The Buffalo Bills have been one of the strangest teams in the NFL this season. Between injuries, a tough schedule, and some absolutely brutal luck in close games, Buffalo has gone from a team with very real Super Bowl aspirations to a squad that is fighting to even make it to the playoffs this year with a 6-6 record.
The team has already fired offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey after parting ways with defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier in the offseason, and while there hasn’t been anything to suggest his job is in real trouble, the spotlight is now on head coach Sean McDermott and what his future holds. In a new, three-part piece by NFL journalist Ty Dunne, McDermott’s style of leadership (among other things) were called into question. It featured this anecdote about a speech McDermott gave to the team in 2019 that is, quite frankly, batsh*t insane, and is apparently referred to as the “9/11 speech.”
jet fuel cant melt the resolve of my football team
pic.twitter.com/pVlrzH6rIV
— weeniehead (@essbeeay) December 7, 2023
Now, you’d think that there would have been a better example in literally all of human history of the power of teamwork than the 9/11 hijackers, but this must have been on McDermott’s mind that day, for some reason. The story indicates that McDermott tried to apologize and explain himself not long after this, and unsurprisingly, he got asked about this on Thursday by the media and apologized again.
McDermott’s opening statement: “My intent in the meeting that day was to discuss the importance of communication and being on the same page with the team. I regretted mentioning 9/11 in my message that day and I immediately apologized to the team.” (1/2) https://t.co/0BkztV80vP
— Alaina Getzenberg (@agetzenberg) December 7, 2023
(2/2) “… Not only was 9/11 a horrific event in our country’s history, but a day that I lost a good family friend.”
— Alaina Getzenberg (@agetzenberg) December 7, 2023
The Bills travel to Kansas City to play the Chiefs on Sunday.