Rex Ryan is all in favor of his team getting mean and nasty on the football field. Fortunately, he has a different stance on bullying off the gridiron.
The Buffalo Bills coach raised eyebrows in his introductory press conference when he said his goal was to “build a bully” with his new team. Those eyebrows were raised once again last week when the Bills signed offensive lineman Richie Incognito, who was suspended for the 2014 season due to his involvement in a bullying scandal with the Miami Dolphins.
During a radio appearance Thursday on Buffalo’s WGR 550, Ryan clarified his stance on bullying and added that he didn’t think Incognito would pose any problems.
“I’m anti-bully,” Ryan said, via CBSSports.com. “I’m about the biggest anti-bully guy there is, especially in the locker room and in the community. When I mentioned building a bully, it’s funny, because the old (Philadelphia) Flyers, the Broad Street Bullies.”
“We want to have a mean, physical football team on the field, but we want to be gentlemen off it,” Ryan added. “And I believe Richie will be that.”
Incognito recently claimed he has learned from his past transgressions and has focused on “becoming a better teammate/person/leader.” Yet the controversial lineman doesn’t exactly have widespread support in Western New York so far; shortly after his signing, a Buffalo-based anti-bullying group decried the move as a “slap in the face” to the anti-bullying community.
“The bullying is a thing of the past. I think he’s learned,” Ryan added of Incognito, via WGR550.com. “I never went in thinking I could change him; the young man has to change himself.”
Thumbnail photo via Kevin Hoffman/USA TODAY Sports Images
