In case you have not been paying attention to the mainstream media stretching to make a story out of basically anything during Super Bowl week, Jets coach Rex Ryan attended a MMA fight where former NFL star Herschel Walker was making his fighting debut while he was in South Florida attending the Pro Bowl. At the fight Ryan was shown on the scoreboard while being interviewed by Showtime, which was covering the event. Ryan acted like his normal inflammatory self, declaring that the Jets were looking forward to beating the Dolphins twice next year. Naturally, the crowd booed Ryan, but one drunk fan in particular wouldn’t leave Ryan alone as he watched the fight, apparently continually berating him with profanity and insults.
So, Ryan did the only thing that any warm blooded male in the United States would do in this situation: he flipped the dude off. And now he’s in trouble, with the NFL apparently considering a fining Ryan.
Ryan shouldn’t even get fined for this. If some jerk is berating you at a non-NFL event, sometimes emotions can get the best of you. I know I’m guilty of engaging in Ryan’s aforementioned conduct when pushed. A guy like Rex Ryan doesn’t back down, and shouldn’t be expected to cower in the face of some jerk berating him while he attends an event on his own accord. It would be different if Ryan were flipping fans off at a game, that’s engaging in inappropriate conduct on the job– something that deserves a fine. Although Ryan was interviewed during the fight, and may have embarrassed the Jets organization, I think that’s a PR problem for the organization that can and should remain in house. This isn’t a big deal, and one that certainly doesn’t merit a fine.
