Rex Ryan issued a statement to the media today apologizing for his obscene gesture at the MMA Strikeforce event in Miami last night:
Ryan: “It was stupid and inappropriate. I wouldn’t accept that type of behavior from one of the coaches or players and it’s unacceptable from me. I apologize to the Jets organization, the National Football League and NFL fans everywhere.”
New York Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum: “Rex showed extremely poor judgment and his conduct was inappropriate. He knows he was wrong, has apologized and we have accepted his apology. Any other actions regarding this incident will be addressed internally by the organization.”
This afternoon I spoke over the phone to an eyewitness of the events that took place before and during the time of Ryan’s obscene gesture.
I was told that when Ryan first entered the venue with a group of friends, one particular individual, who appeared to be inebriated, unleashed a torrent of profane insults on the coach.
Ryan ignored the comments and proceeded to his cageside seat at the event only to later have the same person confront him with what the witness called “over-the-top” expletive-laced comments. We’re talking multiple f-bombs, m-f bombs and the obligatory comments about Ryan’s weight.
When the man showed no signs of stopping, a brief skirmish ensued between the harasser and arena security. Ryan was not involved in the altercation. Arena security then removed the offending individual from Ryan’s seating area but for some reason did not kick him out of the building, allow the individual to return to his original seat.
When Ryan left the event, he once again passed by the seat location of the heckler and saluted the allegedly intoxicated individual with an obscene gesture as he exited the building.
There’s no excuse for Ryan’s gesture, and his earlier comments on the public address system directed at Dolphins fans didn’t help matters. But if my source is any indication, Ryan actually showed remarkable restraint in the face of an out-of-control, confrontational fan.
6:39 pm on January 31st, 2010
Ryan received no more abuse than any player that enters the Meadowlands on Sunday. 50K fine minimum from Goodell should soon follow
6:55 pm on January 31st, 2010
I don’t know about anybody else, but I’m kind of glad my coach gets hammered drunk and gives the one bird salute to hecklers.
8:29 pm on January 31st, 2010
Pencil me in as a Ryan fan. J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets…
8:40 pm on January 31st, 2010
thats whats wrong w/ this world these days—you can get acosted by an idiot but the only one that gets judged is the victim to see how they will handle it—bullshit!
whatever happened to freedom of speech?
11:29 pm on January 31st, 2010
Ryan is the man
11:50 pm on January 31st, 2010
Gone too far in the PC society. The bird is almost like calling someone a fag. You don’t mean they’re gay, they’re just a fag.
12:04 am on February 1st, 2010
Am I to assume that Ryan’s chin could not be reached for comment?
12:34 am on February 1st, 2010
J.E.T.S. Suck Suck Suck
2:53 am on February 1st, 2010
i dont understand this crap, hes a human, just like you and me, so he got drunk and flipped someone off, 90% of people flip the bird when they drive, some of them once a day, i dont see them getting fined for money, its a gesture look at the picture hes happy/drunk give the man a break
4:45 am on February 1st, 2010
ryan wouldn’t have been heckled no where near as bad if he hadn’t picked a fight with channing crowder before the season started. how did that work out for him…dolphins handled the jets TWICE this year. jets fans should tell their coach to shut his mouth and coach the game. super bowl favorites he said? that was funy
7:37 am on February 1st, 2010
overreaction! not a jets fan but ryan actually has a personality which is refreshing if not entertaining. “No excuse for Ryan’s gesture”? Brooks c’mon.
8:35 am on February 1st, 2010
Front AND back page in NYC this morning.
8:56 am on February 1st, 2010
Its amusing how Dolphin fans are obsessed with the Jets. Most Jet fans consider the Patriots their chief rival, not some other team that has sucked as bad as us for what seems like forever…I guess their goal of beating the “old” hapless Jets twice a year says it all. Personally I’ll take them beating us every year if we can make the playoffs. Go Dolphins!
9:38 am on February 1st, 2010
Hey it’s the NY state bird he is a NY coach it works fine for me.
What’s funny is Ashdex’s poor spelling. Typical Floridian.
10:06 am on February 1st, 2010
Good for him. Shows that he’s human. At least he didn’t punch the idiot in the face.
