Rex Ryan's Curious Tattoo Hits The T-Shirt Market
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Rex Ryan's choice of body art turned the Internet -- and sports talk radio -- upside down on Friday.
The New York Daily News published a photo last week of Ryan's previously unseen tattoo, which featured a woman, resembling his wife Michelle, wearing only a green jersey with Mark Sanchez's No. 6.
Well, now you can get your own.
On a T-shirt.
Local apparel company Crosstown New York has released its ode to Ryan's tattoo. The shirt, available for $20, shows the woman in Ryan's tattoo sitting -- Tebowing? -- on a green "REX," a play on the Jets' logo.
Crosstown released the design on its Facebook page Sunday, but said it just "whipped this up for fun." The reaction was positive and the company decided to give it the go-ahead: "Alright! We're doin it! Get your Rex tattoo shirts here!"
One Facebook follower said the design was "better than (Ryan's) tattoo."
Darren Meenan of Mets-themed brand The 7 Line, who co-owns Crosstown New York with Brian DiNonno, tweeted Friday that "the Rex tat is most likely fake but I think its hilarious. All vacation spots have paint on stands." Ryan was on vacation in the Bahamas when the photo was taken.
NFL analyst and Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe didn't think it was permanent, either. Jets defensive end Mike DeVito couldn't verify the authenticity of Ryan's tattoo to WFAN radio, saying he had never seen or heard whispers of Ryan having it.
"We personally think it's fake and he's loving every bit of attention this is getting while vacationing with his wife beach side," the T-shirt's description read on CrosstownNY.com. "A little inside joke while beat writers salivate over another wild story."
But Crosstown tweeted some interesting news on Monday: the work has been claimed by artist Eugene Taase, who posted an image of the tattoo to his Instagram page.
The Jets coach, suddenly tongue-tied, will meet the media with team owner Woody Johnson on Tuesday.
Now that we've all had a weekend to chill out -- do you care about Rex's choice of ink? Be heard in the comments!
