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Rex Ryan: Cowboys, Jason Garrett were motivation behind important pregame speech
By SportsDayDFW sports
websports@dallasnews.com | Bio
5:41 PM on Sat., Jul. 23, 2011 | Permalink
JON MACHOTA / Special contributor to SportsDayDFW.com
New York Jets coach Rex Ryan has a special thank you for Jason Garrett in his book "Play Like You Mean It: Passion, Laughs, and Leadership in the World's Most Beautiful Game." The current Cowboys coach was motivation behind one of Ryan's most important speeches.
The biography, which has been available for purchase since May, includes a chapter titled: "Coach-Speak: Getting Up in Front of the Players and Coaches."
And during the first five pages of that chapter, Ryan discusses the speech he gave before the Baltimore Ravens' 2008 game against the Cowboys at Texas Stadium, a speech that he said was "one of the most important ones I ever had."
That particular game had some extra meaning behind it. It was an important contest for a pair of teams in the playoff hunt, and it was the final game played at Texas Stadium.
Ryan, who was the defensive coordinator for the Ravens at the time, described different types of speeches in the chapter, and called the one before that game, his "serious message."
In the week leading up to the game, Ryan's motivation came from the belief that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones asked the league to have the Ravens play the Cowboys in the stadium finale because Baltimore was coming off a 5-11 season, a firing of head coach Brian Billick , a hiring of new coach John Harbaugh and, in all likelihood, the Ravens were going to be led by rookie quarterback Joe Flacco.
"We were the team he wanted for the homecoming game, the automatic win," Ryan wrote. "Well, you can only imagine what I and almost everyone else with the Ravens was thinking. Actually, it doesn't take much imagination if you know me, but I'll give you a couple of hints with the words 'duck' and 'few.'"
More logs were tossed on the fire when the Ravens learned that after the game, the Cowboys organization would close Texas Stadium with a party that included many former players.
Ryan wrote: "Put it all together and you can only imagine how amped up our team was to play that game."
Since Ryan and the entire Ravens coaching staff was constantly reminding the team about being, as Ryan put it, "sacrificial lambs," the defensive coordinator figured he had to find a different focus for his pregame speech. And his subject was Garrett.
"He's a good football man and I've got nothing personal against the guy, but during the previous off-season, while the Ravens were going through their coaching search, he was offered the Baltimore job," Ryan wrote about Garrett. "Well, he went back to Jones and Jones gave him a monster raise to around $3 million a year on a three-year contract. That's the kind of money that a lot of head coaches get when they're starting out. Garrett was still the offensive coordinator, but it's pretty obvious to everybody in the league that he was going to take over for Wade Phillips."
When Garrett turned down the offer, it especially bothered Ryan because, as he wrote, "that was the job I was begging for at the time."
"Now, it was basically my defense and me against him and his offense that week, with all the other BS going on," Ryan added. "There aren't many times in your career that you get better material than that to work with for a pregame pep talk."
Jets linebacker Bart Scott, who was with the Ravens at the time, gave the play-by-play of Ryan's speech in the book.
"I have never wanted to beat a team so bad," Scott recalled Ryan saying. "That guy over there, man, he didn't want to coach you. Are you serious? Who wouldn't want to coach the men in this room? ... He didn't believe in the character of the Baltimore Ravens."
Ryan added: "I can't tell you exactly how great my speech before the Dallas game was, but I probably had more f-bombs than the Cowboys had yards for the first 54 minutes. We kicked the crap out of the Cowboys. ... We won 33-24 and we were just laughing all the way home to Baltimore."
The Cowboys went on to lose their season finale in Philadelphia, 44-6, giving the Eagles the final playoff spot over the Cowboys. And Ryan found some extra joy in that outcome.
"How funny is that? Call it coincidence if you want, but that loss to the Eagles was the most lopsided for Dallas since the famous 44-0 game they lost to my dad when he was in Chicago in 1985," Ryan wrote. "Thank you, Jason Garrett. All it took was a little extra motivation."
Ryan won't have to wait long to coach against Garrett, again. The Cowboys are scheduled to open the season in New York against the Jets on Sept. 11.
