Tyler Dunne story on McDermott - 3 parts, 25 interviews, one damning conclusion

[Mark Vader]

3 minutes ago, PBF81 said:

 

I'm happy to answer that via PMs.  I'm not sure I should post much more in the forum.  I've posted a lot in responding to others.  

 

I try to never be a wise guy.  LOL  I'm genuinely interested in sincere, substantive, and objective discussions.  I'm not a "see I told you so" type and I go out of my way to not gloat or the like.  I don't see why that's necessary and all it does is invite ad hominems.  

 

 

Feel free to PM me. I'd like to know your take.

[PBF81]

1 minute ago, Mark Vader said:

Feel free to PM me. I'd like to know your take.

 

Sure, remind me tomorrow.  I'm bushed.  

 

 

[BigAl2526]

I think that McDermott's use of a 9/11 comparison was stupid and insensitive, but I also think that obsession with political correctness in our society is a plague we could do without.  I'm sure McDermott has figured it out, but It would be appropriate if Pegula spoke to him about being more careful with his analogies in the future.  I don't think anything more than that needs to be done.  

[Reks Ryan]

54 minutes ago, JohnNord said:

 

That’s why I laugh when people say “he used 25 sources.”  He used 25 sources - some had good things to say about McDermott and were not anonymous.  That leaves about 15-20 sources who likely had an ax to grind.  It doesn’t mean these were good sources 

 

Exactly 

[Doc Brown]

15 minutes ago, Governor said:

I lived in Tampa during the Gruden era. It was pretty awful. The players hated him, terrible drafts, weird situations with QBs, tried to get Chris Sims killed because he didn’t like him, list goes on and on.

 

He wrecked that team…..and quickly.

So it wasn't all bad.

[TheFunPolice]

It just dawned on me after rewatching McDermott's media after this story broke.

 

If a guy is so clueless that he would plan to use the 9/11 highjackers as an example of teamwork then it's not crazy to think that he was totally unaware of the level of animosity that apparently exists toward him in former coaches and players he's worked with.

 

Maybe he's truly shocked. These are people he worked with every day. 

[davefan66]

1 hour ago, BigAl2526 said:

I think that McDermott's use of a 9/11 comparison was stupid and insensitive, but I also think that obsession with political correctness in our society is a plague we could do without.  I'm sure McDermott has figured it out, but It would be appropriate if Pegula spoke to him about being more careful with his analogies in the future.  I don't think anything more than that needs to be done.  

This has zero to do with “political correctness”.  This is clearly a lack of awareness.  A bit different.

 

 

[Beck Water]

2 hours ago, Scott7975 said:

 

Come on now.  Now people are reaching for conspiracy theories?  I mean I will buy into the guy is looking to make a buck.  It's his job, of course he is looking to make a buck.  But the Chiefs paying him off?  Thats a little ridiculous.

 

Come on now yourself.  I said about that line, it was the "Conspiracy Theorist at the Back of My Skull Poking Me".  What part of that word choice and phrasing says "gee, this is a serious suggestion from this poster and it's just ridiculous" to you?

 

2 hours ago, GoBills808 said:

So you say 'It was said on social media that they were at a party...so they were inside'

 

Then I say...well, maybe whoever wrote that on social media was wrong and had ulterior motives and there actually was no party and they broke no COVID rules. 

 

See how pointless that is?

 

 

 

The social media source was the same guy who posted the video of Hall being led outside with his eyes covered, so I would think he'd know.

 

You're really stretching here.

 

14 minutes ago, davefan66 said:

This has zero to do with “political correctness”.  This is clearly a lack of awareness.  A bit different.

 

Agreed, it's social awareness.

 

Although to be fair - that can be a blurred line.

Edited December 9, 2023 by Beck Water

[Beck Water]

1 hour ago, BigAl2526 said:

I think that McDermott's use of a 9/11 comparison was stupid and insensitive, but I also think that obsession with political correctness in our society is a plague we could do without.  I'm sure McDermott has figured it out, but It would be appropriate if Pegula spoke to him about being more careful with his analogies in the future.  I don't think anything more than that needs to be done.  

 

Apparently this happened before the 2019 season.  I'm sure any communication from Pegula etc took place in a timely manner in 2019.

 

2 hours ago, Breakout Squad said:

McDermott sounded broken down and clearly hurt. Watching his press conference you could see this is really hitting him hard. I felt bad for him. 

 

I felt bad for the team, honestly. 

 

They're depending upon McDermott to coach them and lead them and make good game decisions against a very tough opponent, and he acknowledges his head is spinning.

Edited December 9, 2023 by Beck Water

[Nephilim17]

4 hours ago, Beck Water said:

 

 

Do you think, I don't know, there might be some kind of middle ground here?

 

Like, I don't know, having a handful (or even 25) people with whom one had conflict over the years, doesn't mean the person is completely incapable of relating to and forming relationships with others?

 

 

Normally, yes, there is a middle ground.

 

But any so-called leader who uses 9/11 as a supposedly motivating example of teamwork, planning, and organization for a team of professional footaball players is not "normal" so my normal reaction doesn't apply here.

 

Someone is severely lacking in leadership, communication skills, and judgment if they use that example to motivate NFL players. I won't back down from this position. People make mistakes, but that's really a fireable offense in my eyes. It shows a total lack of empathy, leadership, common sense, and judgment.

 

If you think it's a simple gaffe many good leaders would make, good for you. I don't agree.

[Doc Brown]

7 minutes ago, Nephilim17 said:

Normally, yes, there is a middle ground.

 

But any so-called leader who uses 9/11 as a supposedly motivating example of teamwork, planning, and organization for a team of professional footaball players is not "normal" so my normal reaction doesn't apply here.

