During his time as a head coach of the New York Jets and the Buffalo Bills, Rex Ryan was quite a division rival of Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots. Now, even as an ESPN analyst, he’s not going to waste a chance to take a playful jab at his former rival – even while picking them in a game.
On Sunday NFL Countdown on ESPN, Ryan surprisingly picked the New England Patriots as his underdog of the week against the Buffalo Bills. But he also threw in a pretty cheeky reference to the “deflategate” scandal the team found itself in back in 2015.
“I think defensively, they’re going to make them go the long, hard way, and try to create some takeaways – I think they’ll get a couple in this game. And don’t be surprised if Belichick – we’ve seen him do it before – takes the air out of the football, so to speak. They’re going to run the heck out of the football.”
Rex Ryan: "Don't be surprised if Belichick, we've seen him do it before, takes the air out of the football, so to speak."
Tedy Bruschi: "What's that supposed to mean? We're gonna go there now?" pic.twitter.com/fScMiEUBkf
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 31, 2023
Tedy Bruschi, who played all 13 of his seasons in the NFL with the New England Patriots, was not amused by the playful jab from Ryan.
“What’s that supposed to mean? We’re going to go there now?” Bruschi said.
Samantha Ponder quickly tried to move on from the comments.
“We don’t have time for this discussion,” Ponder said. “Anyway, the Steelers and the Seahawks are playing in Seattle today. Let’s pick that.”
For what it’s worth, Bruschi and Ryan were smiling as the team continued the show.