:towel
By SportsDayDFW sports
websports@dallasnews.com | Bio
5:41 PM on Sat., Jul. 23, 2011 | Permalink
JON MACHOTA / Special contributor to SportsDayDFW.com
New York Jets coach Rex Ryan has a special thank you for Jason Garrett in his book "Play Like You Mean It: Passion, Laughs, and Leadership in the World's Most Beautiful Game." The current Cowboys coach was motivation behind one of Ryan's most important speeches.
The biography, which has been available for purchase since May, includes a chapter titled: "Coach-Speak: Getting Up in Front of the Players and Coaches."
And during the first five pages of that chapter, Ryan discusses the speech he gave before the Baltimore Ravens' 2008 game against the Cowboys at Texas Stadium, a speech that he said was "one of the most important ones I ever had."
That particular game had some extra meaning behind it. It was an important contest for a pair of teams in the playoff hunt, and it was the final game played at Texas Stadium.
Ryan, who was the defensive coordinator for the Ravens at the time, described different types of speeches in the chapter, and called the one before that game, his "serious message."
In the week leading up to the game, Ryan's motivation came from the belief that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones asked the league to have the Ravens play the Cowboys in the stadium finale because Baltimore was coming off a 5-11 season, a firing of head coach Brian Billick , a hiring of new coach John Harbaugh and, in all likelihood, the Ravens were going to be led by rookie quarterback Joe Flacco.
"We were the team he wanted for the homecoming game, the automatic win," Ryan wrote. "Well, you can only imagine what I and almost everyone else with the Ravens was thinking. Actually, it doesn't take much imagination if you know me, but I'll give you a couple of hints with the words 'duck' and 'few.'"
More logs were tossed on the fire when the Ravens learned that after the game, the Cowboys organization would close Texas Stadium with a party that included many former players.
Ryan wrote: "Put it all together and you can only imagine how amped up our team was to play that game."
Since Ryan and the entire Ravens coaching staff was constantly reminding the team about being, as Ryan put it, "sacrificial lambs," the defensive coordinator figured he had to find a different focus for his pregame speech. And his subject was Garrett.
"He's a good football man and I've got nothing personal against the guy, but during the previous off-season, while the Ravens were going through their coaching search, he was offered the Baltimore job," Ryan wrote about Garrett. "Well, he went back to Jones and Jones gave him a monster raise to around $3 million a year on a three-year contract. That's the kind of money that a lot of head coaches get when they're starting out. Garrett was still the offensive coordinator, but it's pretty obvious to everybody in the league that he was going to take over for Wade Phillips."
When Garrett turned down the offer, it especially bothered Ryan because, as he wrote, "that was the job I was begging for at the time."
"Now, it was basically my defense and me against him and his offense that week, with all the other BS going on," Ryan added. "There aren't many times in your career that you get better material than that to work with for a pregame pep talk."
Jets linebacker Bart Scott, who was with the Ravens at the time, gave the play-by-play of Ryan's speech in the book.
"I have never wanted to beat a team so bad," Scott recalled Ryan saying. "That guy over there, man, he didn't want to coach you. Are you serious? Who wouldn't want to coach the men in this room? ... He didn't believe in the character of the Baltimore Ravens."
Ryan added: "I can't tell you exactly how great my speech before the Dallas game was, but I probably had more f-bombs than the Cowboys had yards for the first 54 minutes. We kicked the crap out of the Cowboys. ... We won 33-24 and we were just laughing all the way home to Baltimore."
The Cowboys went on to lose their season finale in Philadelphia, 44-6, giving the Eagles the final playoff spot over the Cowboys. And Ryan found some extra joy in that outcome.
"How funny is that? Call it coincidence if you want, but that loss to the Eagles was the most lopsided for Dallas since the famous 44-0 game they lost to my dad when he was in Chicago in 1985," Ryan wrote. "Thank you, Jason Garrett. All it took was a little extra motivation."
Ryan won't have to wait long to coach against Garrett, again. The Cowboys are scheduled to open the season in New York against the Jets on Sept. 11.
:towel