11:25 am on February 1st, 2010
I love reading comments from these delusional jets fans. This guy [ryan] is another in a long line of overhyped jets. Remember Brett Favre anyone? How about Eric Mangini - you all called him “Mangenius”? And so on, and so on. The only really good coach you’ve had in recent memory was Parcells and he was smart enough to get away while the getting was good. Bill Belichek was smart enough to turn down the head coaching job. This year the jests had the #1 ranked rushing game in the NFL and one of the best defenses - and STILL had to back into the playoffs. If you think ryan is a great coach you’re welcome to him. It was the quality of players on the field that won your games. That, and HUGE amount of luck. And as a Dolphins fan I hope ryan’s on your sideline for many, many years to come. The best thing was watching him cry on TV - he’s such a weenie! Perfect fit for jests fan nation!
11:31 am on February 1st, 2010
He’s a fat drunken slob. Go Pats!
12:52 pm on February 1st, 2010
Drunk and flipping the bird at a MMA event…I’m a fan of that!
12:53 pm on February 1st, 2010
SO HE HAVE THE FINGER….SO WHAT?
12:56 pm on February 1st, 2010
As far as I’m concerned ryan is nothing more than a BIG FAT TUB of LARD. Next year his team will be lucky to win 4 games. That’s if he doesn’t have a major heart attack from eatin’ all that fried food. Go on a diet will ya.
1:00 pm on February 1st, 2010
OMG, he flipped some random, obviously obnoxious drunk off for bothering him all night, let’s make a federal case out of it. I think nothing less than a 5 million dollar fine and 10 years in jail, no, make it 20 years (because we need to make an example), are in order here! We better nip this in the bud or god knows there’ll be rampant finger flipping going on worldwide in no time!
Oh, the humanity…
Must be a slow news day for this to even be worth mentioning.
1:05 pm on February 1st, 2010
Not a jets fan but why should any person take the verbal abuse he took at a MMA event. Not the most gentil of places. The guy (heckler) was an idiot and should have been thrown out the window on his drunken butt. I like Ryan, liked his father and short of punching the guys lights out (which i would have supported as well), he didnt do anything more or less than you readers. Every man has his faults. Even the POPE.
1:08 pm on February 1st, 2010
Go J E T S ! Go R Y A N We finally have a coach with balls.
1:22 pm on February 1st, 2010
another issue for Goodell to screw up,
1:29 pm on February 1st, 2010
Ryan isn’t just some slob, he’s the coach of an NFL team! No matter how obnoxious the guy was, Ryan had to show better constraint. Did the man go after him? No he didn’t. He just insulted Ryan. Ryan had to know the crowd reaction was going to be negative when he entered the building. Now let’s see if Dictator Goodell will slap the coach the same way he slaps the players. But, what can we expect from NY?
1:59 pm on February 1st, 2010
hahahaha i love hearing all this stuff people write…BUT, my opinion on this matter is just like 90% of the people on here…give me a break….Im a cowboys fan, but i like Ryan. You dont see to many coaches that have the confidence and balls like he does! Flip that bird coach!!!!!
2:07 pm on February 1st, 2010
Rex is the man!!
Can’t blame him for flipping off some drunk Dolphin fan. The dolphins think they had a good team this year but they lucked out twice against the Jets.
I think they should make some money off of this. Make some T shirts saying f off Dolphins with Rex’s picture on the front.
I’d buy one!
2:08 pm on February 1st, 2010
this proves beyond any shaadow of doubt that he is a bigger jerk than his old man. an accomplishment in itself.
2:12 pm on February 1st, 2010
like father like son.
2:16 pm on February 1st, 2010
Rex Ryan recently attempted to donate his brain to the NFL for concussion studies. However “upon further review ” it was found one wasn’t available.
Is anyone really surprised here. He got his 15 minutes of fame by backing into the playoffs and then got caught impersonating a football team in Indy.
His actions do fit well into the New York sport mentality. Such as it is.
Pathetic.
2:24 pm on February 1st, 2010
Ryan belongs in New York. He’s an idiot.
2:30 pm on February 1st, 2010
He is a D and deserves what he gets. Hope he enjoys his parade in NYC
2:32 pm on February 1st, 2010
PS Gary hope you aint freezing your “nuts” off in NY. Ill sell you a can of warm sun if you like!
