During his coaching career, Rex Ryan was an antagonist to the New England Patriots dynasty. Since then, he’s become a popular figure on TV, but all of that is now coming into question as he prepares himself for a legal battle.
Per a report by Ari Meirov, Rex Ryan was arrested in Nashville on Wednesday morning. This comes after an incident where he hit pedestrians with his truck a week ago.
What to Know About the Rex Ryan Arrest
As of now, Rex Ryan is facing six misdemeanor charges relating to the alleged incident with pedestrians. He is also presumed innocent for the time being.
Ari Meirov broke down the exact details of the situation on Twitter/X.
“Former NFL HC Rex Ryan was arrested Wednesday morning in Nashville after allegedly running over the feet of two pedestrians with his pickup truck last week. Police say Ryan continued driving before the pedestrians caught up to him at a red light. He allegedly got out, argued with them, and drove away without exchanging information,” Meirov wrote.
“Ryan faces six misdemeanor charges, including leaving the scene of an accident, failing to provide information or aid, and failing to obey traffic signals.”
The incident allegedly occurred a little past midnight on Thursday of last week. He allegedly made a right turn, hitting the pedestrians in the feet, causing some kind of injuries. The extent of those injuries isn’t clear, though. Ryan supposedly left without exchanging information, but the pedestrians took photographs of his license plate.
Yahoo Sports added that Ryan’s bond was set at $6,000. He surrendered himself in to police in Nashville.
Ryan currently works as an analyst for ESPN. He’s pretty consistently used on the network’s programing, particularly during the season. However, it’s unclear how this incident could potentially impact his work with the network.
“We are aware and are in touch with Rex,” ESPN Communications said in a statement.
Rex Ryan Was Once a Major Rival for the Patriots
In some respect, Rex Ryan was born to coach in the NFL. The son of legendary coach Buddy Ryan, he and his brother Rob have both had long coaching careers. However, Ryan is probably best known today for being a thorn in the side of Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots.
Ryan’s first head coaching job was with the New York Jets. He held that position from 2009 to 2014. Later, he landed the head coaching job with the Buffalo Bills, which he held from 2015 to 2016. When the Bills had hired Ryan, it was seemingly because of success he had once had against the Patriots.
In his first two seasons with the Jets, he went 2-2 in the regular season against the Patriots. Then, in 2010, he added a postseason win against the Patriots. It was seemingly unprecedented success, but it wouldn’t last. From that point on, the Jets went 1-7 against the Patriots under Ryan, including the butt fumble game.
Ryan never found success against the Patriots in Buffalo, going 1-3 before his relatively quick firing from that job. Since then, he’s only had the chance to be a Patriots antagonist from a TV set.
Former Patriots Rival Rex Ryan Arrested on Serious Charges in Nashville