Rex Ryan's Tattoo and You

Photo via Flickr

In its infinite wisdom, the New York Daily News sent reporter Christian Red and photographer Andrew Theodorakis to the Bahamas to track down a vacationing Rex Ryan. On Thursday afternoon, they found the embattled Jets coach reclining on a chaise lounge, shirtless.

Ryan, vacationing in the Bahamas days after his Jets limped to a 6-10 season finish, sported a Rex-rated tattoo on his right bicep, featuring his wife, Michelle, wearing [quarterback Mark] Sanchez’s No. 6 jersey — and nothing else.

As the Jets organization reeled back home, Ryan spent most of Thursday afternoon poolside at the exclusive Cove Atlantis resort, listening to music and reading “American Sniper,” by Navy SEAL Chris Kyle.

As expected, Ryan wasn’t too pleased.

“Oh, s—,” Ryan said, waving off the reporter and storming away with his wife.

There’s absolutely nothing offensive about the body art. (But Jets fans do have to wonder why Ryan went with No. 6 and not Darrelle Revis’ No. 24. Inexplicable.) ESPN’s Paul Lukas initially surmised that the tattoo might’ve been the work of illustrator Rob Ullman, who denied personal involvement:

“I’ve been looking thru my own archives, and while I’ve found a couple images that are similar to Rex’s tattoo, I can’t find any pose that looks exactly like it. So I don’t think it’s a direct swipe. But the legs and the hair kind of look like the way I draw legs and hair, if that makes any sense. Also, when you consider how horrible certain aspects of the drawing are (the hands, mainly) you get the feeling that this drawing wasn’t created by the most competent artisan.”

If there’s a takeaway for Patriots fans here, it’s to be glad the Herald hasn’t yet captured Bill Belichick without his shirt on. The whole thing is stupid and silly and harmless, which isn’t to say that the incident should reflect poorly on Ryan. As Deadspin’s Barry Petchesky said on Twitter: “Honestly, we should all love our spouses as much as Rex Ryan loves his.”