Rex's credo

So.

New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan says he believes Santonio Holmes’ latest story. “Totally” believes it, in fact.

Holmes recently was met by police at the gate after reportedly failing to obey an order to turn off his iPod on a flight from Newark to Pittsburgh.

According to Ryan, Holmes’ story was a tale of simple miscommunication, and he had, in fact, complied perfectly.

This is the same Holmes whose repeatedly boorish and selfish off-field behavior led his former employers, the Pittsburgh Steelers, to dump him for a fifth-round draft pick despite the fact he was their top receiver.

Yet Ryan says when Holmes peddled his latest version of reality, “I totally believed him.”

Now Ryan may be many things, but he’s not stupid. So pardon me if I suggest that Ryan doesn’t actually believe in Holmes’ veracity. What he believes in is Holmes’ ability to separate from defensive backs and catch the ball. What he believes in is Holmes Super Bowl-MVP-caliber talent.

Nothing more.

Oh, and please drink responsibly …

Sometimes, when I examine a week or a fortnight’s worth of incidents in toyland, I look for a common thread. One wasn’t hard to find in a series of recent stories.

1) According to a Georgia district attorney, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger bought shots of alcohol for the 20-year-old coed — yes, that’s under the legal drinking age in Georgia — who later accused him of sexual assault.

I think it’s safe to assume that with the liquor flowing in the nightclub, Roethlisberger imbibed, too. That couldn’t have helped his decision-making which, off the field, needs all the help it can get.

2) Santonio Holmes was traded from the Steelers to the Jets after being accused of throwing a glass of booze in a woman’s face. Holmes has a history of substance abuse, and in fact will miss this season’s first four games for violating the NFL’s drug policy. I’m guessing that — somehow — the hooch that went into his mouth contributed to the hooch that allegedly flew into the woman’s face.

3) An obviously inebriated Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was caught on video bad-mouthing former coach Bill Parcells and slamming former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow. The video has gone viral on YouTube and even made it onto ESPN. If Jones hadn’t been so pie-eyed, he just might have noticed the cell phone camera pointed in his direction.

4) Word that a Notre Dame football recruit on spring break who fell to his death from a fourth-floor balcony was “very drunk” was actually news to whom? For shock value, this rates up there with the study that informed us that most people who drive the wrong way on freeways are under the influence of alcohol.

Redemption, Part II

More recommended reading: Scott Brown’s Pittsburgh Tribune-Review piece on Steelers wide receiver Santonio Holmes, who, like Dockett, used the Super Bowl platform to deal with some issues, including in Holmes’ case, his drug-dealing youth.

"If I continued down that path, I wouldn't be here," Holmes said Wednesday. "I've only told three or four people maybe throughout my lifetime about that, and at the moment I felt like it was time to share things."

In the piece, Pittsburgh tackle Willie Colon, who has some knowledge of life in the streets, offered this perspective on Holmes’ past:

"I don't think it's right to sell drugs at all," Colon said. "At the same time, when you look around and your brother's hungry and you've got holes in your shoes and your mother's working four or five jobs? You're going to do something."

While Holmes should be applauded for addressing his past, it should be noted his present isn’t exactly a clean slate. Holmes was arrested earlier this year and charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana, Holmes said Wednesday that was an isolated incident.

Friday column: These responses are sorry, indeed

You can’t spend much time observing professional athletes without developing an appreciation for the nuances of their apologies and explanations.

Three related but different varieties were on display in recent days, including Pittsburgh receiver Santonio Holmes’ classic ’Nuff Said.

In this version, an athlete does apologize — here, for a marijuana arrest that cost his team his services in a big game — but tries to slam the door on further inquiry.

“I would like to apologize to my teammates, the Steelers organization, my family and the fans for my actions that caused me to miss Sunday’s game,” Holmes said in a statement issued by the team. “I recognize that I made a mistake and understand the significance of my actions, and will not make any excuse for my behavior.”

Then Holmes said he wouldn’t answer questions on the matter for the rest of the season.
Holmes didn’t say whether he’d entertain queries about his previous two arrests, one for alleged domestic violence and the other for alleged disorderly conduct. I’m guessing the answer is no.

Another classic seen this week is Isiah Thomas’ Hey, It Wasn’t Me.

Thomas, a former star player for the Detroit Pistons but most recently a horrendous bust as a New York Knicks coach and general manager, was taken to a hospital in the early hours of Oct. 24 after overdosing on sleeping pills.

Instead of either admitting he was distraught or explaining the overdose was accidental, the 47-year-old Thomas called a newspaper to claim it was his 17-year-old daughter who was hauled to the hospital, and he even got his son to peddle the same story to another paper.

Unfortunately, Thomas hadn’t run the tactic past Harrison, N.Y., Police Chief David Hall, whose men responded to the 911 call. “As parents, you try to protect your kids; you don’t say they did something when it was you who did it,” Hall said. “We know the difference between a 47-year-old man and a teenager.”

And we know the difference between a true apology and one that ends with a note of self-congratulation, which brings us to Donta Ellis’ version of Call Me, uh, Responsible?

Ellis, a budding NBA star for Golden State, violated his new $66 million contract — and seriously messed up his ankle — by riding and crashing a moped. He then made things worse by telling the Warriors he was injured in a pickup basketball game.

When the truth came out, the team suspended him for 30 games — the injury will keep him out of action that long anyway — costing Ellis $3 million in salary.

On Tuesday, Ellis finally got around to apologizing — through his agent, of course — saying, “I want to be clear that my injury is based on my mistake in judgment. And I always accept responsibility for my actions.”

Sure you do — right after you’re caught in a lie.