Woody Johnson finally talked about the indcident that occurred last week when Rex Ryan was caught by a fans camera phone giving the middle finger to a dolphins fan. Rex was reacting to aggressive behavior but Jets owner says that didn’t matter, even when he found out the coach was spit on.
Rich Cimini reports from the Daily News:
Johnson, commenting for the first time on the obscene gesture, said Ryan told him in a face-to-face meeting that he responded with a middle finger only after he was spit on and cursed at. But Johnson still felt it was inappropriate behavior by his coach and believes the fine was deserved.
“Despite the provocation, you still have to act a certain way,” Johnson said after an NFL owners’ meeting.
Sabo/DailyNews
Woody knew that he was getting an emotional coach, that was part of the reason why he was an attractive hire for the Jets. All season long Rex brought a certain swagger with him and instilled that confidence into his players and the fan base. I believe this is one of the major reasons why the Jets made it as far as they did to the AFC Championship game and was 30 minutes from heading to the big game.
Woody knew the coach was going to cause controversy before they hired Rex saying:
Rex is an authentic person,” Johnson said. “It’s one of the reasons he’s an effective coach. He’s a real person.
“Right from the beginning, I said we were going to make mistakes – both he, me – but we’re going to be very open. So we’re going to step on it occasionally, and this is one we stepped on. It’s no bigger than that. It’s done.”
Reading Woody’s response about the Finger incident, I can see why he slapped the coach with a fine. My only question I’m pondering is why the $50,000.00. If Woody KNEW the fan spit in his face, why was he so steep. I think the NFL realized it was a strong fine as well and decided NOT to add additional penalties to the coach.
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Rex Ryan New York Jets Signed 8×10 Photo W/coa
