Ron Rivera is an interesting coach. As a man, he's very well respected in the world of football. Maybe not loved but definitely very highly respected. Everybody speaks of his integrity, his leadership, his ability to command the respect of his players and no matter how bad the seasons gets, his players never seem to throw in the towel. Even in the back end of losing seasons (which is all he has so far with the Commanders), his teams find ways to win games they have no business winning.
So why then does he confound people with his words and actions? In the last 4 years as Commanders coach, there's hardly a criticism of his stewardship of the team without a prefix of "great man". And yet, he lies...a LOT! He changes his tune every time he speaks to the press. He throws players under the bus as a matter of routine (Landon Collins, William Jackson III, Chase Young, Jamin Davis, Emanuel Forbes are stuck to the bottom of Ron Rivera's bus). And with the latest leaks that badmouthed Chase Young after he was traded to the 49ers, Ron Rivera demonstrates a very Dan Snyder-esque trait of kicking players/coaches on their way out of the Ashburn.
Even before Chase Young had made his way west to the Santa Clara, leaks from Ashburn were being called into the beat writers, the national writers, podcasters like Kevin Sheehan...all singing the same tune:
"According to another team source, the Commanders hoped to keep Sweat, but the value of the Bears’ offer proved too good. The team views the trade of Young as a potential addition by subtraction, the source said."https://t.co/dQrVoCyTnE
— Grant Paulsen (@granthpaulsen) October 31, 2023
"Young, according to several Commanders coaches and other organizational sources, was viewed as an undisciplined player who developed bad habits such as deviating from assignments in an effort to make splash plays..." (Ducks for cover) @sfchronicle https://t.co/nVB0yYSxVA
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) October 31, 2023
One of the writers of such shallow, disgraceful garbage is Michael Silver, Ron Rivera's longtime friend. They're so close Ron got Silver a job with the Commanders a few years ago. And how do we know Ron fed this trash to Silver? One of the beat writers tweeted something to the effect of "Michael Silver is close to Ron" and Michael Silver retweeted it with a thumbs up emoji. How's that for confirmation the hit came from Mr. "coach-centric" himself?
As for lying, all you have to do is listen to Ron's press conferences over these past 4 years. One minute they want to run the ball, the next minute they want to be balanced. One minute, Sam Howell isn't ready to play the Cowboys in a meaningless game at the end of last season; the next minute Sam Howell might just be our franchise QB. And if you listen to Ron these last few days, he answers every question with a quick pivot to Sam Howell.
I can go on and on but the man is confounding. He exhibits all these negative traits and yet manages to keep his reputation as an honorable man. Al Galdi calls it Ronese because he doesn't want to acknowledge the truth. Kevin Sheehan and Thom Loverro make fun of him but they don't have a term for it. I call it just plain lying.
Reminds me of when Mike Shanahan staked his reputation to his claim that John Beck is an NFL QB. We all know how that turned out (hint: John Beck is no more an NFL QB than you and I).
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