The Meaning Of "Fuck Tom Brady," And The Genius Of Rex Ryan's Trash-Talking
marcman
Talking
http://deadspin.com/5736740/the-meaning-of-fuck-tom-brady-and-the-genius-of-rex-ryans-trash+talking
Athletes talking shit to each other is hardly a new story. Every kid
who ever played sports in high school knows that shit-talking is a
time-honored tradition in competitive athletics. The winners shit-talk
the losers; the losers shit-talk the winners; the fans shit-talk the
players, shit-talk the other team's fans, shit-talk each other.
Screwing with people's minds is an American pastime.
It is also, among athletes, a very Darwinian process. Those who take
it personally and let it negatively affect their game are weeded out,
until you have, in professional sports, a group of men who are not so
easily rattled.
Whenever a "war of words" breaks out between two teams, as it did last
week in the run-up to the Jets-Patriots game, we learn a lot more
about the quirks and insecurities not of the players who speak out,
but of the reporters who beg them to. Next time a player sounds off
about his next opponent, watch the clip closely. He'll seem
exasperated, and the key quotes will come in some final, dismissive
flurry of words muttered in the hopes of ending the line of
questioning. The reporter wants this soundbite, he needs this
soundbite, and he will do anything to get this soundbite. Antonio
Cromartie's "Fuck him" line about Tom Brady was, I suspect, less about
Brady as a person and more about the ceaseless monsoon of Brady-
scorched-you-the-last-time-you-played-and-appeared-to-be-rubbing-it-in-
while-he-was-doing-it questions. Look at the full exchange:
Cromartie, in his first year with the Jets after four years with the
Chargers, backed up Ryan Tuesday when he was asked by the Daily News
if he's ever seen Brady pointing after the Patriots score.
"We see that a lot. He does it a lot," Cromartie said. "That's the
kind of guy he is. We really don't give a damn, to tell you the
truth."
Okay, what kind of guy is Brady?
"An ass————.
"———— him."
If you asked me about kittens all day for a week, when all I was
trying to do was take a shower and go home, then, yes, eventually I'd
say, "Fuck kittens." Because what I'd really be saying is, "Fuck you."
That's not to say that players aren't complicit in making this
bullshit machine hum. They know what the reporters come for, and they
know what will keep them coming back, to that same locker, whenever
they need to whip up a story. Some players obviously enjoy it and take
pride in being the mouthpiece of the organization. But most players
understand that it's a media game played on the media's terms, and
they choose not to participate. When interviewed, they speak in
banalities and platitudes, offering little or no original insight.
This is because little or no insight is required to keep the machine
churning. Reporters usually have the stories written in their heads.
They just need the player to agree so they can plug in his quotes to
complete the piece. That's why you'll often hear questions like: "The
last time you played this team, you turned the ball over four times
and lost the game by three points. How important will it be to win the
turnover battle this weekend?" A less leading question risks a more
thoughtful response, one that might contradict the premise of the
story the reporter has more or less already written. So the
sportswriters' questions supply their own answers.
That's the case even with the questions that lead players to insult
their opponents. "Okay, what kind of guy is Brady?" Take the bait and
call Tom Brady a little bitch. That's the story just aching to be
written, not because Cromartie wants to call Tom Brady a bitch, but
because the media want to call Tom Brady a bitch, so they find a guy
who will say it for them. But Brady knows this. He knows that
Cromartie, in this situation, is little more than the least-composed
member of the Jets' defensive backfield, coaxed over the line by a
relentless, conflict-loving New York media (who of course will turn
around and scold the Jets for engaging in the conflict the media
concocted). For this reason, Brady probably didn't take any of the
Jets' chatter very seriously, whether it was Cromartie's jabs or
whatever nonsense head coach Rex Ryan was spewing.
And herein lies Rex Ryan's genius. By controlling the media narrative
— "This is about Bill Belichick versus Rex Ryan," he said, just about
writing the headline for everyone — and by letting Cromartie attack
the Golden Boy, he could also control national expectations for the
outcome. No way can Rex Ryan beat Bill Belichick. No way can Cromartie
beat Brady. This might be a stretch here, but I'll go so far as to say
that Ryan's manipulation of the media actually pushed the line further
than it already was, resulting in a -9 for the Patriots. Nine points
is a bit much against a team that looked so good in beating the Colts
the week prior, unless you believe that it's a battle between
Belichick/Brady vs. Ryan/Cromartie. Then I'll take the Pats to cover.
Meanwhile, behind closed doors, Ryan was building up his players for
an ass-whooping. It's obviously impossible to know exactly how he did
it, what he said, what message he conveyed and how he conveyed it. But
Sal Palontonio's postgame interview with Bart Scott offered a small
glimpse into Rex Ryan's psychological approach during the week.
Scott's emotions were raw, and he vented about the lack of respect
that the Jets' third-ranked defense was shown in the week leading up
to the game. He also sent a parting shot to the Patriots' D, which, he
said, couldn't "stop a nosebleed." I pay close attention to sports
media, and no one was bashing the Jets' defense or making unfavorable
comparisons to the Patriots' defense. But Bart Scott believed
otherwise. This tells you exactly what Rex was telling his team. No
one respects us. They think this entire league is about Tom Brady and
Bill Belichick. Well, fuck them! It's about the guys in this room. I
believe in all of you. Fuck everyone else. Bart Scott may have been
talking, but those were his coach's words — literally. This is how Rex
Ryan described the Jets' third-quarter defense in their loss to the
Bears in December: "We couldn't stop a nosebleed."
The best, most effective shit-talk all week, I'd wager, was whatever
Ryan told his own guys in the locker room. The Cromartie-Brady dust-up
was a made-for-television event. It was all pretend. If they saw each
other in a bar, they'd be all smiles and hugs. (The players who really
hate each other don't talk about it in front of cameras, because they
know how truly personal it is.) But Bart Scott's anger was very real,
even if the disrespecting critics existed only in his head, courtesy
of Rex Ryan. That is how you motivate jaded professionals. You lie.
And it's a lie you can live with, because you know that in the world
of professional sports, you have to find ways to keep your players
riding that edge. That edge is what the Jets had and the Patriots
didn't. The lesson of last week's war of words isn't that the Jets
successfully screwed with New England's mind. It's that Rex Ryan
successfully screwed with everyone's mind.