Washington Commanders defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio issued a statement on social media regarding his remarks that came off as insensitive at best regarding last January’s insurrection events on Capitol Hill.
Del Rio was asked about his presence on social media where he has made statements that have ruffled feathers before.
“Anything that I ever say or write, I’d be comfortable saying or writing in front of everybody that I work with, players and coaches,” Del Rio said. “I express myself as an American. We have that ability. I love this country. I believe what I believe and I’ve said what I want to say. Every now and then, there are some people that get offended by it. It’s a slow news cycle, so I guess Mike Florio picked something up yesterday and talked about it. It’s not the first time Mike and I disagreed about things. It’s okay. But that’s pretty much it. Not a whole lot to it. But what I am excited about is what’s going on right now with us and the way we’re working, so football questions are where I’d like to focus. If anybody else wants to talk about other things, we can set something up at another time, but that’s kind of how I see it.”
His latest public comments created a firestorm in which some Commanders fans were calling for his job. Del Rio made light of last year’s capitol insurrection that resulted in death and injury as nothing more than a “dust-up” that was made out to be a big deal over nothing.
https://twitter.com/coachdelrio/status/1534002744922718208
When asked if he would be concerned with his players’ taking issue with his tweets, the former 11-year NFL player and head coach replied:
“Oh, if they are and they want to talk about it, I’ll talk about it with anybody,” Del Rio said. “Yeah, no problem. At any time. But they’re not. I’m just expressing myself and I think we all, as Americans, have the right to express ourselves. Especially if you’re being respectful. I’m being respectful. I just asked a simple question. Really, let’s get right down to it. What did I ask? A simple question. Why are we not looking into those things if we’re going to talk about it? Why are we not looking into those things? Because it’s kind of hard for me to say— I can realistically look at it, I see the images on TV, people’s livelihoods are being destroyed, businesses are being burned down. No problem. And then we have a dust-up at the Capitol. Nothing burned down, and we’re not going to talk about— we’re going to make that a major deal. I just think there are kind of two standards, and if we apply the same standard and we’re going to be reasonable with each other, let’s have a discussion. That’s all it was. Let’s have a discussion. We’re Americans. Let’s talk it through. I’m for us having a great opportunity to have a fulfilled life. Like I said, every which way I can when I’m here, it’s about love and respect. I love my guys. I respect my guys. But I also love the fact that I’m an American and that means I’m free to express myself and I’m not afraid to do that.”
Since he remarked on social media and his replies to the media, Del Rio has issued a statement via Twitter that takes on an apologetic tone.
https://twitter.com/coachdelrio/status/1534644933457547269
Regardless of the Tweet, the damage has already been done to an organization desperately searching for credibility in light of the many problems ranging from lack of workplace culture, sexual harassment of its female staff, and poorly run management/ownership for nearly three decades. Del Rio’s comments do nothing to win back a once-proud franchise’s die-hard fanbase that has stopped supporting the organization over these egregious issues.
The newly named Commanders must get behind this matter and make sure the sensitivity training they spoke of implementing trickles down to coaches and players alike if they are truly going to be a functioning, modern outfit.