Rex Ryan apologizes for calling Cowboys receiver Amari Cooper a ‘turd’

Rex Ryan apologized Friday for a particular word he used while pooh-poohing the five-year, $100-million contract the Dallas Cowboys gave to receiver Amari Cooper last month.

During an appearance on ESPN’s “Get Up” earlier in the day, Ryan expressed a pretty strong opinion about the Cooper deal.

He’s not a fan of it.

“To me, this is the biggest disappearing act in the National Football League,” Ryan said of Cooper. “He doesn’t show up on the road. He doesn’t show up against — when the competition’s good, when he’s against the top corners, that guy disappears. ... This is who he is. And then he doesn’t love football. Hell with it, he stops his routes, he does all of this.”

Then Ryan took his criticism to a bizarrely personal level.

“I wouldn’t have paid this turd,” Ryan said of Cooper. “No way in hell. No way in hell would I have paid this guy.”

Hours later, Ryan was back on ESPN, this time on “SportsCenter” and asking for Cooper’s forgiveness.

“First off, I can’t believe I used that word. Obviously it was a poor choice by me to say what I said about Amari. Quite honestly, I think the world of every player and have a great deal of respect for every player in the National Football League, including Amari Cooper.

“Now with that being said, I think the Cowboys overspent for Amari Cooper. ... I don’t doubt that this is an elite player. He has those traits. But an elite player to me shows up on the road, he shows up against great corners and he shows up in crunch time. And those are three things that Amari Cooper has not done so far in his career; in fact, I think he’s won one playoff game as a player.

“And all those things are how I feel about this young man as a receiver. But what I added at the end of that, I want to apologize to Amari and hope he accepts my apology.”