2:45 pm on February 1st, 2010
You people can’t read. Rex wasn’t drunk - the heckler was. Morons.
2:51 pm on February 1st, 2010
Most people would have either punched the heckler or left the venue out of fear of getting into a fight.
Ryan merely struck and appropriate compromise.
And it would be poetic if he uses the actions of this Dolphins fan as further motivation to continue the Jets’ momentum by beating the Dolphins next year on the way to finally imposing their will in the Pats.
3:01 pm on February 1st, 2010
This guy (Ryan) has been raising more red flags than a Spanish bullfighter!! He’s definitely an accident waiting to happen and I expect him to do more foolish things in the future. Like father, like son!!!!
3:03 pm on February 1st, 2010
Next year long time off; this past season, Dolphins beat Jets twice, unless of course people believe it was fixed?, in any event one does not need to be a Dolphins fan to verify that.. Also it does not matter who was drunk or not, does not change 2 facts; one the gesture occured and second, Ryan is a jerk!
3:09 pm on February 1st, 2010
While not a Rex Ryan fan, I see nothing wrong with his behavior. Seriously, someone insults the guy repeatedly and he flips them off an it’s a bad thing? Come on. Society is going too far with PC and it doesn’t help that weasels use their camera phones for stuff like this.
3:14 pm on February 1st, 2010
There is a time and place for everything. Being harrassed at an event involving two men beating the crap out of each other, constitutes on of those times. I seriously doubt anyone there was offended and if they were they should not have been there in the first place.
3:20 pm on February 1st, 2010
Rex Ryan is so stupid WHO DEY! why didn’t more Bengals make the pro bowl? We went 6 and 0 in one of the hardest conferences in the NFL.
3:34 pm on February 1st, 2010
Can some of you people not read? Ryan wasn’t the moron who was drunk, the idiot spectator was.
3:39 pm on February 1st, 2010
FYI Rex Ryan was on the jumbotron at the event talking smack about the Dolphins before he got heckled. Maybe he should have given that more thought.
3:52 pm on February 1st, 2010
does people in Miami should get more than a finger!!!
4:12 pm on February 1st, 2010
i’m a pats fan and i’m with rex on this one……….sounds like he behaved perfectly to me
5:15 pm on February 1st, 2010
What’s wrong with flipping the bird??? EVERYbody does it! coaches are human, too. And I’m sure coaches use expletives during practice, so what? Here’s a flip of the finger to those who found this ‘inappropriate’. Rex, you have nothing to apologize for!
5:28 pm on February 1st, 2010
Who cares if Ryan was provoked??!! He should have had enough personal control to ignore that jerk who was annoying him. He’s a good coach, but he needs a little maturity. Rude, annoying people are everywhere…but, you don’t have to become one of them.
5:39 pm on February 1st, 2010
I couldnt care less! The fan was drunk not Rex. Good job Rex u have nothin to apologize for because everyone hatin on u are just hypocrites because they done it before too. u could have beat the guy senseless or u could have acted like a wuss and get the hell out of there. that is a good compromise. because a person many people recognize does it it is wrong and he will probably get fined but if someone random does it no once even bothers to react i think the dolphins fan got what he deserved. i think he actually got off lucky he deserved a big slap or something
5:40 pm on February 1st, 2010
As far as i’m concerned morons need to be shut up. If your gonna run your mouth or get in someones face and he breaks your nose YOU DESERVE IT.
5:58 pm on February 1st, 2010
classless asa well as clueless,a fine man his players will follow his lead.so we know what to expect of the jets in the future.
6:10 pm on February 1st, 2010
i do not believe that they censored him flipping the bird. what the hell has this country come to when you get fined for making a hand gesture. i flip the bird to anyone who deserves it and if they do not like it, tough shit
this country is so puritanical and so full of it that it makes me sick. other countries have nude television but we are so above everyone else or so we think when infact we are actually backward from the rest of the world
6:30 pm on February 1st, 2010
This is very similar to what happened to Dan Issel when coaching the Nuggets. A drunk punk had been berating him the whole game (at home by the way). So, on the way off the court this low-life continued and Issel made some comment like “just keep drinking your beer, you Mexican”. Issel was gone, never to head coach again. A class guy got the shaft.
