Ever since she was drafted by the Indiana Fever first overall in the 2024 WNBA Draft, Caitlin Clark has been one of the most popular athletes, man or woman, in the world. Every game is considered appointment viewing for sports fans, which has led to an extreme amount of nitpicking and hyper-analysis of every play and every whistle (or lack thereof).
This was once again the case on Tuesday as the Fever played a heated game against the Connecticut Sun which at one point featured a dirty hit on Clark by Marina Mabrey after the play had been blown dead. While one of Clark’s teammates eventually gave the Sun some payback for this hit, no one seemed to come to Clark’s aid in the moment, which led to intense debate among sports fans on social media.
Now, even professional athletes are weighing in on this debacle. New York Jets defensive end Jermaine Johnson II shared a video of the altercation on X (formerly Twitter) and told everyone how he would react to a dirty hit on one of his teammates.
I’m a disciplined player, at least I believe I am, and I would’ve risked immediate ejection retaliating to protect my teammate and the brotherhood we’ve built. You’ll play way harder for the man (woman) next to you knowing he (she) literally fought and stood up for you. I don’t… https://t.co/qJfVV23id9
— Jermaine Johnson II (@ii_jermaine) June 18, 2025
What Johnson said makes perfect sense and showcases his continual evolution as a locker room leader. He made sure to condemn ‘classless’ or unnecessary fighting during a game, but pointed out that certain actions can’t be allowed to go without a response from the team.
Hopefully, Johnson does not find himself in a similar situation during the 2025 NFL season. There’s a lot of excitement around this Jets team and you’d hate to see any players get ejected or even suspended for what they think is an appropriate retaliation. Johnson, the rest of the defensive line, and the entire team need a bounce-back year, and that requires everyone to be available as much as possible.