Michelle Ryan is so superstitious that about the only lucky charm the Jet coach’s wife won’t have with her for tomorrow’s big game against the Colts is a horseshoe.
The first lady of Gang Green told The Post yesterday she will be first among the team’s countless fans in turning to talismans and rituals to help the underdog squad take a bite out of Indianapolis in the AFC Championship Game.
“I start my green wearing early,” she said at her New Jersey home, while wearing a green and white striped sweater. “We do our things like, I wear my throw-back old logo Jet sweatshirt [during games.]”
She said one important ritual for the family is its Friday night meal.
“Every Friday night, we eat out at Jose’s Cantina in New Providence [NJ],” she said. “Tonight, we should be going there as well. I wear my black sweat pants and tennis shoes.”
She said another part of their routine is watching a movie every Thursday night during the season.
“Last night, we watched ‘Saving Private Ryan,’ ” she said.
She said her two teenage sons, Payton and Seth, get into the act, too.
“The kids also have their lucky routines,” she said. “My oldest son [Payton], he wears his [cornerback Darrelle] Revis jersey and makes sure to hang out with the same friends on game day.
“We also have extended family in Oklahoma that have their own routine as well. I have a cousin who wears green every day this week.”
Rex Ryan, whose dad, Buddy, coached in the NFL for 25 years, once described football as “the family business.”
His younger son, Seth, has a passion for football and has joined the Jets on the practice field to catch some balls.
“Some people dream to meet [the players],” Seth told The Post last June. “I get a chance to talk to them, play catch, run drills with them.
“I would love to coach,” Seth said. “I’d be a third-generation coach. That’s all I really want to do. Just seeing my dad out there, I want to be like him someday.”
Rex and Michelle married in 1987. At first, she knew little about football, but she soon realized what it meant to her husband, as he worked as an assistant coach before getting his chance this season to lead the Jets.
Now she’s a superfan.
“We are all very excited and anxious about Sunday,” she said. “It’s exciting but also nerve wracking. To come all this way and not to make it [would] have to feel some kind of way.”
Luck of the Irish
Superstitions and rituals of Michelle Ryan and the Ryan family:
* Michelle wears throwback old-logo Jet jersey on game day.
* She wears green on days leading up to games.
* Family dines at Jose’s Cantina Friday nights before games; she wears black pants and tennis shoes.
* Family watches a movie Thursdays before games.
* Son Payton wears a Darrelle Revis jersey and watches games with the same friends.