Meet the Boobsie Twins

Rob (l) and Rex Ryan have purportedly been involved in a bar brawn in
Nashville prior to Game 3 of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals.

By Bob Phillips

Bleacher Report is reporting that twin brothers Rex and Rob Ryan were apparently involved in a classic bar brawl in Nashville. According to the all-sports, all-the-time web site, Sean Gentille of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported the Ryan brothers were interacting with fans at Margaritaville in downtown Nashville on Saturday while taking part in pregame festivities prior to Game 3 of the Nashville Predators-Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup Finals match-up. NHL on NBC—a program airing on both NBC and NBC Sports Network (NBCSN)—posted a video of Rex smashing a car in a Penguins motif outside Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Saturday.

The Ryan boys have a colorful history in the NFL. For starters, they are the twin sons of Buddy Ryan, himself the owner of one of the most colorful resumes in NFL coaching history.

Rex Ryan spent 10 seasons as a defensive coach with the Baltimore Ravens. Under his tutelage, the Ravens allowed fewer points and fewer rushing yards than any other team in the league. He then moved on to become head coach of the Jets, and his effect in the Big Apple was immediate: In Ryan’s first year, the Jets defense ranked No. 1 in the NFL. Indeed, the Jets envisioned Ryan as their version of Bill Belichick (he who was actually head coach of the Jets for all of 10 minutes in 2000).

But Rex was no Belichick. According to The New York Times, “(Jets GM Mike) Tannenbaum is a great believer in discretion, and initially the prospects of hiring someone as open and candid as (Rex) Ryan made him nervous. He wasn’t alone. Ryan had interviewed for several head-coaching jobs, including with the Ravens, and always he was considered too big a risk. Ryan’s appearance suggested potential loss of control; so did Baltimore newspaper articles describing the bloody mess Ryan made of a neighbor’s face after an argument in 2002.”

Rex Ryan moved on the Buffalo where he was hired as 18th head coach of the Bills in 2015.

Rob Ryan, too, has a flamboyant history. Indeed, when he was hired by Dallas in 2011 as the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator, word on the street was that the ’Boys had gotten themselves a verifiable ringer—someone that would be leading the Dallas defense back to past glory for many years to come. But in his first season in “Big D,” the Cowboys ranked 14th in yards-per-game and 16th in points-per-game in the 32-team NFL. The next season was even worse. Dallas ranked 19th in yards-per-game and 24th in points-per-game while only ranking No. 16 in sacks. So, on Jan. 8, 2013, the Cowboys opted to move on and showed Rob Ryan the door.

He wasn’t unemployed for long, however. In that same month, Rex Ryan was hired as defensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams. That gig lasted exactly five days. A few weeks later, Ryan popped up as defensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints.

Did I mention that both Ryan boys had quite a bit of Buddy in them?

Rex Ryan hired his twin brother as his defensive coordinator in Buffalo in 2016. However, that partnership was a short-lived as the Bills went 7-8 last season, and the two were shown the door simultaneously (as twins usually are) on Dec. 27.

—with staff reports