By Rich Cimini Shortly after announcing Monday on 1050 ESPN Radio that he was challenging Kris Jenkins and Damien Woody to a weight-loss contest, Rex Ryan attended a charity dinner in Manhattan. Sounds a bit ironic, huh? Actually, this was for a great cause, and the event highlighted how much Ryan's stature has grown in New York. This was the Robin Hood Foundation gala, which raised more than $88 million to feed and clothe the city's poor. It's Wall Street's largest single-evening fundraising event and Ryan, according to Bloomberg.com, was right in the middle of the action. According to Bloomberg, the event raised about $26.4 million in after-dinner pledges, with donors using wireless devices at each table. Ryan, rubbing elbows with some of the biggest movers and shakers in Hollywood and the financial world, apparently played a key role in the fundraising. He joined up with actors Uma Thurman, Catherine Zeta-Jones and hubby Michael Douglas, and they "egged on diners at nearby tables to give all they could during the three rounds of pledges," Bloomberg reported. After a slow start, Ryan's section produced $9 million in donations, going from last to first on the donor board -- somewhat mirroring the Jets' season. The man knows how to work a room, no doubt. After convincing Jason Taylor to play for the team he once despised, Ryan probably figures he can talk anybody into anything. Maybe Roger Goodell should let him take a shot at the labor negotiations.
I don't care if you're a fan of a division rival, you can't hate who Rex is. He's just too cool to hate.
