Commanders’ Rivera Claims to Have Read 1st Amendment ‘Over and Over,’ Fined Del Rio for ‘Distraction’

On Tuesday, Washington Commanders coach Ron Rivera told reporters that he fined his defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio for causing a “distraction” by calling the January 6 Capitol riot a “dust-up.”

Rivera also claimed that he has read the 1st Amendment “over and over” during the recent controversy and keeps a copy of the document on his desk.

“Just so everybody understands, this is not the fact that he exercised his right to free speech,” Rivera said according to NBC Sports Washington. “This is about what impacted the football team, OK?

“This is about the impact that was made on our football team, the distraction it has become. It’s a very serious question and topic but at the end of the day, it did impact us and that’s why I did what I did.”

It is highly debatable that Del Rio’s comments caused anything approaching a “distraction,” at least as far as the players are concerned. As Del Rio said in the same press conference in which he referred to the riot as a “dust-up,” not a single player approached Del Rio about his characterization of the January 6 riot.

Rivera’s claim that Del Rio’s comments amounted to a distraction were dealt a further blow by his best defensive player, Jonathan Allen, who says he could give a “rat’s ass” about Twitter or what anyone says there.

Indeed, the only group that was consistently keeping the “dust-up” comment in the news was the media. Though Del Rio apologized for the comment, he was fined $100,000 by Rivera, who issued a lengthy statement calling the January 6 riot an act of  “domestic terrorism” and referred to the Floyd rioters as those demanding “justice.”

As far as the 1st Amendment is concerned, Rivera claims to have “respect” for the amendment.

“I’ve read it again over and over the last few days,” Rivera said. “I really, truly have. I have a copy of it right now sitting on my desk.”

The 1st Amendment is exactly one sentence long. So, the idea that Rivera has been ponderously reading one sentence for days on end – especially during OTA’s – is more than a bit far-fetched. But there’s no way of knowing. The DC sports media, who did more than anyone to get Del Rio fined, won’t fact-check Rivera on his claim to have the 1st Amendment on his desk – or even ask him to recite the single sentence – because he did their bidding.

In fairness, there are two semicolons in the 1st Amendment. So perhaps Rivera did have to read it “over and over.”