Fired NFL Reporter Claims Buffalo Bills Owner Suggested Black Players ‘Go Back to Africa’ If They Were Dissatisfied

Isaac SchorrSep 12th, 2023, 1:20 pm
 

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell (left) and Buffalo Bills Owner Terry Pegula talk prior to the ceremonial groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the new Bills Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y., Monday June 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)

Jim Trotter, a reporter covering the National Football League for The Athletic who was let go by the NFL Network — a subsidiary of the league itself — earlier this year, has filed a 53-page racial discrimination lawsuit against the NFL.

“The N.F.L. has claimed it wants to be held accountable regarding diversity, equity and inclusion. I tried to do so, and it cost me my job,” said Trotter in a statement given to the New York Times.

Trotter’s contract was not renewed this spring, and he believes that it related to a race-related question he asked Commissioner Roger Goodell.

Just prior to the Super Bowl in February, Trotter inquired about why an African-American “had never been hired as a senior manager in NFL Network’s newsroom,” according to the Times. A supervisor allegedly subsequently asked one of Trotter’s colleagues, “Why does Jim keep bringing this up?”

The lawsuit includes some incendiary claims about prominent league figures, including Buffalo Bills owner Terry Pegula, whom Trotter accuses of dismissing protests from players in a racially insensitive way.

“Terry Pegula, owner of the Buffalo Bills, stated in reference to player protests against racial injustice that, ‘If the Black players don’t like it here, they should go back to Africa and see how bad it is,'” read the filing, which also alleges that Trotter brought the comment to the attention of higher-ups for “remedial” action but that nothing was done.

Trotter professes to have received the same response, or lack thereof, when Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones suggested that “If Blacks feel some kind of way, they should buy their own team and hire who they want to hire,” after being asked about the lack of Black decision-makers working for teams’ front offices.

In a statement released via the Bills’ X account, Pegula denied the allegations.

“The statement attributed to me in Mr. Trotter’s complaint is absolutely false. I am horrified that anyone would connect me to an allegation of this kind. Racism has no place in our society and I am personally disgusted that my name is associated with this complaint,” said Pegula.

A spokesman for the NFL, meanwhile, told the Times that it is taking Trotter’s concerns “seriously,” but insisted that it “strongly” disputes “his specific allegations.”

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