Former Navy Seal Rob O’Neill, who seems to have a rather large stake in the public believing he’s the man that pulled the trigger on Osama Bin Laden, was invited to give Washington’s NFL franchise a pregame pep talk the afternoon prior to a 27-7 defeat at the hands of Tampa Bay. Writes DC Sports Bog’s Marissa Payne, “Is it brave to be a Navy SEAL? You bet. Is it also brave to be a Redskins fan? It certainly can feel that way sometimes.” (good fucking grief)
Perhaps O’Neill’s speech went something like this: “I permanently ended the nefarious doings of the world’s most elusive and wanted terrorist to benefit the whole of humanity. Now, can you just please squeak out a victory against the 1-8 Tampa Bay Buccaneers to salvage this pretty lackluster season? OK, then. USA! USA! USA!”
In all seriousness, though, the Redskins kind of owe O’Neill one (even more than the rest of us). He’s been flaunting his fandom for quite some time now, including in this anonymous March 2013 Esquire profile of O’Neill that my colleague Scott Allen found. Back then, O’Neill was known only as “the Shooter.”
“He had survived his last deployment, and there was a barbecue near his house to celebrate with about thirty close friends from ‘the community.’ The Redskins were on, his favorite team, and there was lots of Commando ale, brewed by a former SEAL.”
O’Neill also subliminally repped the team in his local paper, The Montana Standard, when they ran a profile on him and his involvement in other missions.