Flanked by Jets for Avenue magazine’s October issue, the Gang Green first lady Suzanne Johnson is putting her biz know-how to work making the NFL more woman-friendly. (Carlos Ruiz)
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Woody Johnson’s New York Jets haven’t been looking too stellar on the field lately, but the Gang Green owner sure scored a touchdown when he married Suzanne Johnson in 2009.
Despite her blond locks, sinewy figure and cheekbones that could cut glass, Johnson née Ircha is anything but a trophy wife — though she certainly looks like a prize on the cover of Avenue magazine’s October issue.
The magazine reveals that the mother of two boys, Brick, 6, and Jack, 3, has a Cornell degree, narrowly missed the 9/11 terrorist attacks and made her first million by age 26.
She’s now the brand ambassador and spokeswoman for the “NFL Fit for You” campaign, which is geared toward the fashion-forward female fan.
“I’m helping the NFL as an entity, not just my husband’s team,” Johnson tells the magazine.
Johnson — who, in the magazine, trades in her Jets gear for glamorous evening gowns — even convinced Georgina Chapman, co-founder and co-designer of red-carpet-ready Marchesa, to create a limited Jets T-shirt, which was unveiled this week.
Despite her easy smile and cheery disposition, the former financial whiz has weathered great tragedy in her adult life.
According to the magazine, Johnson worked at financial firm Sandler O’Neill in 2 World Trade Center but was late for work on the morning of Sept. 11 after a late night entertaining clients at Mr. Chow.
She was in a car on the FDR Drive while on the phone with her mentor Herman Sandler when she heard the explosion.
Sandler and 75 of her colleagues perished in the attacks, leaving her to pick up the pieces.
“I worked through it all. I just went into ‘fix’ mode,” she says of the devastating event.
The then single lady’s life would change drastically once again after she met her future husband during a Michael Milken conference in Beverly Hills eight years ago.
“A girlfriend told me that Woody Johnson is single. Woody called me two days later,” she recalled.
The pair had their first date at SoHo restaurant Raoul’s, where she taught Woody to use his BlackBerry.
The rest is history.
The pair got married at Brick Church in 2009.
“I’m married to the greatest guy in the world,” she says adding that she loves his “offbeat sense of humor.”
The Manhattan-bred daughter of Ukrainian immigrants says she and Woody share the same set of values and attend church every Sunday as a family.
Nowadays, Johnson is busy raising her two towheaded boys and spends her Sundays as the de facto social director of the owner’s box at MetLife Stadium, roping society pals Somers Farkas and Joanne deGuardiola and celebrities like Tina Fey, Jimmy Fallon, Jonah Hill and the Trumps.
“I try to create interesting mixes,” she says.
And football and values aren’t the only things Johnson has in common with her husband, who is the head of Mitt Romney’s campaign fund-raising in the tri-state area.
She’s also a card-carrying member of the GOP.
“I’ve always been a Republican,” Suzanne says. “And, I try to raise my children with the same values I was raised with. I feel those who work hard should be rewarded and recognized. For example, in sports, not every kid should win a trophy. As adults, working hard to achieve your goals can often lead to higher compensation. I like that — money is a good motivator. I’m a big fan of capitalism.”
kirsten.fleming@nypost.com