Anyone wondering how painful this Super Bowl matchup is for Rex Ryan can stop. The New York Jets coach admitted Friday these aren't the best of times for him.
"I respect both these teams a great deal," Ryan said in Indianapolis, according to the Boston Herald. "But to say you have your natural rival from New England in the Super Bowl and then you have somebody you share a stadium with, yeah, it's pretty rough."
Despite his team's acrimonious history with the Patriots, Ryan had high praise for his AFC East rivals. He said New England coach Bill Belichick "might go down in history as the best coach ever."
Ryan had this to say about Patriots quarterback Tom Brady: "If he wins the Super Bowl, it's hard to say he's not the best big-game quarterback of all time."
"I have no idea," he said. "You look at both these teams, both quarterbacks are elite quarterbacks. The funny thing is, when Eli (Manning) said he was an elite quarterback at the beginning of the year, I think I was the only guy who agreed with him. I was getting shot down for that even. But I think everybody sees it now."
