When Washington Commanders defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio came out with his controversial opinion about what happened in the nation’s capital on January 6th, 2020, many, including the NAACP, were calling for his resignation.
Del Rio said that what happened that day was just a “dustup at the capital” which angered a lot of current and former NFL players, as well as others.
Jack Del Rio is an ignorant, ignorant man. And that is as loving and respectful as I can put it.
— Doug Baldwin Jr 🌹 (@DougBaldwinJr) June 8, 2022
Commanders defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio called the Jan. 6 Capitol riots a "dust-up." @mikefreemanNFL writes that he's not only wrong, but Del Rio's words are dangerous, providing another example of why the franchise is so problematic. https://t.co/XzHNMJM7nT pic.twitter.com/qhiMgb2Ye5
— USA TODAY Sports (@usatodaysports) June 9, 2022
But one player that didn’t seem to be bothered by the comments was Commander’s defensive tackle Jonathan Allen. Although Allen didn’t say he supported what Del Rio said, he does, however, support the right for him to say it.
“Me personally, I don’t care about his opinion,” Allen told JP Finlay of NBCSportsWashington.com on Wednesday. “As long as he shows up every day and he works hard, that’s what I want from my defensive coordinator.
I asked Jonathan Allen about Jack Del Rio’s tweets – it’s a smart answer to a complicated question – “At the end of the day you can a difference of opinion and still respect one another” pic.twitter.com/mvVl0X0l5G
— JP Finlay (@JPFinlayNBCS) June 8, 2022
“In my opinion, everyone’s entitled to their own opinion,” Allen continued. “Some guys decide to share it on Twitter; some guys don’t. It doesn’t make one person better than the other. At the end of the day, you can have a difference in opinion and still respect one another. I feel like that’s what our country is about. That’s what our team is about.
Allen knows all too well what happens when you put your foot in your mouth on social media. He had to apologize earlier this year for comments he made praising Adolph Hitler.
Del Rio would later apologize for his comments as well.
https://twitter.com/coachdelrio/status/1534644933457547269
The team has not released a statement or announced any punishment that Del Rio might receive.
About Stacey Mickles
Stacey is a 1995 graduate of the University of Alabama who has previously worked for other publications such as Sportskeeda and Saturday Down South.