The Washington Commanders suspended their Vice President of Content, Rael Entin, after he was caught on an undercover video. The video was secretly recorded by an undercover journalist from James O’Keefe’s media company, and it features Entin calling the NFL a “bottomless trap of misery” while taking numerous shots at Commanders players, fans, and executives.
In a statement to reporters, are you looking for? “The language used in this video is unacceptable and runs contrary to our collective values. We have suspended the employee pending an internal investigation and will not offer any further comment at this time.
Video content: Cringy comments
In the video, Benteen is seen discussing frankly during an apparent dinner date with a hidden cameraman. He says some of the team’s black players are homophobic, describes most NFL players as “dumb as all hell,” and shits on the fanbase.
Esteen says in the footage, “Over 50% of our roster is either white, religious, or—no f———s given.” A lot of it is just the very, very low-income African American male, and that’s a segment of our population historically affected by this cursing.” It has received much criticism for being generalizing and offensive, stating that the Black—our White? —homophobes are triggered by their backgrounds.
He also calls most of the players dumb, saying that part-time job is wearing on their bodies. “Obviously, there’s a spectrum. Some are dumb as a rock, and some of them are very sharp,” he said. Entin theorists that the multiple concussions football players often suffer lead to a loss of smarts.
The NFL and its Woke Crusade
Esteen was also to the league at large and its policies, along with it on NFL leadership. He reportedly called Commissioner Roger Goodell a “50-million-dollar puppet,” implying that Goodell was more of an empty face controlled by the league’s billionaire owners, who also control Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Esteen said Jones “is the NFL” and called him racist and homophobic. Based on Esteen’s recollection of his heated June 2008 phone conversation with O’Neill about payment terms for Revised Kryptonite Ltd/SMI advertising rights sales to Sprint Cup race sponsors, Jones told me… (ENTIRE PASSEGE DELETED) …HE HATES GAY PEOPLE AND BLACK PEOPLE.
Esteen also blasted the league’s social justice work, penned as its support for Black Lives Matter in Pride and Diversity Equity and Inclusion efforts. He called these initiatives “performative” and said that they existed solely for positive PR, not actual change. They are for show, not really to make a difference,” he said in the video of companies’ efforts; it is all about earning money.
Critique of NFL Fans
Benteen unleashed his venom on the fans. He classed the average NFL fan as a “high school-educated alcoholic,” and another time he really drove home his distaste for everyone within that crowd of Devolution denizens with’ mouth breathers’. “NFL followers are high school-educated alcoholics,” he said. He also noted they often fought with one another in the stands to illustrate their rowdiness and violence.
Fallout and Reactions
Commenters everywhere are weighing in, and the backlash against her has been pretty intense. Esteen was suspended by the commanders pending an internal investigation, and other people or organizations who he took a swipe at have not responded publicly. The controversial video has drawn widespread criticism online and from fans, who have labelled Esteen’s remarks as both unbecoming and inappropriate.
The video was widely disseminated on social media by James O’Keefe, the founder of the media company that recorded it, who wrote: “BREAKING: NFL Commanders VP Of Content Calls Black Commanders Players ‘Homosexuals,’ Labels All NFL Players As ‘Dumb as she*t,’ Reefers [sic] To Fans as High School Educated Alcoholics.” The post went viral in no time, raising enough awareness on the matter.
Esteen, who has been with the Commanders since 2020 and was elevated to Vice President of Content in 2022, might better start looking for work elsewhere. In his career before Washington, he worked with the New York Jets and in XFL, where digital and social media strategy was a particular specialty for him. Unfortunately, the conversation about gaming and content creation has been crushed for the rest of a year because we are all looking at him as some kind of attention-seeking waste bag (this is not elitism; this should be objective reality).
The Next Five: Commanders and NFL in the Hot Seat
The controversy is the least of what’s been a sensitive time for Washington, which recently came under new ownership following years of scandalous behaviour from former owner Dan Snyder. Still, Snyder, who on Tuesday agreed to sell the team for a record $6 billion in 2023, had been through everything from running one of the four remaining franchises named Washington Redskins while its name was debated and changed. requireregularcoverage,toturnoverinfamousemployees(amanyofwhomhaveadmittedworsetothecause)and accuse its acculture a workplace coresidual coercion. It makes Esteen’s comments particularly damaging, as the Commanders’ new leadership under Josh Harris has been trying to move things in a different direction.
The truth is that these undisciplined management practices were a lasting effect of Snyder, who has held as many lawsuits and poor decisions as head coaches have over the last two decades. The organisation has been on a path back to redeeming its image and reinstituting itself with the town for awhile now. It is another layer to the efforts of making his standout story complicated.
The NFL faces criticism as well, of course—iit’s a league that is continually moving through the gauntlet (especially in 2020) when smaller conversations touch on player safety/health or those related to social justice/fan engagement. From player concussions to injuries on the field, or league handling of off-the-field behaviour including its response [sic] and discipline with Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, and now DeflateGate—with it all combined—the responses seem inconsistent or, as some suspect, insufficient. The NFL has been criticised by some sceptics for treating the league as a business before a crusade, and period In remarks reminiscent in ESPN’s of Denver Broncos star defensive dead endries Von Miller. Enteen argued that pro sports’ Black Lives Matter statements amount to “performance posturing.”.
What’s Next?
At this time, the commanders say that they will wait to see what happens with Enteen as further investigations take place. Whether the team takes a firm stance against such accusations will most likely be viewed as an indication of how vague or seriously they downplay them.
As of now, though, all eyes are on the internal investigation and what Enteen’s words could mean for both Commanders brass and other scandals throughout not just the NFL landscape but sports in general. This only highlights the progress that needs to be made in actually creating an environment truly reflective of these values on and off the field, at a time when sports leagues have been grappling with diversity, inclusion, and respect for all members of society.
