After taking a shot at Tennessee Titans fans and then attempting to backpedal on those comments, New York Giants defensive back Logan Ryan further tried to clarify himself on Thursday.
It all started on Wednesday when, unprompted, Ryan called Tennessee’s fan base “non-existent” when answering a question about Giants fans expressing their frustration with another down season.
“I played in a franchise in Tennessee where the fan base was non-existent,” Ryan said. “You couldn’t even get fans to the game, you had to put tickets half off to get fans to the game.”
Less than one day after that, Ryan tweeted this on Thursday:
Meant NO disrespect to Titans fans. We won a lot of games and saved a lot of animals together. You guys have always been great to me. @RARF_official was born in TN.
Nothing but love for yall 🙏🏾 Good luck in the playoffs I’ll be at home watching
— Logan Ryan (@RealLoganRyan) December 30, 2021
Later in the day and before practice, left tackle Taylor Lewan addressed Ryan’s comments and attempted to defend his former teammate, per Ben Arthur of The Tennessean.
“I have so much respect for Logan Ryan,” Lewan said. “And when I talk about the culture of this team and where this team was and where it’s going and where it came from, Logan is one of these key players who helped change the culture of the team. I think if we look at everything with an unbiased opinion, when Logan first got here, there weren’t a lot of people in the stands. Now because of Logan and other guys, there are now more people coming into the stands.
“The fans that are upset are the die-hard fans who have been supportive and have been there since the late-90s, that have had season tickets for the whole time the Titans have been (in Nashville). They have every right to be upset. But that comment wasn’t directed at you. As a younger franchise, we have grown and grown and grown and continued to make this great city of Nashville more proud of the football team.
“And so, although they were harsh words, we are a growing franchise and the loyal fans – and they know who they are – they shouldn’t be mad about those comments because those comments weren’t directed at them.”
Ryan then took to Twitter to retweet the clip of Lewan defending him, while also further trying to clarify his comment and apologize.
.@TaylorLewan77 summed it up best 🙏🏾 When I got to TN, the Titans fans in the stands were the die hards. I didn’t mean to come at y’all. In trying to praise one fan base, I put down another and that was pointless and dumb. https://t.co/7woCJQXBVa
— Logan Ryan (@RealLoganRyan) December 31, 2021
Ryan also acknowledged that he was thankful for Titans fans who turned this situation into a positive by donating to Ryan’s charity, “Ryan Animal Rescue Foundation,” in response to his comment.
The beef wasn’t necessarily with the topic Ryan was covering pertaining to Titans fans, as there is certainly some truth to what he said, but rather the unnecessary and unprompted swipe he took.
It’s clear Ryan sees the error in his ways, though, and is remorseful for it. He made a mistake, owned up to it, and showed the kind of high-level character we came to know and love during his days in Nashville.
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