Johnson also wanted the players to see another side of the story: the extraordinary response from ordinary Americans.

“There was such a feeling of other states and other municipalities just wanting to give to New York,” he said. “The West Side Highway was lined with 18-wheelers full of donations for anything we needed in New York. Eventually there was no more room for any more 18-wheelers.”

For Johnson, that spirit of solidarity remains one of the most important lessons from September 11.

“The first responders were heroes, but the average citizens were also heroes. There are so many stories of people helping each other, so while it’s horribly sad, it’s also heroic,” he explained. “It showed our resilience. It was a horrific terrorist attack, there’s no question about it, but we can take some good out of it too.”

The Jets organization has continued its involvement in 9/11-related remembrance and charitable work. Johnson was involved with the 9/11 Memorial & Museum in its early days and the Jets have supported the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, which assists fallen first responders, wounded service members and their families.

“Frank Siller started this amazing, amazing foundation for first responders,” Johnson said.

“It started by building houses for the critically wounded, not only in 9/11, but also in military excursions around the world, people in particular who have lost a couple of limbs, building smart houses,” he added.

“Now it does things like pay off mortgages for those wounded or widows. If you have the means to give back as an American, you have to do it. You really do.”

For Johnson, bringing the Jets to the museum was ultimately about making sure the significance of September 11 does not fade as a new generation takes its place in New York.

The NFL team represents one of the country's most recognizable cities, and Johnson believes its players should understand the history behind that identity.

Twenty-five years after the attacks, his message to the current Jets is that remembering the tragedy also means remembering the courage, sacrifice and unity that followed.