Bills star Ed Oliver says whoever leaked story of coach Sean McDermott using 9/11 as an example of good teamwork is 'a coward': 'A bunch of bulls*** - it's supposed to stay in house'

Buffalo Bills star Ed Oliver backed his head coach Sean McDermott after a report broke last week claiming he used the 9/11 attacks as an example of teamwork in a 2019 speech. 

McDermott made headlines last week after it was reported that he used the attacks on the Twin Towers to demonstrate 'the importance of communication and being on the same page with the team'. 

On Sunday night, following the Bills' dramatic win over the Kansas City Chiefs, Oliver branded the person who leaked the speech a 'coward'.

'I think that's a bunch of bulls***,' he told reporters. 'Whoever leaked it, I think you're a coward. For one, everything supposed to stay in house. I got his back on everything. I know he's a good guy. I know he's a great guy, actually.'

Oliver wasn't the only one to have his coach's back as, after days of taking the heat for his four-year-old comments, McDermott was supported by his players. 

In a clip posted to X by the team's official account following Sunday's win, McDermott can be heard telling his players: 'That's a hell of a win man, resilient damn football team, so damn proud of you guys, man.'

As he pauses, two players can be heard screaming 'we got your back' - presumably in reference to last week's events - to which the rest of the locker holler and cheer.

After the end of McDermott's comments, the team's general manager Brandon Beane then steps into shot and doubles down on the players' sentiments, insisting: 'Hey, we've got this man's back, tough f***ing week', before rapturous applause.

In the aftermath of the report McDermott described the report from Tyler Dunne's 'Go Long' website, as 'disappointing' and 'hurtful'.

'It was clearly, to me, an attack on my character, and that's important to me, as much — if not more — than wins and losses,' he said of the report. 'Wins and losses are important. 

'What's important to me, from day one, is how you handle yourself. It doesn't mean I've been perfect. It doesn't mean I haven't been without flaw. But what's most important to myself, my family and kids, is that I handle this job the right way.'

McDermott was then the subject of a skit on Saturday Night Live this week, with Colin Jost joking: 'Bills coach Sean McDermott apologized after giving a speech to his players where he used 9/1 terrorists as a good example of teamwork... which is kind of a full circle moment... because when Osama Bin Laden was giving the terrorists a pep talk, he told them to not be like the Bills.'

According to the Go Long report, upon realizing how his message was being interpreted, McDermott said he called a second team meeting an hour later that day to apologize to his players. 

Nearly 3,000 people were killed on September 11, 2001, when hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania. It was the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil.