Rex plays role of twin Rob - blonde wig and all
File photos showing New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan, left, and Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, right. Credit: AP
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. - The transformation took only a minute.
Rex Ryan re-entered the room, wearing a black Cleveland Browns hat, a curly blonde wig and a rolled-up pillow underneath a brown T-shirt.
"I'm placing a bounty on my brother's head," the Jets coach said with a grin, while dressed as his twin Rob, the defensive coordinator for the Browns. "I do have some concerns that some of our players may bounce off him, but that notwithstanding, there is a bounty."
For a few minutes, Ryan, still in disguise, answered questions as if he were his twin, commenting on everything from his good looks - "I think Rex is a great coach, he's a great person. And he's very handsome" - to his quarterback's maturation - "I think he's well coached. My brother's done a great job with Mark Sanchez."
Finally Ryan's role-playing ended, but not before taking one last shot at his brother.
"Truly, he is looking bad," he said, removing the costume. "He did not have the Lap-Band surgery when I did. That's clearly a mistake. I've always been the big twin, now I'm just the smart, good-looking twin."
The Jets coach took sibling rivalry to a new level with that stunt, but moments later he paid his brother the highest compliment a coach could give.
"He probably breaks down an opponent better than anybody I've ever been around," said Ryan, who added that he's 2-0 vs. his brother's teams.
Ryan even warned his offensive coordinator, Brian Schottenheimer, that Rob's "going to be prepared like nobody you've seen."
For that reason, the Jets coach annually has tried to lure his brother to his coaching staffs. To no surprise, Cleveland said no this past offseason.
During his news conference, Ryan also praised former Jets and current Cleveland coach Eric Mangini.
"When your brother's on a different staff, you become closer to those people as well because if somebody's a friend of your brother's, they're a friend of yours," Ryan said. "I truly respect Eric. I think he's a great coach.''
Ryan also applauded Mangini for laying a "great foundation" before his departure from the team in 2008.
"There were a lot of great people in place here," he said. "It made my job much easier."
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