6:35 pm on February 1st, 2010
Hiding behind words and trying to intimidate or annoy someone
verbally and they tell you to move on then move on. For all you folks out there that think you should just allow the abuse you go right ahead. Only idiots, punks, or stupid drunks do stupid stuff like run there mouths and hide behind words, they are cowards who think they are protected by the law. What they don’t realize is that many people are not going to put up with someone like that. THOSE PEOPLE BREAK YOUR NOSE, OR WORSE. AND YOU DESERVE IT. Rex Ryan showed great restraint by just flipping the guy off. The NFL should reward him for not kicking the guys ass.
7:24 pm on February 1st, 2010
REX DID THE RIGHT THING AND SHOULD NOT APOLOGIZE TO NOBODY!!
7:27 pm on February 1st, 2010
You americans are such fags….just because he did a gesture you crucify him…Who cares?! When there are more important things you stupid americans should worry about! You americans are DUMB!
7:35 pm on February 1st, 2010
I am proud to be an American even with all the BS crooked politicians. The officials were in the wrong not to eject the harrasser from the stadium and I think Ryan had all the rights. He does not owe any apology. Americans are not Dumb but then this person wouldn’t know since he is to ignorant than to print this.
7:47 pm on February 1st, 2010
Wow! Why wasn’t this nut (the guy who accosted Ryan) removed from the building and not allowed to return?? It’s people like him/her that make people like me and many others decide that going to sporting events just isn’t worth it. As for this guy crapping on Americans because of the actions of a few, GROW UP!
Stop lumping people together because you don’t know any better! I agree the gesture isn’t the issue, the issue is the idiot who caused the incident in the first place and the NFL needs to get off it’s high horse!
12:18 am on February 2nd, 2010
SOME OF YOU CAN’T READ. RYAN WAS NOT DRUNK, THE OTHER GUY WAS. HEJUST FLIPPED HIM OFF BECAUSE THE OTHER GUY WAS DRUNK AND REMOVED BACK TO HIS SEAT. WHEN RYAN WAS LEAVING HE HAD TO WALK BY WHERE THE DRUNK WAS SITTING AND HE STARTED YELLING AT RYAN AGAIN SO HE GOT FLIPPED OFF, BIG FREAKIN DEAL, HE WAS LUCKY RYAN HELD HIS TEMPER AND NOT KICK HIS STUPID DRUNK ASS. READ THE STORY AGAIN. PC BULLSHIT. WHAT HAVE WE BECOME?
1:16 am on February 2nd, 2010
all of you Jets and Dolphins fans should just stop already with all of your Nancy-boy sniping. Yes, Rex is an idiot like his dad. And yes, the Fish couldn’t make the playoffs. But I live and die with the Rams, so consider yourselves lucky……how does 1-15 sound?
2:16 am on February 2nd, 2010
Oh c’mon. It’s not like he threw a punch for crying out loud. Crypes!
3:30 am on February 2nd, 2010
RYAN DIDNT DO ANYTHING WRONG FOOTBALL IS TOUGH SO SHOULD EVERYONE AROUND IT. THE DRUNK IS A LITTLE GIRL HE COULDNT TAKE A LITTLE TRASH TALK BITCH GO HOME! YOU LUCKY YOU WERE DRUNK OR ELSE I WOULD OF APPROVED HIM BEATING YOUR ASS. FOR ALL THE SHIT TALKER ON THIS SMOKE SOME WEED IT WILL MAKE YOU A BETTER PERSON. NOW BE WITH GOD MY BROTHERS
7:54 am on February 2nd, 2010
Ryan did nothing wrong. The heckler actually deserved more than just the finger.
12:11 pm on February 2nd, 2010
Too bad ryan had a beer in the other hand
12:12 pm on February 2nd, 2010
I don’t know anything about weed, nancy drew
12:26 pm on February 2nd, 2010
Obviously this is up to no good. see ya
1:12 pm on February 2nd, 2010
Funny how all you J (N) et fans just assume that W. C. Ryan wasn’t popped also.