Rex Ryan Defends the Decision to Go to Clemson for the Day

Aug 29, 2013; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan before the game against the Philadelphia Eagles at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John O

A lot of things have been said about Rex Ryan the coach. Some of them have been deserved, some of them have not been. However, when talking about coach Ryan the family person, that should be out-of-bounds. Apparently it isn’t.

We know that he has been attacked for going to Clemson to see his son at college, rather than being around for cut down day. To his credit, he answered the question very respectfully:

Almost all of our moves were made, Friday evening, when I was here. I talked to several of the players that we were going to release. I don’t think it was official until – we actually never made our moves until later that evening and that’s why the report came out when it did the next day. It came out Saturday. But certainly I spoke with most of our guys that were released just like I’ve done every year. I was very aware of our situation. This was an opportunity to go see my son play his first college game. I think played is probably not very accurate (joking). I saw him stand there (laughter). But it was a great deal. Obviously, it’s not like I’m going to be able to go to another game. It just so happened I could make that one. It was a night game. That’s really what I did. I took advantage of it. It was great. I just played dad there for a day. That was a lot of fun.

Kudos to coach Ryan for not telling the reporters where to go, regarding that question. Maybe they will leave him alone about his family life. Maybe not.