Bills' Sean McDermott has controversial speech surface ahead of make-or-break Week 14 game
On Thursday, a report came out detailing a speech made by Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott during training camp in 2019. Go Long's Tyler Dunne mentioned that seven sources remembered a specific and controversial part of his speech. And it has now surfaced. “At St. John Fisher College in Pittsford, N.Y., McDermott’s morning address […]
On Thursday, a report came out detailing a speech made by Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott during training camp in 2019.
Go Long's Tyler Dunne mentioned that seven sources remembered a specific and controversial part of his speech. And it has now surfaced.
“At St. John Fisher College in Pittsford, N.Y., McDermott’s morning address began innocently enough,” Dunne wrote in his three-part piece (shared by Pro Football Talk). “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. He cited the hijackers as a group of people who were all able to get on the same page to orchestrate attacks to perfection. One by one, McDermott started asking specific players in the room questions. ‘What tactics do you think they used to come together?’ A young player tried to methodically answer. ‘What do you think their biggest obstacle was?’ A veteran answered, ‘TSA,’ which mercifully lightened the mood.”
Another unnamed player summed up the speech perfectly.
"He was trying to bring the team together. It was a horrible, horrible reference. He missed the mark.”
This wasn't the only speech that people remembered, also referring to one called the "Niagara Falls” speech.
“In December 2021, locals will recall the news of a woman deliberately driving into the waterway that spills into the falls,” Dunne wrote. “She drifted down the Niagara River before her vehicle was lodged against a rock about 50 yards from the brink. McDermott studied up and pieced together a speech. The coach explained how members from the Coast Guard did everything they could to save the woman. He built up the drama. Players held on tight for an inspiring apex, and . . . nothing. He said the woman died. End of story. The complete absence of a point had some players biting their tongues, trying their hardest not to laugh.”
This shined a negative light on McDermott ahead of arguably the biggest game of the season for the Bills. Sitting at 6-6, this matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs will be crucial for keeping their playoff hopes alive.
But instead, McDermott had to address these controversial comments ahead of the game.
