I could see you making the argument that he represented the Jets when the lady was interviewing him and said Hey I'm here with Rex Ryan, Head Coach of the New York Jets. He knew he was being taped then, and one could argue that he was representing the Jets at that point. Not when he is walking through an event, that is not an NFL event, and some fan is probably yelling at him Hey you fat f**k, f**k you etc. And he flips that person the bird, that is nonsense to be fined for that. The guy didn't even think he was being recorded, or having his picture taken. I think you would be pretty pissed off if you got fined a hefty amount if your job found out you gave someone the finger. It's just assinine.
In these circumstances, it was obvious they were opposing fans and he had made inflammatory statements over the PA when he was interviewed (in good fun, but you have to expect drunk assholes at sporting events are going to take it too far). He put himself in those circumstances. If they were really bothering him, he should have just told security if they refused to get rid of this guy, he'd get the cops involved to arrest him for public intoxication. Drunk douchebag or not, a head coach should know not stoop to his level, and that's the message. There's more than one way to deal with that situation, and giving the finger only throws fuel onto the fire.
Once you introduce yourself as the representative of an organization, the interview is over and you sit down, you're still the representative. That doesn't change just because you're not talking on TV all of a sudden. It doesn't matter if it was an MMA event or not. If he hadn't boasted over the PA, that would be different, but he did. He made statements he knew would get them worked up. What did he expect, them to bring him flowers? Him not knowing it would be recorded is irrelevant, we all know with cell phones anything at any moment can become public. Also, our jobs are different than his...he isn't a regular joe, he has to be held to a higher standard. He said himself if a player did it, he'd be pissed...
I don't agree with you on this, for one thing you're making the argument that he's representing himself for the Jets. Well to represent yourself for something, you have to be seen. He never had any intent of this getting out. Again it's not like he did it when he was being interviewed as the coach of the Jets.
To a certain extent, maybe you're right. But I really don't see the harm in flipping someone the bird. Pretty petty to me. And you never answered my question, should he be fined if someone is able to record him cursing while he is not working?
mortreport # NFL told us Monday they were satisfied the Jets would handle Ryan's gesture. That $50,000 club fine is an expensive bird. Rare species. about 1 hour ago from web
They were in Miami, at the start of Superbowl week, in a city packed to the gills with media and NFL personel. He was just interviewed on the big screen, obviously has a few in him, and YES he does need to be held to a different standard. At least for another year or 2 until Sanchez is that guy, Rex Ryan IS the face of the New York Jets. You just don't go to your rivals city, at an MMA even no less, and start shit with that cities drunk ass fans. It was stupid, embarassing to the Jets organization (though pretty f'ing funny), and could have been outright dangerous to do what he did. He deserved the fine, and I hope Woody made him pay it out of pocket. And I am a huge fan of Rex Ryan.
That's cool, we can agree to disagree. What I was trying to say was once you're introduced to the crowd as somebody from an organization, for the rest of the night you're going to be associated with that organization. Even during "candid" moments, so you have to act accordingly. His mistake imo was assuming something like this wouldn't get out. The media are like vultures ready to take him down for anything to get a story out of it. It depends on the circumstances, what he says, and how he does it. In this case, Rex came in will guns blazing so it's hard to portray him as an innocent victim. If the guy came up to him on the street and threatened him, or cut him off in the car, it might be different. That's not what happened here though, there is a specific situation. I don't disagree that it's stupid that people care btw. I do however think he should've known that people would get up in arms about it, and that's why I'm not shocked/outraged he was fined. He just has to know that he's in a lose lose situation there. That's one time to "take one for the team" and just ignore the insults.
None of that stuff matters to me. Because what I'm saying is I don't think they should have the right to fine him for what he did. You may think he acted like an ass, was an embarrassment, whatever. What I'm saying is I think it is assinine that they are able to fine him for that. It's the equivalent of a guy that works for the Post Office, and going to a bar and making an ass outta himself. Sure, alot of people will go up to his co workers at the post office and probably say the guy is a je**off. But is he gonna get in trouble at work for something he did when he wasn't working. Now if the Post Office sent him to an event as a representative for them, and he got wasted and had some wrongdoings, that's a completely different story. They fined him $50,000.00 for giving someone the middle finger while he was on his own personal time. Alot of people don't make $50,000.00 in a year. It's insane to me.
I think that's where you're missing the point. Rex is not a worker bee, he is the head hancho. If the head hancho at that post office pulled this shit with a bunch of UPS workers outside their corporate headquarters, he'd be boxing up his desk the next day. The other point you're missing is I believe this had very little to do wih the middle finger. A guy that Woody pays 4 million a year shows up in public during Superbowl week, has an interview on the big screen in the arena, is obviously at some level of intoxication, and then proceeds to get into it with the fans. Apples and Oranges.
No I don't think he would be boxing up his stuff the next day, and it doesn't matter to me how much money he makes. I am just of the belief that people should be given a lot of lattitude on their actions outside of the workplace. Obviously criminal actions are a different story. And employers should obviously be able to set their expectations of employees while they're working. I just think this is petty, and an employer should not be able to fine you because you gave someone the middle finger while you weren't even working. But nonetheless, it's fine. We have different opinions on it.
Actions detrimental to the organization are always subject to discipline. Whether you are at work, sitting on your couch, or at a public event, you can be disciplined for your actions if they cause any problems for your place of employment. It's in pretty much every employee handbook. Face of the Jets + Drinking + Taunting Drunk Rival Fans = BAD
It was a dumb fucking thing to do. The guy's our coach, not a circus clown. He's now pretty much invited every piece of human bacteria in every city the Jets play in to get in his face and try to provoke something. Just really fucking stupid way to behave for a man in his position, and one thing you don't want your coach worrying about is opposing fans.
