I'm not fond of loudmouths.

I could offer any number of reasons for this, but the bottom line is, I just don't like gasbags, even successful gasbags.

It's been said, "If you can do it, it ain't bragging." But, in fact, yes it is. Still, there's no question that running the mouth does go down better with most people when it's followed by a "W."

Take Rex Ryan.

Overweight, garrulous, boastful, egotistical, the Jets head coach is thisclose to being a cartoon character — and he's getting closer with every loss.

You can get by with falling short of your annual Super Bowl prediction when you make the conference title game, as Ryan did in his first two years in New York, but miss the playoffs altogether and the sniggering will commence.

Today, unless the Jets win — and get help from three other teams — their 2011 season is history and Ryan's big talk just bluster. Then some of his behavior — the swearing, the belittling of opponents, the foot-fetish episode (don't ask) — is less likely to be seen as colorful, more as embarrassing.

Ryan comes by his arrogance honestly — his father, Buddy, is well-known for his braggadocio, as well as for taking a swing at a fellow coach when both were with the then-Houston Oilers.

"[Rex] is disrespectful," New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs said after Sunday's G-Men victory pushed the Jets to the brink of playoff elimination. "I understand why (offensive coordinator Kevin) Gilbride and [Ryan's] pop got into it a long time ago because they all talk too much.

"They got a big-mouthed coach, a big mouth and a big-bellied coach that talks too much and now it's finally time to shut up," he added.

Buddy was a pain in the patoot pretty much everywhere he coached, but the Ryan paterfamilias always can deflect criticism — if he cares to — by pointing to the Chicago Bears' 1986 Super Bowl victory, a win largely fueled by the work of his famous "46 defense."

But the Vince Lombardi Trophy his dad helped win does nothing to shield Rex. Only Jets victories will do that. Without them, many of the Jets fans who laughed with Rex while he was winning will start laughing at him.

It's human nature.

Rex isn't the only controversial sports figure in need of a victory today. Another is Ryan's human antonym, Tim Tebow.

Where Ryan is loud, Tebow is soft-spoken. Where Ryan is disrespectful, Tebow is courteous. Where Ryan is vain, Tebow is modest.

And yet, because of his willingness — eagerness, really — to speak for his faith, Tebow, like Ryan, is a polarizing figure. In truth, much more polarizing than Ryan.

The grudging respect the Broncos quarterback has received from many fellow players and fans has something to do with his authenticity — it's a quality that earns genuine regard — but also has to do with the six-game winning streak Tebow helped engineer in the middle of the season.

After two straight losses — and one really rocky performance — Tebow finds his team at 8-7 and, like Ryan, on the brink of missing the playoffs.

If the Broncos fall today, those who like Tebow for who he is will still like him. Those who like him for what he does will tend to turn on him. It's human nature.

Rex Ryan and Tim Tebow in the same boat. How strange is that?

Contact Jim Gordon at gjames43@msn.com.