T-REX TWO

A potential Rex Ryan reunion with the Jets brings back tabloid gold memories

Rex Ryan interviewed with the Jets Tuesday regarding the head coaching vacancy.

Memo to team owner Woody Johnson: Bring back Rex-y.

Set aside for a New York minute Ryan’s remarks during an ESPN radio interview Monday, when the never shy former Jets coach all but Namath-guaranteed that he would be back for a return engagement patrolling the Gang Green sidelines. “The reason I think I’m going to get (the head coach job) is because I’m the best guy for it. It ain’t close,” Ryan barked.

Also set aside – but appreciate – Ryan’s comments on Aaron Rodgers in that same interview. In the event that Rodgers — the incumbent starting quarterback — returns to the Jets for a third season, Ryan made it known that Rodgers’ shtick wouldn’t fly, with or without Ryan at the coaching helm. Ryan made a specific dig at Rodgers missing mandatory minicamp last June so that the QB could take a trip to Egypt.

“If (Rodgers) comes back, things would be different. If he's back, it ain't gonna be the country club, show up whenever the hell you want to show up. That ain't gonna happen. I'll just leave it at that," said Ryan.

Boom.

Jets fans surely remember that the last time Ryan was Jets head coach was also the last time the club was in the postseason – back-to-back AFC Championship Game appearances in 2009 and 2010 with Mark Sanchez under center. In the 2010 playoffs, the Jets even toppled Tom Brady and the Patriots in a thrilling divisional round smackdown. In Foxborough.

Ryan was outspoken and brash, hilarious and loud when he was Jets coach. In other words, he was the perfect New York sports figure and a media dream to cover. No offense to Robert Saleh, but watching his press conferences was like attending an accounting seminar.

Yes, Ryan’s regular season records after 2010 went south – 8-8 (2011), 6-10 (2012), 8-8 (2013), 4-12 (2014) – and the Tim Tebow experiment didn’t blossom into Tim-sanity, but Ryan’s successors haven’t fared much better. And they’ve been boring to boot.

Let’s also not forget that the bookend Jets quarterbacks around Ryan’s first Jets stint were Brett Favre (2008) and Rodgers – both former Packers Super Bowl-winning QBs who were busts in New York. Neither Favre or Rodgers got the Jets into the postseason.

For me, Ryan holds a forever special place in my tabloid heart – although I’m certain the feelings aren’t mutual. There are salacious New York sports stories, and then there are Rex Ryan tattoo stories. Let’s dial back, shall we?

The Jets were coming off a dismal 6-10 season in 2012. Tebow, the Heisman Trophy-winning QB, had been brought to the Jets as a potential offensive spark alongside Sanchez, and was expected to be used in Wildcat packages. But Ryan stuck with Sanchez until almost the very end of the season, despite the team’s plummet, and Tebow’s playing time was, shall we say, limited. Limited to about zero.

Even when Sanchez got benched in a late December game, Tebow asked out of any Wildcat packages after third-stringer Greg McElroy got the starting nod.

With the Jets out of the playoffs, Ryan headed into the offseason under a cloud of uncertainty. A trip to the Bahamas with his wife Michelle was likely Ryan’s planned getaway to clear his head and escape the Gotham spotlight. Unfortunately for Ryan, a Jets fan posted a photo of him on social media at the airport in Nassau, Bahamas and the Daily News got wind of that item.

Next thing I know, I’m booking a flight to the Bahamas with News photographer Andrew “Theo” Theodorakis the day after New Year’s Day 2013.

The trip, ostensibly, was to try and: a) find Ryan somewhere in the Bahamas; b) if found, try to get an exclusive interview with him. Turns out, we, well Theo mostly, would get an exclusive alright – the Tat Heard ’Round the World.

Theo and I arrived bleary-eyed and clueless, and took a shuttle to the Cove Atlantis. All the VIPs stayed there, but we had to opt for Atlantis Lite – the far less luxurious units that were on the same property, but well outside the confines of the swank Cove. We spent the first day wandering around among the masses, the turquoise waters beckoning, myriad aquariums built into the landscaping around the property. Yes, there were worse places to be.

Theo and I quickly found out that without a special bracelet, we were personas non grata inside the Cove perimeter. We scored some bracelets from one of the bartenders, and planned our strategy for the next day. Early on Jan. 3, we both camped out at the private Cove pool. Would Ryan show up there? We had no idea, but figured he’d prefer the smaller, more private setting than the wide-open beaches.

We didn’t have to wait long. Ryan appeared with his wife, Michelle, and they settled into their lounge chairs near one corner of the pool. I ducked away with Theo to alert the News sports editors. Theo pulled me aside after the phone call.

“I think I should try to get photos before you approach him,” Theo said.

It was a sound strategy. Ryan didn’t know me from a hole in the wall since I wasn’t the News’ Jets beat writer, but still, the odds were not in our favor that he’d welcome a sit down with us.

Theo calmly started walking slowly in the opposite direction from Ryan and planned to do a full circle around the pool and then start taking photos once he was in a direct line walking toward the target. Ryan was engrossed in the late Navy SEAL Chris Kyle’s autobiography, “American Sniper,” and was totally oblivious when Theo’s shutter started clicking from about 30 feet away.

Part I accomplished.

After Theo made his exit, Ryan got up a short time later to return to the hotel with his wife. Oh boy. I hustled from my chair and caught up with the couple on a pathway to the hotel entrance.

“Hey Rex,” I said from behind him.

Ryan turned immediately, and with a big smile creasing his face, said, “How’ya doin’?!”

I think he thought I was a Jets fan.

“I’m Christian Red with the Daily News,” I said.

The smile disappeared instantly. “Oh shit,” Ryan grumbled. Michelle’s face likewise became a pronounced frown. Ryan waved me off as I stammered to ask a few questions. Then he and Michelle disappeared into the lobby.

Snub city.

Deflated, I went to find Theo. He had fared much better on his assignment. One of his photos captured the bare-chested Ryan from his right side. There, on the Jets coach’s right arm, were two tattoos – one a Shamrock surrounded by the names of his wife and two sons, and below that, a woman who very much resembled Michelle wearing a Sanchez No. 6 Jets jersey… and nothing else.

The News offices were apoplectic – this was tabloid gold, and an unexpected gift at that. We headed back to our hotel where I started tapping away on the computer and Theo transmitted his photos. My Ryan snub would be the undercard to Theo’s photo, but who cared? The entire package was certain to create some chatter back in New York and beyond.

The next day’s front page featured the delicious exclusive with a headline that blared, “Kinky Inky.” One of our News colleagues, Corky Siemaszko, even reached Chris Kyle to get a comment about Ryan reading his book. (Sadly, Kyle was murdered a month later).

Sports talk radio in New York and across the country blathered about the photo and story all that Friday and throughout the weekend. By Friday afternoon, the New York Post and other media had descended upon the Cove, but the cat – or tat – was already out of the bag.

I spent one more day in the Bahamas trying to chase down Ryan again, but to no avail.

A few years later, when Ryan took the Bills’ head coaching reins, he tweaked the tattoo so that the Sanchez jersey became a Bills jersey instead.

Hey, some good things never last forever. Although never say never, especially if a Rex/Jets reunion happens.