Former NFL coach Buddy Ryan is denying a Deadspin report that he called the late Bears defensive back Dave Duerson the N-word during their first conversation, 28 year ago.
Days after Duerson committed suicide, Deadspin published an interview that writer Rob Trucks conducted with Duerson in November. That interview included an explosive claim from Duerson about Ryan, who was the Bears’ defensive coordinator during Duerson’s first three seasons in the NFL.
“He said, ‘Well, you won’t be here too long, because I don’t like smart [N-words],’” Duerson said, according to Trucks. “I worked for Buddy for three years, and there was not a day that he did not remind me that I was not his draft pick, that he did not want me there or something to that effect: ‘You won’t be here too long because I’m trying my best to get you out of here.’ That kind of thing. And so it was a very lonely feeling in that regard. It was not motivational at all. The guy simply hated my guts, without question.”
Ryan told Sean Jensen of the Chicago Sun Times that he was shocked by the story and can’t imagine why Duerson would say it.
“That’s bull,” Ryan said. “I can’t believe he said that about me, because I was a great fan of his. He played great football. He was a great player. He started for us as a rookie. I don’t know why he would say that. That sounds terrible.”
Ryan, the father of Jets coach Rex Ryan and Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, said he had seen Duerson at a reunion of the 1985 Bears and thought he was doing well. Ryan said he was stunned to learn that Duerson had committed suicide.
“It was a shock,” Ryan said, “because I saw him at the reunion, and he looked great.”
