So I’m off for a couple of hours for some first-Sunday-without-football-since-Labor-Day-weekend time with the family and as soon as I get back to the official PFT Commodore 64 the first thing I utter is, “What I miss?”
An editor at NFL.com tweeted that new Saints defensive coordinator Rob Ryan can’t talk to the media without the approval of Saints V.P. of public relations Greg Bensel. Bensel said via Twitter that the report is “100% false.”
Here’s a specific piece of evidence supporting the notion that the report is 100 percent false. Per a source with knowledge of the situation, Ryan hasn’t signed a contract yet. He hasn’t signed it because it hasn’t been drafted yet.
In fairness to the original report, this could be a case of the reporter/editor being in the right church but the wrong pew. Regardless of the league’s rules regarding media availability, plenty of coaches keep a tight leash on their assistants. Given that Rob Ryan has a reputation for running his Ring Ding regurgitator, it would make plenty of sense for the Saints to demand discretion.
Who cares if that’s not in the contract? You hire the guy and you tell the guy this is the way it’s going to be, or the relationship isn’t going to last.
It’s a common disconnect between the “wherefores” and the real world. The paper says what the paper says, but the people behind the paper know how they expect things to be. And if Ryan ever finds himself in a situation where he’s slamming on Sean Payton’s desk a document that nowhere restricts Ryan from talking to the press whenever and however and wherever he wants, then he’s in football’s version of Elysium, and his career with the Saints is already dead.