Capo Mangini? [J. Mark English]

Anyone who watches the Sopranos hardly missed the not so subtle cameo appearance of New York Jets coach, Eric Mangini last week.

I guess Tony Soprano is a Jets fan. Despite having former New York Giants like Hall of Famer linebacker Lawrence Taylor play in a mob poker game, New Jersey mob boss keeps referring to the Jets.

Two specific references would be in the first season when Tony sees his Uncle Junior, he teases him by saying how strong he has gotten. Tony says "hey somebody call Bill Parcells, call him up." Of course at that time Parcells was the head coach of the Jets.

Now you have Mangini, or "Mangenius" appear in the mobsters favorite eating establishment.

Here is more from the Associated Press:

The New York Jets coach made a cameo on HBO's "The Sopranos" on Sunday night - and was lucky to not get caught up in all the bloodshed on the violent mob drama.

The scene took place at the fictional restaurant Nuovo Vesuvio, owned by Soprano's childhood friend, Artie Bucco. Soprano, played by James Gandolfini, is having dinner with his wife, Carmella (Edie Falco), when Bucco (John Ventimiglia) and his wife approach the couple to catch up on family matters.

"Tone, you know who's in tonight?" Bucco then asks Soprano. "Mangenius."

The camera pans to a table where Mangini, looking dapper in a suit instead of his usual black Jets warmup top and shorts, and his wife, Julie, are enjoying dinner.

"They had food out there, but we didn't eat the food," Mangini said. "We just pretended we were."

Soprano turns to his puzzled wife and says: "It's the Jets coach, sweetie. I should go say hello."

Soprano and Bucco walk over to the table and are seen in the back of the restaurant talking with Mangini.

Mangini is really tapping into the entertainment world. Previously on this blog we had a picture of him and a slew of other Jets on the set of Sesame Street. He also is known for showing scenes from great boxing movies such as "Cinderella Man" to help motivate his teams before games. Now he can add an appearance on the Sopranos to his resume. Maybe he can help Tony defend against any hits on him from the New York mob. After all, he has an entire football team at his disposal...