Newly minted Buffalo Bills coach Rex Ryan called an audible on his famous New York Jets-themed tattoo shortly before the Super Bowl. Seeking to start fresh in the snow capital, Ryan enlisted the help of a tattoo artist to adjust the colors on this beauty:
That is, of course, Ryan’s wife as a pinup model wearing a Mark Sanchez jersey. A perfectly reasonable thing to have forever etched on one’s body.
But the bombastic coach couldn’t very well move on to his new job without going all in now could he?
“I mean, you’ve got to turn the page,” he said.
…
Mr. Ryan flew to the Phoenix area last week for media appearances during Super Bowl week. On Thursday, he called a Scottsdale, Ariz., tattoo parlor called Old Town Ink, said Ben Verhoek, an artist there. Mr. Verhoek said Mr. Ryan explained his dilemma like this: “It’s like a girl in a jersey and I wanted to change the colors of it.”
Mr. Verhoek realized who the customer was only when the coach, clad in a Buffalo Bills tracksuit, and his wife showed up at the shop Friday afternoon. The artist looked at the tattoo and then at Mrs. Ryan.
“Is that supposed to be you?” he asked.
She said yes.
“I see the resemblance,” Mr. Verhoek said.
He took 20 minutes to shade green into blue, while Mr. Ryan and all the tattooists made small talk and watched the documentary series “The First 48” on TV. Mr. Verhoek said he charged the minimum rate, $80, and Mr. Ryan tipped on top of that.
Mr. Ryan said he was happy he had to alter only the tattoo’s color. “The girl’s not changing,” he said. “I’ve been married 28 years.”
There you go. There is everything you need to know about Ryan’s arm tattoo. You can now focus all your energy on re-immersing yourself into his foot fetish. You know, like the old days.
[H/T: Wall Street Journal]