Rex Ryan admits he liked to intentionally ‘piss off’ Tom Brady

Rex Ryan rarely got the best of Tom Brady when he was the head coach of the New York Jets and the Buffalo Bills, but that wasn’t due to a lack of effort. In fact, Ryan is now willing to admit he did his best to get into Brady’s head before facing him.

Ryan told Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News this week that he would often make comments to the media in an attempt to get under Brady’s skin.

“I used to put a lot of stuff out there knowing it would piss off Brady,” he said.

Knowing it would piss off Brady, or hoping it would piss off Brady? I think what Ryan really meant was the latter. As Mehta notes, Ryan once said in 2011 that there is no quarterback in the NFL who works harder than Peyton Manning and Brady only “thinks he does.”

Fast-forward to 2017, when Brady is about to play in his seventh Super Bowl and Ryan has never been to one. Overall, Brady went 12-4 against Ryan-coached teams and threw 29 touchdowns compared to seven interceptions. Even Ryan is willing to admit the three-time Super Bowl MVP would be considered the greatest quarterback to ever live if he wins a fifth ring.

“I could see where Brady definitely would be considered the greatest ever if he won five Super Bowls,” Ryan said. “How could you argue that?”

One of Manning’s favorite targets already made similar remarks earlier in the week, so apparently five is the magic number for Brady. If he can lead the Patriots to a win over the Falcons, no one will be able to deny his greatness.