Badass or Jackass: The Rex Ryan Era New York Jets

Image via Complex Original

We all know that professional sports is all about setting the tone when you first walk through the door, and Ryan and his New York Jets set the defensive tone for the season by stepping on the neck of the Houston Texans' offense in a 24-7 victory on September 13, 2009. The new "defense first" Jets completely shut out the Texans' offense as Houston's special teams unit scored the team's only TD. In addition to holding them scoreless, the Jets locked up Houston's running game by only allowing 38 rushing yards the entire game. The defense forced and recovered a fumble and forced Matt Schaub into throwing an interception. 

Controlling the line of scrimmage and imposing their will on the opposing quarterback is what the Jets wanted to establish, and they did that in the first game of the new regime. The Rex Ryan era Jets kicked in the door and showed the world the defense it had in store for years to come. 

No coach in the NFL talks about how good his players are more than Rex Ryan. The Jets head coach has made repeated Super Bowl ring predictions and has publicly referred to the Jets as the “soon to be champs.” Questionable moves for a first time head coach and downright reckless when your quarterback is Mark Sanchez.

After a disappointing 2011 season, running back LaDainian Tomlinson remarked that the predictions put excessive pressure on the players and participated in the eventual unraveling of the locker room. Ryan has since accepted the criticism and insisted that he’ll abstain from similar comments in the future.

The last thing entitled professional athletes need is a reminder of how great they are. Young millionaires have no problem buying into self-serving hype. The Jets have continually fallen short of their own idealistic expectations. To that end, it’s clear that Ryan’s need to propagandize the exaggerated talent of his team has placed undue shine on his players. 

Heading into the 2010-11 playoffs, most people didn't give the Jets a chance. Why? Well when you barely make it into the playoffs and go up against Peyton Manning in the first game of the playoffs, conventional wisdom says you're supposed to lose. When people from Stephen A. Smith to Skip Bayless and other folks from major media outlets, say you have no business in the playoffs, let alone a shot at winning a game, especially against the likes of Peyton Manning, you're going to lose right? Wrong. The Jets went into Indianapolis and simply ran the ball on the Colts, winning the rushing game 169-93. They didn't do too much to Peyton Manning, but who stops Peyton Manning, seriously. They'd go on to eek out a win by the score of 17-16. Was it close? Yes. Was it badass? No doubt.

The Jets live in the shadow of the Giants in New York. The only way to get out from under that rock (or big apple in this case) is by winning or making a lot of noise. Since, the Giants have won a pair of Super Bowls in the last five years and the Jets have come up snake eyes in that time, the team’s been forcibly saddled with the latter.  

We love trash talk, bean balls and stare downs. Hockey would be handball on ice if it weren’t for fisticuffs and tennis would be infinitely more watchable if Serena Williams didn't bring C-walking to the snobby sport of tennis. Rex Ryan’s authenticity is refreshing. Too often sports figures become vapid, pull-the-string puppets. Athlete interviews are overwhelmingly soulless. At least Rex Ryan is saying something.  

That said, Ryan’s still a jackass. Interesting? Sure. Funny? Sometimes. But a total jackass. Ryan’s trash talk is at best disingenuous because he can’t possibly back it up. At worst, it puts an unwarranted bulls eye on the Jets actually playing the game. If Ryan wants to fuel his team with superfluous bravado, fine. He’s just copying his dad. But since there's no facemask in the world that will protect that gobbler of a neck, it’s up to his players to cash the checks he’s writing. 

A real coach will tell his team the truth without beating around the bush or get hung up on being PC, and that is what Rex Ryan is, a real coach. Anybody can go to a podium or the front of a room and yell at a team, and Ryan does that from time to time, but he explains why and gives positive reinforcement at the end, kind of like your mom or dad giving you a spanking and talking to you about it afterwards. That's what makes him a badass coach.

Ryan tells his team like it is when they're fucking up, puts the pressure on them to get it done, but gives them the encouragement to help them get through because he knows that its just them in the locker room against the rest of the league in their quest to the Lombardi trophy.   

The NFL always has that team that stockpiles convicted felons and prima donna castoffs. In the '70s and '80s the Raiders offered more second chances than the Betty Ford Clinic. The Cowboys carried the rebel team torch through the '90s and recently the Bengals have become an island of misfit toys. But the Jets seem to be almost brand focused on adding renegade players. 

We get it, Jets. You’re the anti-Patriots. You’re the anti-establishment, self-appointed middle finger to Roger Goodell and the NFL. Sure, Antonio Cromartie gave up on his team in the playoffs, but he’s tall for a corner. Sign him! Plaxico Burress is out of prison? Lock him up! Santonio Holmes got kicked off the Steelers? Awesome! We need another receiver!

The Jets have been burned by their recent signings, which have turned their locker room into a volatile prison yard. Santonio Holmes has back-stabbed Brian Schottenheimer so many times the Jets coordinator knows what it’s like to be shanked. Rex Ryan doesn’t seem to do much about it either, like a warden out of touch with his own penitentiary. 

Ah yes, who could forget about Bart Scott's memorable post game interview after the Jets let open a can of whoop-ass on the Patriots. After hearing about how they barely made it into the playoffs, and how they had no chance against the Patriots' defense for two weeks, the Jets rolled into New England and made life a bit difficult for Tom Brady. The Jets put hands on the former MVP in sacking Brady five times for a loss of 40 yards, and picking off one of his passes in their journey to a 28-21 victory.

After this win that surprised everyone else but the Jets, Bart Scott took a moment to shit on a few people on national TV, namely former Jet Keyshawn Johnson, and Tom Jackson (pretty badass), after hearing about how he and the Jets weren't going to beat the Pats. After all the trash talking most of the nation and media outlets did for two weeks, it was time for Scott to do some of his own, and rightfully so. In this off-the-cuff interview Scott told 'em all why he's mad, and why you shouldn't disrespect the third-best defense in the league. Getting the last laugh on the road against one of the best teams in the league, proving everyone wrong, and shitting on them on national TV right after you win is badass indeed. 

If we took a good hard look at your Internet history, we'd probably find something more deviant than a foot fetish. Since, this is about Rex Ryan, let's judge his love of toes from the safe anonymity of our Brazzers login.

Videos leaked of a woman who bares a striking resemblance to Ryan's wife showing off her feet with the nauseating commentary of a man who sounded remarkably like a tumescent Rex Ryan. The usually boisterous Ryan refused to comment in the wake of the scandal, calling it “a private matter.”

The videos are physically repelling. If you’re brave enough to listen to a clearly aroused Ryan ask if he can smell his wife’s disgusting feet, you’ll undoubtedly think he’s a jackass. 

The Rex Ryan era Jets are as much about chest-pounding self-promotion as they are about winning games. So, it was fitting for the team to sign the inexplicably glorified Tim Tebow. The former Broncos quarterback throws like Joe Namath looks, but plays to the spotlight hungry needs of the franchise. 

There's no problem with teams or coaches being mouthy. Without it, sports would be a tired laundry list of cliches. It needs that pro wrestling element. That said, what separates the badasses from the jackasses is winning. The Jets talk mad shit every year, like they're trying to hype themselves to top of the AFC. How's that worked out?

Ryan and the Jets talked mad shit before their season opener with the Ravens (Ryan's former team) and the Ravens fucked them up. Bad. Put half their team on IR. They've been rolled by traditional AFC beasts Pittsburgh and Indy in the playoffs and despite winning and being mouthy still live in the shadow of the Giants. 

They're not the Miami Hurricanes, Dallas Cowboys or Miami Heat. All bark. No question, a jackass team.