Yahoo News Bills OC: Jake Fromm has ‘lot of work to do’ to earn teammates' trust back after text incident
Buffalo Bills rookie quarterback Jake Fromm quickly apologized this week after offensive and insensitive texts messages of his were posted on Twitter.
The damage, however, has already been done.
Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll said Friday that while Fromm said the right things in his apology, he’ll now have to back them up in order to truly earn back the trust of his teammates and coaches.
“He knows that he has a lot of work to do to earn the trust of his teammates back,” Daboll said Friday, via ESPN. “And I’m a big believer in actions speak louder than words. So I know he’ll be committed to that. We have a strong leadership group, a strong culture in our room. Jake is a young man who apologized and, you know, where we go moving forward.
“He’s got a lot to do to earn the trust and confidence of the players and everyone else in the building back. I know he’ll work hard to do that.”
Screenshots of a text message conversation Fromm had in 2019 were posted on Wednesday night. In there, Fromm said, “Just make [guns] very expensive so only elite white people can get them haha.”
Fromm, the former Georgia standout who the Bills took in the fifth round of the draft in April, apologized on Thursday.
“Although I never meant to imply that I am an ‘elite white person,’ as stated later in the conversation, there is no excuse for that word choice and sentiment,” Fromm said, in part. “While it was poor, my heart is not. Now, more than ever, is the time for support and togetherness and I stand against racism 100 percent. I promise to commit myself to being a part of the solution in this country.”
Fromm’s incident came right as New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees issued two apologies after making comments about how he didn’t support protesting during the national anthem this week.
The two incidents also come in the wake of George Floyd’s death by homicide in Minneapolis police custody last month, which has not only sparked nonstop protests and unrest across the country, but also a much larger conversation about race and racism in America.
Fromm was “honest and forthcoming” with the Bills about the texts, the team said in a statement, and apologized both to coaches and teammates.
As he’s just been with the team for a matter of weeks, however — and most of the work has had to be done virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic — it’s unclear how well that apology has been received.
“Again, to me, action speaks louder than words. So time will tell,” Daboll said, via ESPN. “That’s what Jake’s gonna have to do. And time will tell. So he’s just going to have to take it day by day and prove to all of us that he’s headed in the right direction, and again, the players that we have in our building, culture, the chemistry.
“I believe in those guys, and again, we’ll see as you know, we’ll see as we go along here.”
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