Posted by Josh Katzowitz Three months before he fatally shot himself in the chest, former Bears S Dave Duerson conducted an hour-long interview with Deadspin’s Rob Truck. Buried in the story was an interesting accusation: Duerson said former Bears defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan used a racial slur in a conversation with Duerson in 1983.
Since then, Ryan talked to the Chicago Tribune and denied ever using the epithet.
First, here’s what Duerson said to Trucks in an article published Tuesday on Deadspin.
In the NFL, I was ostracized from Day One – not by my teammates but by my defensive coordinator. I was drafted by the Bears in 1983. My first day walking into Halas Hall, I met Buddy Ryan. He knew I'd gone to Notre Dame, and he asked me if I was one of those doctors or lawyers. I said, "Yes, sir." He said, "Well, you won't be here too long, because I don't like smart n-----s."
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.
Reached by the Tribune, Ryan said, “I never used that word," he said. "It's not in my vocabulary."
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