Commander-in-Chief Ron Rivera fined defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio $ 100,000 on Friday for comments in which the coach downplayed the January 6 Capitol uprising as “dust” and compared it to racist extremists. in 2020.. In a statement released by the team, Rivera said he met with Del Rio on Friday morning to discuss his comments two days earlier and that Del Rio apologized. “Coach Del Rio apologized for his comments on Wednesday and understands the distinction between the events of that dark day and the peaceful demonstrations that characterize our democracy,” Rivera said in a statement. “He has the right to express his opinion as a citizen of the United States and it is certainly his constitutional right to do so. However, his words have consequences and his words have hurt many people in our community. “I want to make it clear that our organization will not tolerate any equivalence between those who demanded justice in the aftermath of the assassination of George Floyd and those on January 6 who tried to overthrow our government.” Svrluga: Jack Del Rio can choose his words. Managers can choose their coaches. The fine will be awarded to the US Capitol Police Memorial Fund, which supports the families of officers who were injured or killed in the line of duty. Del Rio, who has often expressed his political beliefs and ideologies on social media, responded to a tweet on Monday in which he questioned “the whole story” because the “summer of riots, looting, burning and destruction of personal property has never been discussed “but the January 6 attack is. When asked about the tweet by reporters on Wednesday after a training session of the team, he doubled down, saying: “Why don’t we look at these things? Because it’s a bit difficult for me to say – I can see it realistically, I see the pictures on TV, people’s livelihoods are destroyed, businesses are burned. No problem. And then we have a powder in the Capitol. “Nothing burned and we are not going to discuss it – we will make it an important agreement.” Speaking to reporters earlier Wednesday, Rivera initially declined to discuss Del Rio’s tweets, but said he was “not necessarily worried” they would affect the locker room. The group did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday or Thursday. The result of his remarks was fast and powerful, with current and former players speaking with frustration. An NFL player who previously played for Del Rio and spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue told the Washington Post that the comments were disturbing but did not surprise him, “because I have heard them for the last two, three years. He was consistent. … People are dead, and he wants to call it “dust”. ” The player added that he would have trouble playing for Del Rio again “because he does not support me as a person” and said that the coach would never have made those comments “if he did not feel he had a lot of people. agreeing with him “. Del Rio apologized on Twitter late Wednesday, saying his reference to the Jan. 6 attack as “dust” was “irresponsible and negligent.” However, his previous comments continued to cause a stir throughout the week. Two Virginia senators said Wednesday that in the wake of Del Rio’s comments, they could no longer support legislation aimed at enticing Governors to build a new stadium in the state. The bill was completely withdrawn a day later, and the leader of the majority of the State Senate, Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax) cited Del Rio’s remarks as one of the decisive factors. NAACP calls for Jack Del Rio’s job after January 6 comment On Thursday, NAACP President Derrick Johnson issued a statement calling on Del Rio to resign or be fired. And Rod Graves, executive director of Alliance Fritz Pollard, a diversity team that works closely with the NFL on minority recruitment, said Del Rio’s comments “go against the values” of the alliance and the NFL. “His comments do not reflect the views of the organization and are extremely damaging to our large community here at DMV,” Rivera said in a statement. “As we saw [Thursday] night at [Jan. 6 committee] at the hearings, what happened at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, was an act of domestic terrorism. A group of citizens tried to overturn the results of free and fair elections, resulting in the loss of lives and damage to the Capitol building. … “I feel strongly that after our discussion this morning, he will have a greater understanding of the impact of his language and the values our team stands for.”
