Sean McDermott Looks To The 9/11 Terrorists For Inspiration

Sean McDermott Looks To The 9/11 Terrorists For Inspiration

I have heard some wild sports analogies in my days. Coaches seem to always come up with some wacky saying or example to try and motivate their team to win football games. What Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott did might be the wildest one of them all, using the terrorists who conducted the 9/11 attacks as an example of teamwork and togetherness.

The story of McDermott’s 9/11 reference comes from a large article written by Tyler Dunne and goes as follows:

“At St. John Fisher College in Pittsford, N.Y., McDermott’s morning address began innocently enough. He told the entire team they needed to come together. But then, sources on-hand say, he used a strange model: the terrorist 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.”

The report spread like wildfire on X and led to McDermott addressing the story and using the attacks today.

Sean McDermott speaking to the media now. He said that his intent with the team meeting in 2019 in which he referenced 9/11 was to emphasize the importance of communication.

He said that he regretted it and apologized to the team soon after for not better communicating his point

— Alaina Getzenberg (@agetzenberg) December 7, 2023

You Can’t Do That:

Even though this happened back in 2019, it is clear that Sean McDermott is losing his mind. Offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey was fired just a few weeks ago, but the problems with the Bills run deeper than that. This team is a shell of what they had been the past few years and are on the brink of not even making the playoffs in the middle of their supposed playoff window.

If we can go back to the story for a second, how brain-dead and tone-deaf do you have to be? Imagine if McDermott said, “You know what, those Nazis were pretty organized in killing Jews.” Do we all not see the problem here? Of all the events in history that a coach could use, why would you choose 9/11? If a coach can’t choose a better historical event for motivation, it calls into question his decision in calling the plays.

I honestly don’t see how he comes back from this story. This on top of the poor performance of the Bills this season means that McDermott is mostly not coming back next year. This team has a good base with Josh Allen at quarterback and can build. If Sean McDermott does, then the Bills are unserious about winning.