Washington Commanders defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio received a lot of criticism this week for comparing the events that unfolded following the death of George Floyd to the riots that took place at U.S. Capitol.
“Why are we not looking into those things — if we’re going to talk about it — why are we not looking into those things?” Del Rio asked reporters. “I can look at images on the TV, people’s livelihoods are being destroyed, businesses are being burned down, no problem. And then we have a dustup at the Capitol, nothing burned down, and we’re going to make that a major deal. I just think it’s 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.”
Del Rio eventually retracted this statement, saying, “Referencing that situation as a dust-up was irresponsible and negligent and I am sorry.”
On Friday, Commanders head coach Ron Rivera issued a statement on this matter. It was revealed in this statement that Del Rio received a $100,000 fine for his comments.
“This morning I met with Coach Del Rio to express how disappointed I am in his comments on Wednesday,” Rivera said. “His comments do not reflect the organization’s views and are extremely hurtful to our great community here in the DMV. As we saw last night in the hearings, what happened on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 was an act of domestic terrorism. A group of citizens attempted to overturn the results of a free and fair election, and as a result, lives were lost and the Capitol building was damaged.”
Later on in his statement, Rivera said, “I feel strongly that after our conversation this morning, he [Del Rio] will have a greater understanding for the impact of his language and the values that our team stands for.”
Del Rio has been with the Commanders since the 2020 season. Judging by this statement, he’ll remain the team’s defensive play-caller.