Miko Grimes, the wife of Buccaneers cornerback Brent Grimes, worked harder on Monday than many people ever do.
For Miko Grimes, the work consisted of stubbornly defending herself against claims of anti-Semitism while also attacking those who interpreted her comments regarding Dolphins owner Stephen Ross and executive V.P. of football operations Mike Tannenbaum as anti-Semitic.
It started during her latest attack against the Dolphins, who cut Brent Grimes earlier this year in a move for which Miko claims credit. As a preface to a shot taken at Tannenbaum for his decision to give quarterback Mark Sanchez a big contract with the Jets, she explained that the hiring of Tannenbaum was part of an effort by Ross to keep “his Jew buddies employed.”
No one has defended Miko Grimes for comments that perpetuate a common Jewish stereotype; namely, that they use positions of power and influence to help other Jewish people. However, ESPN.com has provided her with a platform for advancing her defense, convoluted and nonsensical as it may be.
“When I wrote ‘jew buddies’ I was speaking about how a lot of communities (Jewish, Christian, gay, sometimes fraternities and sororities) will hire their ‘own people’ for jobs before others,” Miko Grimes told Jenna Laine of ESPN.com. “That’s a fact! Why people find facts offensive is strange to me. And now im a racist? Lmao! How?”
Setting aside the fact that hiring decisions based on (or because of) race, religion, etc. necessarily violate the laws of the federal government and pretty much every state, her comment wasn’t complimentary, no matter how hard she tries to characterize it that way in a last-ditch effort to clean up a muddy mess by apparently throwing more dirt and water on it.
Despite an ever-expanding universe of comments from Miko Grimes and reactions from people like Jay Glazer of FOX, Laine repeated in her article another confusing justification that Miko Grimes provided on Twitter: “Think I’m gonna tweet racist remarks in an attempt to offend TWO PEOPLE? Lmao!! Why would I? Why would I want to offend ‘Jewish’ ppl?”
We don’t know, Miko. Based on your entire timeline and your history of outlandish behavior, we can’t even begin to understand why you say what you say and why you do what you do. (Although we’ve always respected your creativity with a pastry bag.) All we know is that: (1) the comments were made in derisive fashion; (2) they speak directly to a common Jewish stereotype; (3) they are anti-Semitic and necessarily racist; and (4) sometimes the best strategy when stuck at the bottom of a deep hole is to put down the shovel.
She hasn’t, and she apparently won’t. The only question that remains relevant from a football standpoint is whether and to what extent the NFL team owned by a Jewish family will say or do something about it, or simply brush it off as irrelevant to their employment of Brent Grimes -- and accept it as a natural byproduct of hiring someone whose wife has said and done plenty of outlandish things in the public eye.
Maybe that’s ultimately why the Buccaneers have no comment. Maybe they know that the only fair comment they could have at this point would be, “Well, we sort of knew something like this was going to happen, didn’t we?”