NFL

RYAN BATTLED DYSLEXIA

Rex Ryan has overcome a lot of hurdles en route to becoming the Jets head coach, but one of them is little known to the public.

Ryan recently revealed to newyorkjets.com that he’s had to deal with dyslexia, a learning disability that makes it difficult for people to acquire and process language. That has left Ryan with difficulty reading, spelling and writing.

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“I’ll tell my players anything because I’m not ashamed that I have this,” Ryan said. “It’s something that I overcame. By far I’m not a perfect person and I don’t have all the answers. But if I can relay a story that’s happened to me or a situation that’s happened in my life that I think a player possibly can benefit from, I’ll be more than happy to share it.

“Still to this day, I’m a horrible speller,” said Ryan, who graduated and earned a masters from Eastern Kentucky, and has had significant success as a football coach and a defensive guru.

“All my life I struggled,” he said. “I read, but I probably don’t read as fast as other people, even though I read all the time now. I struggle with names sometimes, how to pronounce names, or how to read names.

“I remember skipping school when I was a kid all the time. . . . I was embarrassed. How come I was struggling? I’d get a spelling test and it was ridiculous. I couldn’t even get in the ballpark. So that was really frustrating.”

Ryan has difficulty retain information when in black and white, however, color helps. To help himself, he color-codes everything.

Ryan said he’s happy to spread the word about dyslexia in hopes that his dealings with it will help others who have it.

“If you have dyslexia, you can still reach your goals,” he said. “And understand, it’ll be a negative, no question, it’s a challenge. But if you overcome it, you can do some great things, so don’t let it get in your way.

“It was never easy. But it’s funny because I had this weakness but I had other gifts. That’s probably why I’m sitting in this chair now.”

mark.cannizzaro@nypost.com