Boston Globe, College football, Crisis Management, NFL

Dealing With Tragedy and Putting Things In Perspective…Sean Taylor, Joe Kennedy and Nick Saban

This morning we were going to write about the value of extremes in winning and losing in light of the Miami Dolphins recent losses, but the death of Sean Taylor of the Redskins today and Joe Kennedy over the weekend makes the importance of the games we play seem a bit insignificant.  We are not experts, but unfortunately have learned first hand how to, and what not to do, when dealing with tragedy, as this summer we had one of our most popular and charismatic athletes, a fighter named Jeremy Williams, take his own life.  Obviously suicide, the unforeseen circumstances of Joe Kennedy’s death and Sean Taylor’s violent death are three extremes of the same tragedy, the death of a talented and popular young man, but there are some basic principles to usually work off of.

1- Speak with one voice at the appropriate time:  In all these cases, especially in the 24/7 world we all live in now, facts or the misstatement of facts, can fly fast and furious.  It is always important to get the most pertinent facts from the most credible sources, coordinate those facts with the proper authorities, the university, the league, the team and the family, and make sure that key spokespeople have those facts and are messaged properly.

2- Confer with the grief experts:  Especially in the testosterone driven environment of male sports, even front office executives can sometimes feel they are OK to speak from the heart without the advice of appropriate experts on tragedy and how to deal with it.  For example, when we dealt with suicide this summer, a very well respected counselor called us and gave us advice we had never thought of…namely, not glorifying the act of suicide as a way out of life’s problems, by overglorifying the person.  This we were told, could inspire copycats.  Therefore, we tempered public remarks and included suicide prevention information in each of our TV and internet stories on the event. 

3- Treat People As People:  Family and friends first.  Private displays of affection and support for all those affected are very important, and not just for the short term.  Sports remains a very public business, but it is the humanity of sports which really draws us all to it, and the simple private gestures are appreciated sometimes more than the public ones.

4- Overcommunicate internally:  Always try and take the time to list all those who need to hear from someone personally about the flow of events.  With emotions running so high, even the smallest misstep can be blown out of proportion. Splitting up the list amongst the key players…the ownership or leadership group, team captains, coaches, top staff, clergy etc…will make the information flow that much clearer and give a large group a key person to turn to for information.  Those key players can also be essential to bringing back facts and questions from another perspective that was not originally factored in. 

5- Work with the media not against them:  Realize this is an emotional time for all involved, and that there will probably be news media who are not aware of team policies or key players in the organization that they can speak with.  Taking the time to explain policy and use the media to disseminate messages in an orderly manner will make everyone’s life that much better and will ease some of the stress of this tragic time. 

6- Don’t rush:  Take your time formulating correct and responsible answers to questions, and answer only with what you know.  Especially when a police investigation is underway, sticking to the facts is very important for all involved.  If it is a police matter, the authorities may have the final say.  If it is not a police matter, the family becomes the overwhelming priority.

7- Ask For help:  Lastly, never feel like you are the expert or alone in dealing with the crisis situation.  Calls to grief counselors, clergy or even those in the business who have dealt with tragedy on such a public stage before can be very, very helpful.

In light of the fast moving events, we thought the Redskins website did an outstanding job of posting pertinent news and stories this morning.  There was a great first hand story   by Casey Husband on Redskins.com detailing his dealings with Sean Taylor that is worth reading.

And then there is Nick Saban…not to rehash, but it was interesting to see the juxaposed columns in the Birmingham News last week (Kevin Scarbinsky’s column on Tuesday was a good one) about Saban’s comments comparing football loses to Pearl Harbor and the 9/11 tragedy.  There were a number of pieces, including Mark Blaudshaun in the Boston Globe, which derided Saban for his comments as well. The one we felt which was most honest was on Thanksgiving in Birmingham, which didn’t defend Saban but understood what he said and meant.  Again as a publicist, it is important to support and clarify.  We think that wanting coaches and athletes to internally feel like their work is life and death important, but to say it publicly and then not either retract or work hard to right the issue is a tragedy in itself, and sends a bad message that perpetuates a stereotype .  Nick Saban is a great coach and leader of men.  He also showed poor judgement at a critical time and needs to take responsibility for that.