WE WOULD LEARN MORE ABOUT NFL OWNERS BY CORRALLING TEAM PUBLICISTS
So much for the content vice president with the Washington Commanders, who was burned by political activists as he vilified Jerry Jones, Roger Goodell, his team's anti-gay roster and "alcoholic" fans
Armed with full alcoholic drinks at a dinner table, thanks to a dating app called Hinge, Rael Enteen reminded Americans how the NFL is extorting us. This season’s games start tonight, with tens of millions watching all weekend. Have you wondered how many of the team owners you trust?
Enteen went haywire as he spoke to an undercover reporter with the O’Keefe Media Group, known to swindle figures who deliver career-threatening comments through “citizen journalists.” He did the dirty deed twice at restaurants and was suspended this week as vice president of content with the Washington Commanders, certain to be removed from his position. His words made us think creepily about the league.
He said Jerry Jones is racist and anti-gay, which surprises no one. He said more than 50 percent of the Commanders’ roster is “white religious, and God says, ‘F— the gays.’ ’’ He said a portion of the team involves “low-income African Americans that come from a community that is inherently very homophobic.” He said many players “are dumb as all hell,” especially when they “get their heads knocked around a few times.”
And he said fans are “high school-educated alcoholics” and “mouth breathers.” They are easily manipulated, he remarked, saying, “My job is to sell hope to the fans, right? I need them buying tickets. When there’s not much to sell, I’ve still got to dig deep to find it.” Asked why there isn’t much to sell in the nation’s capital, he said, “We have pipes leaking sewage on fans in the middle of a game. And I have to put out a social post saying, ‘It wasn’t sewage water. We promise.’
“That is state-run media.”
No one should be surprised when the NFL Is compared to a government’s control schemes. It’s the most prodigious form of entertainment in our country, bigger than movies and music and sizable enough for Taylor Swift to make her usual way to a Kansas City suite. Why wouldn’t commissioner Roger Goodell maintain sovereignty across most media, at least through reporters he can sway? And who knew Enteen would describe Goodell as “a puppet, a $50 million puppet” as he chugged away?
If he disseminates content to the general public, you might ask what else the NFL’s publicists know and aren’t telling us. I remember Scott Hagel, now in charge of “public and governmental affairs” with the Chicago Bears, trying to harass me out of Halas Hall as a team publicist. He apparently was told to do it by Ted Phillips, who ran the Bears and was described by me as “Teddy Bear,” in the name of Papa Bear Halas. Enteen still works for Josh Harris, who spent $6 billion to buy the Commanders from Dan Snyder.
How many more O’Keefe Media Group people might ensnare publicists to chat about state-run media? Football fans tend to be involved in season tickets, purchased jerseys and gambling tips. They aren’t accustomed to a honk going off on Jones and locker-room socioeconomics. Think Harris has a better idea of building a new stadium, in a town where some want the team to readopt the Redskins nickname, when his content veep is trashing the football world?
“The language used in the video runs counter to our values at the Commanders organization,” the team said. "We’ve suspended the employee pending an investigation and will reserve further comment at this time.”
An investigation? A female sat across from Enteen and rattled him. Above him was a green EXIT sign. He should have turned around and left.
“I don't think the commissioner hates gay people, hates black people. Jerry Jones, who really runs the NFL, I think he hates gay people, black people,” he said.
What about the league’s attempts to help social justice? “Performative,” Enteen said. “It's not done out of the goodness of their heart. It's done because George Floyd changed the game. … It's to make as much money as possible. The NFL cares about the bottom line, like any corporation, above all else. They can faux prioritize DEI for the sake of good publicity.”
What came next? He ordered another drink. O’Keefe must have been buying.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.