Former Trump Supporter Rex Ryan on POTUS’ Comments About Anthem Protesters: ‘I’m Pissed Off’

AP John Minchillo
AP Photo/John Minchillo
Dylan Gwinn

Former Bills and Jets head coach Rex Ryan was a big fan of President Trump, he even introduced Trump when he came to Buffalo for a rally in early 2016. However, ESPN analyst Rex Ryan claims he’s no fan of President trump after his critical comments of protesting NFL players in Alabama.

On Friday night, President Trump criticized players who protested the national anthem, referring to them as “SOB’s.” He also expressed his desire that NFL owners would “fire” these players for protesting.

Trump said:

Rex Ryan, once a proud supporter of Trump, repsonded to Trump on ESPN’s NFL Sunday Countdown:

“When you look at it, we all grew up in an NFL locker room,” Ryan said on the set of “Sunday NFL Countdown,” which included former players Randy Moss, Matt Hasselbeck, Charles Woodson and Anquan Boldin, and co-host Sam Ponder. “We don’t have those issues, you know what I mean?

Ryan added, “Everyone’s always been united. Yeah, the views are different but lemme tell you: I’m pissed off. I’ll be honest with you. Because I supported Donald Trump. When he asked me to introduce him at a rally in Buffalo, I did that. But I’m reading these comments and it’s appalling to me and I’m sure it’s appalling to almost any citizen in our country. It should be.

“You know, calling our players SOBs and all that kind of stuff, that’s not the men that I know. The men that I know in the locker room I’m proud of. I’m proud to be associated with those people. I apologized for being pissed off but guess what? That’s it, because right away I’m associated with what Donald Trump stands for and all that because I introduced him. I never signed up for that, I never wanted that. That doesn’t mean I support 100 percent of the things he says.”

The influence of Ryan’s current employer can’t be overlooked in this instance. ESPN recently refused to discipline a host who openly called President Trump a “white supremacist” on Twitter. Given that Ryan’s paychecks are now signed in Bristol, it’s not hard to figure out why Ryan would want to distance himself from Trump.

However, while Ryan’s about face is understandable, from a professional standpoint, it’s also completely shameful and hypocritical. Ryan had the reputation of being one of the loudest, most profane coaches in football. A careful review of some HBO Hard Knocks episodes would likely reveal that he’s called his players far worse than what Trump called the protesters. Not to mention that Trump’s rough, tough talk is probably exactly why Ryan supported him in the first place.

Long story short: Trump never changed, Rex Ryan did, and that change happened when he went to ESPN.

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