THE men who play for Rex Ryan should be ashamed of themselves. Maybe if all of them cared as much as their rookie head coach does, had as much pride and passion as he does, they wouldn’t be The Team That Talks The Talk But Does Not Walk The Walk.
The emotional rookie coach of the freefalling 4-5 Jets broke down in tears in front of his team yesterday morning because it is a team he loves, it is a team he truly believes in, it is a team he has put his heart and soul and faith and trust in, it is a team, remember, he wants to take to the White House one day to shake the president’s hand.
Rex Ryan was a young man when he watched the defensive players of the 1985 Bears — the Mike Singletarys, the Dan Hamptons, the Richard Dents — carry their defensive coordinator off on their shoulders onto the Superdome field after they destroyed the Patriots in Super Bowl XX. The defensive coordinator was his father, Buddy Ryan.
“I haven’t been a part of a meeting where a coach cried like that,” Jets cornerback Darrell Revis said. “In the future, I hope there are more tears of joy than the ones this morning.”
Here, then, is the message for the New York Jets players, starting immediately:
Your coach has your back.
It’s time for you to have his.
“As a player,” right tackle Damien Woody said, “you want to run through a brick wall for a coach like that.”
Then run through a brick wall. The one guarded by the genius formerly known as Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and Randy Moss on Sunday against the Patriots, for starters.
Hall of Fame Giants linebacker Harry Carson never witnessed Bill Parcells bawl at a Giants team meeting. Informed that Ryan had cried yesterday, Carson told The Post: “I may have joined him with the tears. When you lose a game like they lost yesterday, it’s emotional. You gotta feel something. There are a lot of guys now who play and they don’t feel anything because it’s a different game.
“Rex certainly has seen tremendous potential in the guys he’s chosen to be on that team, and when they don’t play up to their capabilities, it can be emotional. You think that you have a tremendous opportunity and you just let it slip through your fingers, and those chances don’t always come by very often.”
Woody said Ryan is the kind of coach who inspires his players.
“Why wouldn’t you sell out for a man that believes in his team so much and will do whatever he can to help this team accomplish its goals?” Woody said.
“That’s the type of guys you want to play for.”
Then start playing for him.