Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott was awarded the game ball after his team’s win over the Kansas City Chiefs following reports this week that he gave a 2019 locker room speech using hijackers from 9/11 as an example of teamwork.
McDermott was under significant pressure throughout the week after Tyler Dunne’s ‘Go Long’ website published a report on the bizarre speech.
“He told the entire team they needed to come together. But then, sources on-hand say, he used a strange model: the terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001,” the report reads.
“He cited the hijackers as a group of people who were all able to get on the same page to orchestrate attacks to perfection.”
McDermott allegedly began asking players questions about what they thought the 9/11 hijackers used as motivation to “come together”.
The mood of the locker room was mercifully broken up when one player was asked what he thought the terrorists’ “biggest obstacle” was, to which that player joked, “TSA.”
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Sean McDermott’s Tough Week Following 9/11 Speech Revelation Ends With Game Ball
To his credit, the same report notes that once Sean McDermott realized how his 9/11 speech was being received, he called his team back for a second meeting an hour later to apologize.
But man oh man, how does the head coach of a team in New York decide ‘Yeah, let’s get this team motivated by illustrating the teamwork of the hijackers’?
How about maybe pointing out how America came together following the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, Sean?
And again, to his credit, McDermott owned his actions and apologized in an address to the media late last week.
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“I want to reference the team meeting that has been brought up. My intent in the meeting that day was to discuss the importance of communication and being on the same page with the team,” McDermott said.
“I regretted mentioning 9/11 in my message that day, and I immediately apologized to the team. Not only was 9/11 a horrific event in our country’s history, but a day that I lost a good family friend.”
That didn’t stop the cast of Saturday Night Live (SNL) from roasting him over the matter along with an endless onslaught of negative media reaction over the weekend.
McDermott’s Team Has His Back
One thing is certain, the Buffalo Bills players were unwavering in their support for Sean McDermott throughout the week despite the 9/11 speech controversy.
“You can question a lot of things about this team,” quarterback Josh Allen said. “But to question his character and who he is as a man, he’s one of the better humans on this planet.”
Were they motivated by the controversy, coming together as a team on Sunday? Perhaps.
The Bills defeated the Chiefs 20-17 following a controversial penalty call late in the game that negated a pass from Patrick Mahomes to Travis Kelce, which was then lateraled across the field to Kadarius Toney, for a 49-yard touchdown.
Coach McDermott was awarded the game ball following the win.
“That’s a hell of a win, man,” McDermott told his team. “Resilient, resilient damn football team right here. I’m so damn proud of you guys.”
Bills general manager Brandon Beane gave him the game ball and said: “We’ve got this man’s back. Tough f***ing week.”
