Redskins PR boss Tony Wyllie explains breaking up Colt McCoy interview
The most viral moment from the Washington Redskins’ shocking victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Monday night came shortly after the game ended, when Redskins PR boss Tony Wyllie aggressively pulled Colt McCoy away from an interview with ESPN Deportes reporter John Sutcliffe. Wyllie has a logical(?) explanation.
On Tuesday morning, Wyllie told TMZ Sports that he pulled McCoy away from the interview so he could get the quarterback to the locker room in time to hear Redskins coach Jay Gruden’s speech.
“We wanted to get Colt in to hear coach’s postgame speech,” he said. “I wasn’t denying access. I wanted Colt to hear coach talk. I felt we needed to get him inside.”
[WATCH: Redskins PR guy yells at ESPN Deportes reporter]
Wyllie said as soon as Gruden’s speech was finished McCoy came back out and conducted the interview.
“Right after the speech, Colt went out and did the interview,” he added. “I explained the situation to them. They were happy in the end. … Normally we set these [post-game interviews] up before [the game]. They’ll say, ‘This is who we want to talk to.’ They didn’t do that.”
The last part makes sense. I’m sure Sutcliffe didn’t anticipate that McCoy would be a player who was worth speaking to when most expected the Cowboys to dominate the Redskins. But the first part? Not so much.
Was Gruden really going to address the team without his starting quarterback, who just led the team to its biggest win of the year and set a record for completion percentage? I find that hard to believe. Didn’t you all see the high-five exchange between Gruden and McCoy after the game? Gruden wasn’t starting anything without McCoy present.
