ASHBURN, Va. — An NFL game official was suspended Friday for one game without pay for making “a profane and derogatory statement” to a Washington Redskins player, an incident that has led to a call for NFL players to stop using the N-word on the field and in the locker room.
The league announced Friday that umpire Roy Ellison will not work an NFL game this weekend as punishment for words directed at left tackle Trent Williams late in the second quarter of the Redskins’ loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.
The National Football League Referees Association issued a statement Friday evening saying that it will file a grievance, that the suspension was a rush to judgment without hearing Ellison’s side of the story.
Williams said he was called vulgar names — although not the N-word — by Ellison and did nothing to provoke it. A replay from the second quarter shows Ellison gesturing at Williams while walking backward just before a snap, with Williams, quarterback Robert Griffin III and tight end Niles Paul turning to look back at the umpire. Redskins coach Mike Shanahan was among those who supported Williams, saying: “You just can’t use that type of language to get your point across.”
But John Wooten, chairman of the Fritz Pollard Alliance, a group that includes minority coaches and officials, said his organization spoke to game officials who said that Ellison was responding after Williams directed the N-word at Ellison. Both Williams and Ellison are African-American. The incident, coming in the wake of allegations involving racially charged texts allegedly sent by Richie Incognito to a Miami Dolphins teammate, led the alliance to issue a statement imploring all NFL players to stop using the racial slur.
“I think that we all understand clearly that in terms of supporting Roy, we’re not in any way condoning his reaction to what happened,” Wooten told The Associated Press. “There’s no question in our mind what provoked all of this, that there was a disrespectful communication going on between Trent and an Eagle player. They were using the N-word along with all other type of profanity, and the N-word is what caused Roy to say, ‘Hey, you need to be more respectful.’”
Incognito meets with NFL investigator
DAVIE, Fla. — Suspended Miami Dolphins guard Richie Incognito met with NFL special investigator Ted Wells for a second consecutive day Friday to discuss the team’s bullying scandal, multiple media outlets reported.
WTVJ-TV in South Florida videotaped Incognito arriving at the Dolphins’ complex for the meeting accompanied by four other people, including the team’s security chief.
Vikings bump stadium share past $500M
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Vikings say they’ll raise their contribution to a new stadium to more than $500 million to make sure the project has everything they want.
Vice President Lester Bagley says the extra money is the only way to preserve the design and features in the new stadium, which will now cost more than $1 billion.
The original plan had the Vikings paying $477 million, with the public share at $498 million. But project bids have been higher than expected.
A final budget was being locked in Friday before a ceremonial groundbreaking early next month.
By wire sources