If the Jets had beaten the Steelers in the 2010 AFC Championship Game, the Packers would not be Super Bowl Champions right now. At least that’s what Jets coach Rex Ryan says in his new book.
“I just watched the Super Bowl (XLV) at home,” Ryan writes in his book, “Play Like You Mean It: Passion, Laughs and Leadership in the World’s Most Beautiful Game.”
“I’m only going to the Super Bowl if my dad (Buddy) or my brother (Rob) is in it. It’s too painful. We don’t even do a party at the house. I thought Green Bay was to going to have the upper hand on Pittsburgh. Their passing attack was giving everyone problems. But I truly believe we would have beaten Green Bay. We only lost to them 9-0 during the season, and we gave them two of the field goals because of mistakes.”
Ryan’s book also details some of the challenges he’s faced as head coach of the Jets, the most difficult he says, was what to do about Brett Favre following the 2008 season.
“After I got the Jets job in January, I had a conversation with Favre and told him I’d be happy to have him come back,” Ryan says. “Part of me really wanted to coach Favre and I think we would have been great with him, even for the $15 million he was supposed to cost us if we kept him; but he said he was retiring, and I could just feel that he didn’t want to play here again. It was obvious he wanted to play for Minnesota so that he could try to get his revenge on Green Bay. . . . Favre wanted to stick it to Green Bay. I get it.”
