Washington Commanders defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio was in the headlines on Wednesday, and there was plenty of media and social media reaction to go around.
Del Rio was speaking to reporters following practice at the team’s mini-camp when the topic of his recent social media posts was brought up.
Del Rio said he felt there is a double standard in which the response in cities across the country to the death of George Floyd is not being investigated like the events at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 are.
“I can look at images on the TV, people’s livelihoods are being destroyed, businesses are being burned down, no problem,” Del Rio said. “And then we have a dust-up at the Capitol, nothing burned down, and we’re going to make that a major deal.”
There were plenty of reactions on social media from members of the sports media.
In D.C., 106.7 The Fan host Brian Mitchell sounded off on Del Rio, as well as Commanders head coach Ron Rivera for not reprimanding his coordinator.
“I care about him getting his damn D-coordinator under control before somebody beats his ass up!” Mitchell said on BMitch & Finlay. “That’s what I care about. I care about somebody stopping this man from constantly poking this little racial bear, what he’s doing. That’s what I care about.”
Hall of Famer Michael Irvin told Chris Russell and Pete Medhurst on The Team 980 in D.C. that even though he hadn’t at the time actually heard the clip of what Del Rio said, he thought having been told what was said that Del Rio used a poor choice of words when calling Jan. 6 a dust-up. Irvin added that he knows Del Rio well going back to their time in Dallas together as players, and that thinking Del Rio is some kind of racist isn’t true.
“I sat in the locker room with Jack Del Rio, I sat side by side, I battled with Jack, I know him very well,” Irvin said. “And what we do now is when people are not on our side, or see things exactly our way, we want to always turn it into saying ‘Oh he must be racist,’ it must be that. I haven’t heard what Jack said yet, but it would be hard – it would be hard for you to convince me that the man that I sat with and battled with and was my family, Jack Del Rio doesn’t have any of that in him.”
By the end of Wednesday, Del Rio issued an apology on his Twitter feed. At least one famous Commanders fan didn’t buy it.
