Written by When a player is removed from a squad through a cut (whether they are released or waived) or trade, it is typical for them to bring up dirty laundry in talks about their former club, especially more so if the split was not done amicably. Su’a Cravens, a former NFL player, did just that a couple of months ago about the head coach of the last team he played with, Vic Fangio of the Denver Broncos. His situation is a fairly unique one in that he’s only 26 years old and already retired from the league, which he officially did in 2020. In a series of messages on Twitter, he talked about his experience in Denver and all the issues that Fangio had with him, which will be further explored in this article.
Cravens came into the league in 2016 as a second-round draft pick. He was with the Washington Commanders (then known as the Redskins) from 2016-17, but he really only played one season. In 2017, he had announced his initial retirement, and he was placed on the team’s reserve/left squad list. In December 2017, it was found out that he was going through treatment and rehabilitation for post-concussion syndrome and that he was medically cleared to play again. This led to his reinstatement back into the league two months later but also resulted in a trade to the Denver Broncos later in 2018. A few months after the trade, he was injured yet again (a knee injury this time) and sent to the injured reserve list, where he stayed for exactly two months. His last stay in the NFL was August 30th, 2019, when he was released by the Broncos.
Vic Fangio may not have been fondly remembered during his time as Broncos head coach, as he was not able win when it counted/mattered, but it is hard to put all the blame on him. He was able to keep the defense performing solidly, being a defensive-minded coach (he was primarily a defensive coordinator or a defensive position coach throughout his career). However, he needed full control of the team as a head coach, offense included, and a 19-30 overall record did not do him any justice towards his coaching credentials. He never had a winning season in his three-year tenure, and he fumbled away the one good start he had (they were 3-0 to start the 2021 season, then went 4-10 the rest of the way). Now, with these revelations from Cravens, it could possibly doom his chances of a head coaching job, as Cravens really did not paint him in a good light.
This article has all of Cravens’ tweets listed out in detail, and it is a doozy… The type of behavior Cravens had to face doesn’t seem like how grown men should be acting, certainly not from someone who is supposed to keep the entire team in line as the leader. For a coach to dislike a player and have an agenda to “get rid of [a player] no matter what“, it doesn’t bode well for his chances of staying on a team. The worst part for Fangio is that Cravens also has witnesses who can reciprocate what he said… This can inevitably cause a decline in the organizational culture, and it can cause a coach to lose control of the locker room. He has previously had to deny not worrying about losing the locker room, which certainly won’t help his case. The most interesting part of the tweets was when Cravens said he wanted to meet Fangio after getting cut and had to wait outside his office because Fangio simply didn’t want to meet with him. It is true that a player who would’ve stormed out and/or caused a scene would be considered a “cancer”, yet the coach gets off easy for this sort of petty behavior. Double standards? That’s not going to fly, especially in a professional league such as the NFL.