Rex tattoo taboo? Nope, just having fun

It's usually the words that come out of Rex Ryan's mouth that put the Jets coach at the center of attention. This time, it's what's painted on his right leg.

When Ryan welcomed his players back to practice after the 4 1/2-month lockout, he did so sporting a huge tribal-style tattoo that runs from just below his knee to just above his ankle. Even by Ryan's standards of outlandishness, this latest outside-the-box move caught his players off guard. And created more buzz around a league that can never seem to talk enough about the controversial Jets coach.

"I saw the tattoo and I'm like, 'What?' " wide receiver Jerricho Cochery said. "It's huge. That thing covers his whole leg."

The meaning behind the design: "Believe in yourself," Ryan said in a video posted on the team's Facebook page yesterday. "Which I've got no problem doing."

The tattoo passed muster with his players, particularly the ones who consider themselves tattoo aficionados.

"It's pretty sweet," said second-year cornerback Kyle Wilson, who has a tattoo that covers most of his right arm, and several others on his back and chest. "Tattoos are a form of self-expression, and Rex is a guy that does what he wants. We definitely love him."

Even Patriots coach Bill Belichick chimed in about the tat when asked by a reporter at practice Tuesday if he'd heard about Ryan's latest accoutrement. "I'd like to see that one," Belichick said.

Any tattoos for the three-time Super Bowl-winning coach. "Tattoo-free," Belichick deadpanned.

That we're only in the first week of training camp and talking about Ryan? No surprise. Let's face it. The man is great copy.

That it's about a massive tattoo he got on a whim while on vacation in Hawaii? Well, this one's different. Then again, as his players like to say, "That's just Rex being Rex."

And if we've learned anything about Ryan in his 2 1/2 years on the job, it's that anything goes with a coach who stretches the boundaries of fun and creativity like no one else before him. In a league in which discipline is the expectation and self-expression is often greeted with a 15-yard penalty, Ryan's persona is both refreshing and controversial. Refreshing in the sense that no one else has the chutzpah to do and say what Ryan does, and controversial because it's so far from the norm.

But in Ryan's world, it really is OK to have fun on the football field, and it really is OK to say and do just about whatever you like. That attitude rubs a lot of people the wrong way, and most coaches prefer a far more conservative route for what they say and how they present themselves. But Ryan could not care less, with the tattoo serving as the latest example of the coach thumbing his nose at conventional behavior.

I asked Ryan about the new tat, and he immediately pointed to a possible explanation he's heard about why he did it.

"Like, I hear it's a midlife crisis," Ryan said. "It's midlife, all right."

He then turned to public relations director Bruce Speight and said, "What do we talk about?"

"Midlife hieroglyphics," Speight said.

"There's no telling what would have come out if I said that," Ryan cracked.

"The tattoo is fun," he said. "That's why I did it."

The essence of Rex. It's fun. Pure and simple. The guy loves what he does, he's not afraid to show it, and he doesn't care what you think about it. Whether it's coaching football or having needles poked through his skin to create a fancy design on his leg, the man knows how to enjoy life. For those who are around him every day, the attitude is both refreshing and contagious.

Midlife crisis? Nah. A theory that makes more sense is the one Cotchery shared about why the 48-year-old coach often acts half his age.

"He's pretty much a player that wants to be on the field, but he coaches because he can't play," Cotchery said. "He wants to be out here hitting people and talking smack, but he's got to settle for being a coach."

Sounds about right. And so does the message Ryan's new tattoo signifies: Believe in yourself. No one believes more than Ryan.