On Saturday night, Jet coach Rex Ryan was photographed giving someone the middle finger.
On Sunday, he apologized for the gesture.
“It was stupid and inappropriate,” Ryan said. “I wouldn’t accept that
type of behavior from one of the coaches or players and it’s
unacceptable from me. I apologize to the Jets organization, the National Football league, and NFL fans everywhere.”
Jets G.M. Mike Tannenbaum said in a statement that the situation will be handled internally.
And he let Rex have it publicly.
“Rex showed extremely poor judgment and his conduct was inappropriate.
He knows he was wrong, has apologized and we have accepted his apology,” Tannenbaum said.
Meanwhile, Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald has obtained some information from one of the persons supposedly on the receiving end of the message from Ryan. “As he walked by, my friends said, ‘Dolphins rule, Jets suck! ”
David Hildenbrand told Salguero in an e-mail. “He turned around and said, ‘Go f–k
yourself!‘ There were others screaming things at him, which is why he
flicked everybody off. That’s when I snapped the pic.”
As we’ve heard it, Ryan directed the finger to one specific person who was relentlessly hassling him.
Who knew Kevin Gilbride was an MMA fan?