Gil Brandt, a former executive for the Dallas Cowboys, was slammed for his comments on the death of NFL quarterback Dwayne Haskins.
He has since apologized.
“This morning while learning of Dwayne Haskins’ passing, I reacted carelessly and insensitively on a radio interview,” the longtime former executive tweeted Saturday.
“I want to apologize to Mr. Haskins’ family and anyone who heard my poor choice of words. I truly apologize. My heart goes out to his family at this difficult time.”
Haskins, a former quarterback of the Steelers and Washington Commanders and the Ohio State Buckeyes, passed away on Saturday morning after being fatally struck by a dump truck while he was walking on a highway in South Florida.
He was signed by the Steelers in 2021 as the third-string quarterback behind Ben Roethlisberger and Mason Rudolph, but He was only active for one game last season.
Brandt, 90, spoke on SiriusXM Saturday morning shortly after news broke of Haskins’ passing. He said that Haskins was someone who “was living to be dead, so to speak.”
“It was always something. It was one of those, ‘I’m not offsides, but they keep calling me for offsides,’ ” Brandt said. “It’s a tragic thing. Anytime somebody dies it’s tragic, especially when you’re 24 years old and you’ve got your whole life ahead of you. Maybe if he’d have stayed in school an [extra] year, he wouldn’t do silly things.”
He finished his remarks by questioning why the victim was jogging on the highway.
On social media, the reaction to Brandt’s segment was scathing.
“How is this real?” asked Mina Kimes of ESPN.
“I really hope you didn’t mean what you said about Dwayne,” Louis Riddick, who also works for ESPN tweeted.
Yahoo Sports NFL writer Charles Robinson also weighed in on the situation and requested that the audio of Brandt’s segment not be released.
“It is just completely inappropriate and wildly hurtful,” he added.
