It's been a tough month for Washington's NFL franchise. Just days after it announced it was retiring the team's long-time moniker, the Washington Post published an exposé on what several former employees claim was a more-than-hostile work environment. The drama didn't stop there, as New Orleans Saints safety D.J. Swearinger recently posted a screenshot of a text conversation with then-Washington head coach Jay Gruden when they worked together in 2018.
It was known that the two were not always on the same page during Swearinger's 31 games in Washington, and his time ended with a mysterious release on Christmas Eve. Swearinger called the roster move a "slap in the face" at the time, and on Friday, he revisited his tumultuous relationship with Gruden by posting an alleged text exchange where his former head coach was apparently fed up with him.
Warning, the exchange is NSFW. Swearinger wrote along with the exchange on Instagram, "Imagine getting a text like this from your head coach." He indicated that Gruden was upset because he'd been told that Swearinger had said something about him in an interview after that night's blowout loss to the Giants, "but when he watched the interview he realized that person was lying."
Swearinger finished by saying, "I was gonna give the man a pass, but after all that's going on in that organization with women! They all need to be exposed."
The decision to release Swearinger at the time was very surprising considering he was a leader on Washington's defense and a Pro Bowl alternate.
"Discussions were private," Gruden said about Swearinger's release at the time. "I had multiple discussions with him for previous instances and at the end of the day we thought as an organization that it was best for us to part ways. Obviously he wasn't happy, he voiced his displeasure many, many times and at the end of the day we thought it was best for him to let him go."
Swearinger had made critical remarks about several members of the coaching staff in interviews, and Gruden clearly had problems with that, saying the safety had "repeat offenses."
"We have had discussions like this before in the past and it's ultimately my fault, obviously I did not make it clear to certain people that we don't talk about our business to the media and for me to allow that to creep in, ultimately it's my fault," Gruden said at the time. "D.J. did some great things here without a doubt, we wish him nothing but the best, but at the end of the day that's something that this franchise or any franchise in my mind can't afford to have, so we moved on.
"At the end of the day, you can't have that, I think everybody will learn from it, grow from it, at the end of the day when you work for a company or you work for a team, it's best that you try to be positive with your remarks."
Swearinger himself was confused with Washington's decision, and actually broke the news himself on the radio while talking to 106.7's Grant Paulsen and Pete Medhurst moments after meeting with coach Gruden.
"How'd the meeting go?" Paulsen asked.
"I was released," Swearinger said.
"You were released by the Redskins?" Paulsen said.
"Yeah," Swearinger confirmed.
"You're kidding," said Paulsen.
"Nah, I'm not kidding at all about that," Swearinger said. "I was like oh wow, why? And he didn't say anything. I guess he didn't have a response. He just wanted to release me and that was that. I don't have words for this. I had a Pro Bowl year. I was a captain in Year One, and this year I thought I improved on everything and I get a slap in the face and get released. I gave it my all and put my heart into it every single week to do the best I could. I guess it says a lot about the organization."
Swearinger was critical of Gruden during this interview since he was no longer a part of the franchise, and attacked how Washington conducted its practices and the work ethic of the coaching staff.
After Gruden was fired as Washington's head coach in the middle of last season, he signed on to be the new offensive coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars in January. Some of his former players have been very outspoken about the troubling environment in Washington -- which apparently was less than pleasant both on the field and in the front office.
