We noted this week that Jets center Nick Mangold has decided not to travel to London this summer to see his sister, Olympic weightlifter Holley Mangold, because he doesn’t want to miss any time at training camp. But Jets coach Rex Ryan says Mangold should reconsider.
Ryan said today that he was “shocked” when he heard that Mangold had decided to refuse his offer of an excused absence from camp. When asked if he’s going to try to convince Mangold to go to the Olympics, Ryan said, “Yeah, I will.”
“I don’t think he realized this is an amazing thing, it really is,” Ryan said. “How many people are good enough to go to the Olympics and compete against the world’s best, and represent our country? I think it’s an incredible opportunity for her and him as well.”
Ryan also noted that Mangold is always very well prepared and wouldn’t suffer from missing a few days of practice if he went to London.
“I just think Nick is a smart guy,” Ryan said. “He would understand our offense, all of that kind of stuff. So it is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see your sister do something that is absolutely incredible: Competing against the world’s best in a weightlifting competition I think would be incredible. I know that if I was in a similar situation, I would want to see my brother in a weightlifting contest. I think we’d all want to see that.”
Still, Ryan said he doesn’t think he’s going to be able to persuade Mangold to take a couple days off. Mangold wants to be there with his teammates, and so he’ll be sweating through training camp practices and watching his sister compete on TV.