Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDermott held an impromptu press conference in the team’s media room Thursday afternoon to address a report that he once used the 9/11 hijackers to demonstrate effective teamwork.
Details of the meeting were outlined in a Tyler Dunne story earlier in the day at GoLongTD.com. Dunne wrote that in training camp in 2019, McDermott 9/11 to paint a picture of teamwork.
“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,” Dunne wrote. “ ‘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.”
McDermott said that his intent in that team meeting was to discuss the importance of communication and being on the same page with the team.
“I regretted mentioning 9/11 in my message that day,” he said. “and I immediately apologized to the team. Not only was 9/11 a horrific event in our country’s history, but a day that I lost a good family friend.”
McDermott said he used the reference to create awareness around a horrific event more than anything. Immediately after McDermott’s speech to his team in 2019 he noticed that one player didn’t seem clear on McDermott’s intent with his messaging, he said.
“So right then and there I said we’re getting together as a team and I’m going to address this with everyone,” he said. “I brought everybody together and said this was the goal, this was the intent, and I apologize if anyone whatsoever felt a certain type of way coming out of that meeting.
“If anyone misinterpreted or didn’t understand my message, I apologize. I didn’t do a good enough job of communicating clearly the intent of my message. That was about the importance of communication and that everyone needs to…
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