Jets' Ryan: I cried because I care so much
Photo credit: John O'Boyle / The Star-Ledger | Jets head coach Rex Ryan carries a box of tissues into his press conference at the team's training facility. He discussed his crying during a recent team meeting. (November 18, 2009)
Rex Ryan
Jaguars 24, Jets 22
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Rex Ryan strolled into the interview room and didn’t shed a single tear as he made his way to the podium.
However, just in case a few made their way down the razor stubble on his face, he was ready and prepared for his big moment yesterday. “I’ve got a new sponsor,” Ryan cracked. “The Jets have Toyota. I get Kleenex, for obvious reasons.”
Ryan was making light of all the commotion being made over his crying at the end of a speech he delivered during a team meeting Monday morning. He wasn’t quite done with all the jokes, though.
“So now,” he said, “let me go ahead and get this out and read my statement that I have. It says here that New England’s pretty good. Any questions? . . . OK?”
That zinger was in reference to the hoopla surrounding Mark Sanchez’s starting his postgame news conference Sunday by reading off a prepared statement, another crazy moment over the last few wacky days for the Jets. From a crying Ryan to Sanchez’s version of making a statement to defensive line coach Kerry Locklin getting the ax, there’s been no shortage of weird happenings.
So Ryan poked fun at himself to thwart the illusion the Jets are beginning to unravel, and not all the players were happy his teary speech became public. Braylon Edwards was pretty perturbed.
“Ya’ll know about that?” he told Newsday. “There’s some snitches in the organization. That’s supposed to be family business. Damn, I don’t even like the fact that got out there.”
But it did, and Edwards disputed the notion some fans and others might have about Ryan tearing up, thinking the tough-talking coach is breaking down because the season is going in the wrong direction after a 1-5 slump following a promising start.
“That’s not it at all,” Edwards said. “That’s a misinterpretation, and I can see how a fan would say that. That’s nothing against the fan, but that’s definitely not the situation.
“You just have a guy that’s very passionate about winning, he’s very passionate about this organization. He felt like he grew with this team from OTAs to training camp to the 3-0 start to the losses. He feels like he’s grown with this team and we’re like his kids at the end of the day, we’re like his sons.
“He wants to see nothing more than us win, us prosper, as well as him being the guy who helps us prosper. So it’s not him crumbling. It’s just him really at the end of the day caring and giving a damn.”
That’s why Ryan, just as he did in training camp in August when some comments he made were taken out of context as if he had directed them at the Patriots, implemented a little standup comedy routine yesterday. He seemed to be surprised by the attention he’s receiving just for tearing up.
“Well, let me grab one,” Ryan said, jokingly reaching for a tissue. “It’s funny because I guess I’m making a big deal out of it because nobody knew about it. This is who I am. I’ve been this way. You can go back and ask anybody that I coached in Baltimore. I’m going to be myself. I’m man enough to be me. It’s more passion than it is anything else. It’s driven that way. I have a strong belief in myself and this football team.
“If that comes out, it comes out.”