 

Someone is severely lacking in leadership, communication skills, and judgment if they use that example to motivate NFL players. I won't back down from this position. People make mistakes, but that's really a fireable offense in my eyes. It shows a total lack of empathy, leadership, common sense, and judgment.

 

If you think it's a simple gaffe many good leaders would make, good for you. I don't agree.

Yeah.  It blows my mind that out of all the examples in history of teamwork towards a common goal the hijackers on 9/11 was what came to mind and there wasn't a filter in his head that said maybe there's other options.  We all make mistakes but good lord that was dumb.

[Nephilim17]

Just now, Doc Brown said:

Yeah.  It blows my mind that out of all the examples in history of teamwork towards a common goal the hijackers on 9/11 was what came to mind and there wasn't a filter in his head that said maybe there's other options.  We all make mistakes but good lord that was dumb.

Combined with the fact that we keep losing close games because of defensive and coaching errors and that he blamed a loss on the Bills offense scoring "too soon" I want this guy gone. He was a decent to good coach who helped us get out of the drought, but he is not, to use his words, "championship calibre." 

[Scott7975]

1 hour ago, Beck Water said:

Come on now yourself.  I said about that line, it was the "Conspiracy Theorist at the Back of My Skull Poking Me".  What part of that word choice and phrasing says "gee, this is a serious suggestion from this poster and it's just ridiculous" to you?

 

The part that someone thinks to themselves "maybe the chiefs paid him off to write and publish this article."  A lot of people are trying to irrationally pick this article apart and discredit it and most of those people haven't even read the article, including yourself.  I find that thought in itself to be irrational.

 

The writer is a highly respected member of the press/journalist world.  The dude is not putting his career and reputation on the line making stuff up.  Did he put his own thoughts on some things in the article?  Sure, but all writers do that. All people do that. At least he is using facts from interviews he got first hand.  In this thread we have people that haven't even read the article making stuff up to try and discredit it in any way possible because they have some irrational need to defend a guy in McD that they don't even know.  I find that to be ridiculous.  There is nothing made up in this article.  It's things that people in the know have told him.  Here we have people that are entirely in the dark trying to justify and make stuff up.

Edited December 9, 2023 by Scott7975

[Scott7975]

3 hours ago, JohnNord said:

He explained on Cowherd that he was writing the story and sped up the process after the Eagles loss since he felt it summarized the issues he was writing about.  Plus he had an extra week.  So yes, it was 100% a strategic move on his part to get the story out.  But it’s not like he was sitting on the article waiting for a bad time to put it out.   Obviously no conspiracy.  And if he put a lot of work into the story, I don’t blame him for not waiting until the right time to publish.

 

One criticism that I do feel is legit - on Cowherd he was asked if the sources came to him or if he had to dig.  He didn’t answer the question but it sounded like he had to dig.  So I think it’s fair to wonder whether he started with a preconceived idea and sought out disgruntled players to support his thesis.  
 

This is where being critical works both ways.  I think it’s foolish to bring that the “sour grapes” angle among some of his sources (cough cough Quinton Spain) is not a factor.  So along with the conspiracy talk, it’s also foolish to believe that his “sources” didn’t have an agenda.  

 

He probably did have to dig.  It's not like he has a sign on his door that says "all McD complainers come talk here." Thats what journalist do.  They pick a topic and seek out sources for that topic.  It's not hard to have a preconceived idea that McD is not the right coach for this team.  There are tons of Bills fans that all think that. So I am sure, that he sought out sources that would talk to him about McD.

 

The thing is, you must not have read the article either because I am going to point out again that this isn't one sided.  It's not just disgruntled players.  It's not just "McD sucks because..." There are players that spoken good of McD.  Some of Dunne's opinion also spoke good of McD.  It's always easy to spot people that have not read the article or are biased against Dunne because they like McD... the go to talk about how it's agenda, and disgruntled players and such things like that.

[Turk71]

Like others have mentioned, the fact that he would choose the 9/11 hijackers as a motivational example of teamwork indicates at the very least that McD is not too bright and has terrible judgment.  

It's too weird to even understand how a brain could think that was a good idea, so it probably also indicates other issues...

 

Edited December 9, 2023 by Turk71

[Scott7975]

3 hours ago, Warcodered said:

WTF? This wasn't a ***** secret there was no mystery.

 

Dang if only there wasn't literal video evidence of them coming out of the ***** house. 🙄

 

and yet the NFL never said a word about it.

[Doc Brown]

35 minutes ago, Scott7975 said:

The part that someone thinks to themselves "maybe the chiefs paid him off to write and publish this article."  A lot of people are trying to irrationally pick this article apart and discredit it and most of those people haven't even read the article, including yourself.  I find that thought in itself to be irrational.

That's the downside of putting it behind a paywall as not as many people will read it so they rely on others interpretations.  I'd pay the monthly fee to read it but then would be afraid I'd forget to cancel it.

[Scott7975]

Just now, Doc Brown said:

That's the downside of putting it behind a paywall as not as many people will read it so they rely on others interpretations.  I'd pay the monthly fee to read it but then would be afraid I'd forget to cancel it.

 

True but the guy does need to make a living and this is how he is doing it.  I am not suggesting that you pay to read it, but what I do in these situations is subscribe and then cancel right away.  They still need to give you access to what you paid for.

[Dablitzkrieg]

Dunne has a history of doing this.  He did the same smear campaign with Rodgers to try and advance his career.  Shady, but effective. 

Edited December 9, 2023 by Dablitzkrieg

[Scott7975]

Pretty much everyone hates Rodgers and thinks McCarthy sucks as a head coach.  Now it's a smear campaign though.