MIAMI — This is what Joy in Jetville looks and sounds like on the day they all learned Rex Ryan would be their coach in 2014:
Woody Johnson stands before the players in the visiting locker room at Sun Life Stadium, tells them how proud he is of them for beating the Dolphins 20-7 and finishing 8-8, and then, the moment they had wished for, the words that they longed to hear:
“I just want you guys to know that Rex will be our coach.”
Here Joy in Jetville exploded, players jumping for joy, jumping on Ryan, cheers erupting and tears flowing, especially from Ryan, engulfed in hugs and an orgy of love, his Jets cap sent flying off his head. He had been told the good news just before the game by Johnson and general manager John Idzik, but did not tell his players.
Idzik then spoke: “We play as a brotherhood, everybody cares for each other,” was how Antonio Cromartie remembered it, and the rookie GM presented Ryan with the game ball.
Then a choked-up Ryan, his eyes moist, cracked a couple of jokes and talked about pride.
“Wearing the colors out into public proudly, pretty much no shame in this team, no shame in this organization,” was how Austin Howard remembered it.
No Black Monday for Rex Ryan, only Victory Monday.
No hole in the heart and soul of a young, growing team that needed continuity and stability in the worst way.
Because The Ryan King, so much meeker this season, will have a chance to roar again.
As well he should.
“I think it’s a burden off everybody’s shoulders,” Cromartie said.
You hope Idzik and Johnson divorced themselves from the howling voices from inside their locker room as well as outside and recognized on their own bringing Ryan back was the right call, and the only call.
But if those voices became the tiebreaker that Ryan should stay to continue a rebuilding that has only just begun, then it isn’t such a terrible thing Idzik and Johnson will have listened to the pleas of all of their players and a good percentage of their fan base.
And if you were looking for signs Geno Smith (17-for-27 for 190 yards passing, 10 carries for 44 yards and touchdown, no turnovers) is turning a corner, and can continue to grow under Ryan’s watch, there he was, capping an 11-play, 80-yard drive with a refuse-to-be denied 7-yard TD run at the end of the half.
Idzik could have insisted on hiring his own man, and Johnson could have rubber stamped it and they would have been the Same Old Jets welcoming a fourth HC of the NYJ since Tom Coughlin arrived to coach the Giants.
Some may see keeping Ryan as Johnson’s unwavering blind loyalty to a favorite son.
I see it as an important growth of his stewardship.
A hoarse but beaming Johnson, asked in the interview room whether the last two games made up his mind, said. “No, no, we made up our mind earlier than that.”
Ryan and Idzik have established a close working relationship, and bringing Ryan back should bolster the trust between partners.
“I always made the assumption we were together, from the beginning,” Idzik said. “He’s been tremendous to work with, and he’s a leader, he’s a motivator, he’s a teacher, he’s a heckuva coach. … He’s a great guy to work with.”
Johnson has always viewed Ryan as the Everyman coach for his team and his fan base. He is unquestionably the face of the franchise, and it is no longer a face with a big red clown nose.
Idzik, asked when he and Johnson reached this decision, said: “I don’t think it’s any discreet point in time, it was more of a continuum. It’s a feeling that you get, it’s a feeling that you get in the building.”
Even in his understated state, Ryan remains a larger-than-life figure, part of the fabric of the sports scene here, a media darling. He has given us an exhilarating, sometimes dysfunctional, roller-coaster ride. He came close twice, but has never gotten to the White House to shake hands with the president.
He has never kissed Belichick’s rings either.
And won’t next season either.