Washington defensive tackle Jonathan Allen is one of the NFL’s more respected players. In Washington, Allen’s voice is an important one because he’s a consummate leader and is always refreshingly candid.
Last week, Allen spoke of Jack Del Rio’s comments and gave an honest answer. He noted how everyone was entitled to their own opinion and how two people can have a difference of opinion and still respect one another.
Wow. If only everyone adopted Allen’s philosophy.
Allen said he cared about was Del Rio coming to work and working hard; that’s all that mattered to him.
On Tuesday, the Commanders opened minicamp, and Del Rio was in the news again. Head coach Ron Rivera told the media that Del Rio had addressed the team, and it went well.
Allen agreed.
“He owned up to it. It’s all you can ask for,” the Washington captain said.
He’s right. If players accept Del Rio’s apology and reasoning behind his previous comments, it should be time to move on.
Next, Allen was asked if he gets tired of all of the non-football attention the Commanders receive.
“Anything that’s outside of this, I could care less,” Allen said via Sam Fortier of The Washington Post. “I got blasted on Twitter for not – for whatever reason. I don’t give a damn. I really don’t. Anybody outside of this team is so unimportant to me. It means nothing what you say to me or what the media says to me. You’re not on the field with us playing football. You’re not playing double-teams. You’re not out here busting your ass with me every day.”
He wasn’t finished.
“I could care less what people think on Twitter because Twitter is not a real space,” Allen continued. “It’s a space that people hop behind the keyboards and say whatever they want to say. I could give a rat’s ass what people say on Twitter. It’s not a distraction whatsoever. We’re moving forward and getting ready for training camp.”
As usual, Allen handled this perfectly. He’s tired of the non-football questions. And he is also right about Twitter. Some may get upset, but he was honest.
While no one knows what some of Washington’s other players think about Del Rio’s comments, Allen made it clear it’s a non-issue for him and he’s ready to talk about football.