Ray Lewis: I would take Rex Ryan over Bill Belichick
Ray Lewis picked the Buffalo Bills to defeat the New England Patriots during the “Monday Night Football” pregame this week, and part of the reason for that is he would rather play for Rex Ryan than Bill Belichick.
Before the Patriots hung on to beat the Bills 20-13, Lewis spoke about the differences and similarities between Ryan and Belichick.
“Rex and Bill, they are kind of the same people, right?” Lewis said. “It’s just that, publicly, Rex says things from his heart. Bill has built a foundation here. Rex has moved around a lot, but there isn’t one player who wouldn’t say, ‘I would do anything for Rex Ryan.'”
If Lewis’ point is that Belichick and Ryan are the “same people” because they are both NFL head coaches, well, I guess. But their styles couldn’t be any different. As a reminder, Ryan and Lewis won a Super Bowl together with the Baltimore Ravens when Rex was a defensive assistant.
“I’m not choosing nobody but Rex Ryan,” Lewis continued. “If you’re asking me Bill Belichick or Rex Ryan, I’m taking Rex Ryan all day because Rex relates to players such as myself more like a father. … It’s deeper than just X’s and O’s and just winning football games.”
Steve Young’s reaction said it all:
Love Steve Youngs reaction when Ray Lewis said Rex was a better coach than Belichick. "Aww not this idiot again" pic.twitter.com/eTJ0cYfMJj
— David Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) November 24, 2015
I think Lewis was trying to say he would rather play for Ryan than Belichick — not that Ryan is a better coach. Still, the comments made most people scratch their heads, which was appropriate on a night when the officials made inexplicable calls like this.
Video via The Big Lead