Ryan and Dungy speak one-on-one
New York Jets coach Rex Ryan wanted to clear the air with former Colts’ coach and Super Bowl winner Tony Dungy in a private meeting between the two. After Dungy had criticized Ryan for his use of profanity on the HBO series ‘Hard Knocks’ which follows the Jets’ training camp, Ryan fired back saying Dungy unfairly judged him. He invited Dungy to the Jets’ camp to hold a discussion to talk out the disagreement and to show Dungy what the Jets are truly about. Dungy accepted the invitation and will soon visit.
"I wanted him to know how I felt," Ryan said. "We talked man-to-man. He told me his position, and I definitely told him my position. It was good. He knows some people I know. There are a lot of positive things being said about me ... We'll leave it at that. We look forward to having him come up and see what we're all about."
Ryan was really bothered by Dungy’s comments on a radio show criticizing Ryan for his use of foul language. Dungy had said there was no need for that language and Ryan wasn’t setting a proper example. Ryan said he was disappointed that a man he truly admired had misjudged him. Ryan had never met Dungy before, who now works as an analyst for NBC.
When Ryan was asked whether their conversation was friendly or confrontational, Ryan simply said: “We just talked man-to-man, which is good."
Ryan had fired 10 f-bombs in the series’ first show, and went down to just two in the second episode. The series contains three more episodes which will carry through to the end of the preseason.
Dungy even suggested that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell should talk to Ryan and try to reduce the profanity, saying it is not the image that the league wants. That would be unlikely to happen due to the high ratings of the show and that HBO is a network that bases itself on not censoring their programs, except on reruns during the day.
Tags: