After a 4-12 season, Jets owner Woody Johnson fired general manager John Idzik and coach Rex Ryan, and sat down for a remarkably candid news conference about the future of the franchise.

So, of course, he was quizzed about the qualities he was looking for in a new general manager, and about whether there would be further cuts in the front office.

"That's going to be his decision," Johnson said. "Maybe her decision."

Johnson wasn't playing for laughs; he said it with a straight face. For a brief moment, he seriously posited the possibility that a woman could be hired as the general manager of an NFL team.

Immediately, Jets fans reacted on Twitter. One respected and longtime member of the Jets' Twitter community, @LilMissNYJet, tweeted:

"Maybe her decision"?!? CALL ME WOODY! - Deb (@LilMissNYJet) December 29, 2014

And from another longtime Jets fan:

Wait did Woody say that it could be a female GM??? Awesome!!! Not turning my phone off. Though I think I'd prefer team mom #jets - yenta (@sportsyenta) December 29, 2014

Maybe Johnson was just having one of those reflexive gender-neutral moments, like in a corporate boardroom where you have to address all the men and one woman in the room: "Gentlemen," and here there's a deferential nod to the lone woman, "and lady ... "

Even if the Jets don't interview a woman for their general manager position, language can be powerful. A Rooney Rule for women is a long, long way off, but the idea that a qualified, capable woman might be a candidate for a job like this isn't.

Of course there are many people who think there aren't any qualified women for a general manager job. That may have been true, once. But there are a handful of women with front-office expertise, including former Raiders CEO Amy Trask, who is now a CBS analyst, and Dolphins VP of football operations Dawn Aponte. There are women who work as attorneys for teams, the league and the players' association who would have an intimate understanding of player contracts and team management.

Plenty of women are involved in day-to-day operations on the ownership side. Charlotte Jones Anderson is an executive vice president and chief brand officer at the Cowboys. Rita LeBlanc is vice chairman of the board for the Saints and the NBA's Pelicans, and the Bengals named Katie Blackburn an EVP. All three are the progeny of their respective team owners, but all three have real power within their organizations and have earned respect in their roles.

None of those women would be a great candidate for Jets general manager, however. First off, an owner's daughter probably isn't looking to move to another team. Moreover, Johnson just sacked a cap specialist in Idzik, who was criticized for his inability to draft great players. That kind of savvy generally requires a scouting background, which is not the strength of any of the women potentially in the queue. They generally came in with law degrees, not through the scouting office.

There have been women who were NFL scouts, notably pioneer Connie Carberg, who found Mark Gastineau for the Jets but was let go when new owner Leon Hess didn't want a woman scouting for the franchise. And there was nothing Carberg could do about it.

But back to Johnson and his comment.

Johnson might not be the best owner in the NFL; he comes from a business, not a football, background. That may be part of the reason he can let "maybe her decision" out at all.

In this respect, that's a welcome change. It might take an owner who isn't trapped in a testosterone-wrapped football mythos to actually consider a woman for such a job -- when a tremendous amount of heckling would ensue.

When football gives us a Bo Pelini rant in which he can call his former athletic director a c--- and a p---- without having to worry about his job security, Johnson's inclusive language is almost more shocking.

Yes, he's the same owner who footed the bill for a league-wide education program on sexual harassment after a visiting TV Azteca reporter was given inappropriate attention during a 2010 visit to the Jets' training facility. And he's the same owner of one of the teams being sued by a cheerleader for wage theft. True, the franchise hasn't exactly been a crusader for equal rights.

But progress comes in small doses. Just the hint of a possibility that a qualified woman could be considered for general manager, I'm going to say that counts as a step forward.

Even if an accidental one.

Also on my mind this week:

If the NFL wanted to get serious about serial stomper Ndamukong Suh, it should consider a penalty for the team that condones him. If the Lions were assessed a fine or docked a draft pick, there would be an intervention. Given Suh's history, you could compare his actions to tampering -- certainly with Green Bay's postseason hopes, depending on the severity of the injury to Aaron Rodgers.

Johnny Manziel wants you to know he didn't have a party, but yeah, he missed that team meeting. Somebody needs to sit the Browns rookie down and read him a bedtime story: "The Cautionary Tale of Ryan Leaf."

Lastly, thinking about Lauren Hill and her quest to raise more than a million dollars for pediatric brain cancer research during her own fight with inoperable cancer. I hope her New Year's wish comes true.