If anyone rips Rex, Scott will step in

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. - Bart Scott is somewhat like that neighborhood bully, the guy who's called upon to scare away people with tough talk and a menacing look when a potential conflict arises at the playground.

"I would compare this to a family," Jets defensive tackle Sione Pouha said Thursday. "You always have the sister who's like a mom, and then you've got this brother who's this. Well, if you get into a ruckus at school, Bart's the one where you'll be like, 'I'm going to go back and get my brother.' Then you'll come back with Bart.

"He is the one who is there as a leader for us. Everybody has to have one in the family, and we've got one."

One that's become a sudden YouTube sensation.

The linebacker's unedited on-field interview with ESPN after Sunday's 28-21 win over the Patriots has taken on its own life, getting more than 350,000 views. It was an emotional rant from Scott, who was ticked off because he thought people put the Patriots and Tom Brady on a pedestal and weren't respecting the Jets enough.

Jerricho Cotchery said it's the "funniest thing I've ever seen," and defensive coordinator Mike Pettine said he's checked it out at least "50 times."

Scott, however, insists he hasn't viewed the unflattering footage, which easily could be transformed into a beer commercial in the vein of Herman Edwards' "Hello, you play to win the game.''

"My wife has teased me a lot,'' Scott said. "She'll use that in case I ever get mad at her or something. She said she'll get me locked up. She'll use that video as a reference."

Scott's verbal sparring wasn't limited to that epic moment. In the postgame locker room, he talked for nearly 20 minutes, often getting animated as he spoke about Rex Ryan. Scott was the first person Ryan targeted when he took over as the Jets' coach in January 2009, showing up at his doorstep at midnight once free agency started, looking to recruit him from his familiar turf with the Ravens.

"He's a good enough coach for me to leave the confines of Baltimore," Scott said, "where my home [was] and my family and kids were used to being and I was offered pretty much the same money for me to uproot my family and leave. That's how good of a coach he is and that's how much I believe in him."

That's why he takes the attacks on Ryan so personally and chooses to speak up for him. After the Patriots' Wes Welker took a swipe at Ryan last week with his 10 foot and toe references, Scott said Welker's days in a uniform would be numbered if he didn't watch what he said about Ryan.

Scott doesn't mind the tactical critiques of Ryan. It's the tweaks about things that have nothing to do with football that burn him up.

"I understand it's the market and world we live in, but it still doesn't give people the freedom to take shots," Scott said. "They can take the shots, but I still can choose to defend him and respond to them however I choose to. It's one thing to criticize somebody about game management, things that have to do with the business. But I think he takes a lot of unnecessary shots.

"Everybody thinks it's funny about his weight. But I don't see a lot of people make those statements about Andy Reid, or [Mike] Holmgren, or Romeo [Crennel] and Charlie Weis. I think he unfairly takes it. He goes out, he makes statements and he believes in his team, and that still doesn't give people the right to be unprofessional."

Ryan appreciates Scott's bodyguard approach with him.

"Of course," Ryan said. "Bart, we are linked together. Bart is a guy I chose to bring in here. We all kid him and things like that, but we respect him and we love Bart.''

Even when he pops off.

"He might be," tight end Dustin Keller said, "the most hated guy in the league."

Scott couldn't care less if he is. All he's worried about is finally getting the chance to hoist the Lamar Hunt Trophy after two successive losses in the AFC title game.

"I tell people all the time," Scott said. "The closer you get to something, the harder it is to recover from it because of your hopes. People that don't make the playoffs never have that big crash because they don't get their expectations up. Our expectations are high and they have been high and it's time for us to get over that hump.

"It's time for the New York Jets to get their happy ending."