So there is no doubt, absolutely none, that plenty of NFL types – whether it be Ryan critics in the media, club executives or other assorted pigskin riffraff – would like nothing more than to knock that smile off Rex Ryan’s face before stapling his mouth shut. They would love to be holding that picture up Sunday after a Jets loss to Cleveland, saying: Is Rex laughing now? When’s his next Yuck Barn appearance?
“It (Ryan’s shtick) was unprofessional,” Brandon Tierney said Thursday on ESPN-1050. “…I’m having a hard time separating the ‘fun’ from the Jets not playing crisp football. They better win the game (Sunday).”
Even those who enjoyed Ryan’s hijinks were dubious. Such as SXM Radio’s Steve Phillips.
“As a (former) GM, watching him (Ryan) and listening to what he has to say makes me scared,” Phillips said on the air Thursday.
By no means is this anything new. When it comes to Ryan the song remains the same. In July, the chorus swore Ryan and Co.’s decision allowing HBO’s “Hard Knocks” cameras to invade the “privacy” of Gang Green’s Cortland training compound would return to haunt and hurt the team this season. The Jets were not only putting themselves in a position to be mocked, but giving the competition even more incentive to pound them.
– Bob Raissman, N.Y. Daily News.
Y’all know how I feel about sanctimony in general, but on top of that, it’s really weird to me how many people seem so certain that Ryan’s wig stunt represented some sort of nefarious and calculated plan to draw attention away from the Jets’ sloppy play against Detroit.
I mean, have none of these people ever had a sibling? Could the truth not be the simplest possible explanation: That Ryan is actually just having fun, and seizing the opportunity to taunt his twin brother? The awesome Times feature from earlier this week really made it sound like the Ryans have a pretty healthy, active rivalry going.
And Rob Ryan does indeed have pretty silly hair, and Rex is probably pretty excited to be able to lord his weight loss over his brother, so, you know, why not dress up like him and take some potshots?
Perhaps I’m biased because I’m a Jets fan and I happen to think Rex Ryan is boss. I just don’t really get why we should be listening to odd and haphazardly directed sanctimony from Steve Phillips of all people, when it strikes me that NFL players probably get pretty motivated for games on their own, regardless of what the other team’s coach has said or done in press conferences that week.
And you don’t have to remind me that bulletin boards exist. I get that. But if you could somehow prove to me that mid-week trash talking actually affects the outcome of games even the tiniest bit, I’d be a lot more open to all the bluster.
Tedquarters 
He’s coaching against his twin brother in the NFL -that should be fun.
Nothing either one of these guys says is going to be bulletin board material this week because both teams know its all in fun.
Ted, much of your work with this blog (which I love, by the way) is based on what seems to me a logical fallacy.
You believe that:
ONLY players who play at maximum motivation all the time can make it to highest level in professional sports. THEREFORE, players at the highest level in professional sports can not become more or less motivated than they already are.
I have a feeling that you’re familiar with Malcolm Gladwell’s “Outliers.” This seems to be related to a lot of the points in that book.
However, are there not plenty of examples of people at the highest levels in their field who still occasionally mail it in?
That’s oversimplifying. While I would guess the large majority of professional athletes are highly motivated (and internally so), obviously I recognize instances where a lack of motivation can affect performance. I just think: A) Players who consistently lack motivation will pretty quickly be replaced by ones that don’t, since they compete in wildly competitive and largely quantifiable fields and B) From our distance, from the little that players reveal of themselves to the media, from trying to read body language, we are normally way underqualified to psychoanalyze players and diagnose lack of motivation if they struggle.
And I think the point here — that the Browns are going to somehow come out and play better because Rex Ryan put a wig on at a press conference, is pretty much ridiculous.