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Rex Ryan Pulls A Rex Ryan, Guarantees Jets Super Bowl Victory
By
Ben Yakas
Published Feb 25, 2011
Modified Feb 25, 2011
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Feb 25, 2011
Modified Feb 25, 2011
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It's been a long month filled with deep reflection for Rex Ryan since the Jets lost the AFC Championship game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He's spent some quality time getting in touch with the people, riding on commuter trains and filming appearances on CSI:NY. But there's only one thing more effective at rousing the sleeping beast than pretty feet and beating those pesky Patriots: guaranteeing Super Bowl victories. "I believe this is the year that we're going to win the Super Bowl," Ryan says. "And the fact is I thought we'd win it the first two years, I guarantee we'll win it this year."
Ryan gave one of his patented rousing speeches to reporters at the NFL scouting combine yesterday; it was a passionate four-minute soliloquy during which he talked about the expectations of fans, and his deep belief in the team: "I look at it this way, the reason I think we're going to win is we're going to lock arms and we're going to find a way to get it done. The players, coaches, fans, we are going to lock arms, and when we do, we're going to find a way and I believe it, I think that will be the difference."
Ryan also made it clear that he doesn't think his predilection for guarantees takes anything away from his beloved team...because he feels victory: "I don't care what people think. I care what our organization believes and what our fans believe. We've gotten better. I know we got to the same place last year. It might not appear that we got better. But I thought we got a lot better last year. I think if we can improve a little bit more, why not us?...Why wouldn't I be positive? I'm always going to say the same thing. I believe we can be champs. Why wouldn't I believe it? Somebody tell me why I shouldn't believe that we deserve to be a champion?" Somebody needs to get Ryan decked out in a white suit, because he should be the star of a reality show where he travels across the country as a motivational guru.
Of course, there could be a couple hiccups along the way to that Super Bowl: at least four of the major Jets from last season, Santonio Holmes, Braylon Edwards, Brad Smith and Antonio Cromartie, all have expiring contracts. But Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum said the team wanted to keep as many of them as they can: “That has really been our goal. How many of those we will be able to keep is really going to be hard to say right now. We have a plan, that plan is in pencil, and we will see how things play out.” The other major question is whether there even will be a football season this year—if no new collective bargaining agreement is reached by March 4, there could be an NFL lockout.
Tagged
football
guarantees
jets
nfl
Rex Ryan
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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