HENDERSON, Nev. -- Terry Pegula, owner of the Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres, has swiftly and vehemently denied making the racist comments attributed to him in a lawsuit filed in a New York City court on Tuesday.
Pegula is mentioned multiple times in the lawsuit filed by former NFL Network reporter Jim Trotter against the NFL and NFL Network.
In reference to players protesting racial injustice, the suit alleges Pegula said in a meeting: “If the Black players don’t like it here, they should go back to Africa and see how bad it is.”
A "disgusted" Pegula denied making the racist remarks in a statement released by both the Sabres and Bills:
“The statement attributed to me in Mr. Trotter’s complaint is absolutely false. I am horrified that anyone would connect me to an allegation of this kind,” Pegula said.
“Racism has no place in our society and I am personally disgusted that my name is associated with this complaint.”
While Trotter's lawsuit is directed at the NFL, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly commented on the allegations against the Sabres owner Tuesday in Henderson, Nev. during a taping of the 32 Thoughts podcast.
Daly told Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek that he first became aware of Trotter's lawsuit Tuesday morning and acknowledged Pegula's strong denial.
"It would certainly seem to me, in my experience with Terry over time, totally out of character. Not something that he would ever say," said Daly, who will monitor the file.
"I don't know if I'd ask for a copy of [the NFL's] investigation. I would certainly want to know what their conclusions were."
Pegula's comments are alleged to have been made during an NFL Media Zoom meeting in September 2020, where a reporter described a conversation with Pegula about the Black Lives Matter movement and players' increasing social activism.
The lawsuit alleges Pegula's comments were “swept under the rug” and not properly investigated by the NFL.
Trotter's contract was not renewed by NFL Media in March.
He claims his job was lost due to him challenging NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and others “regarding the NFL’s record of race discrimination and lack of diversity.”
Trotter now works for The Athletic.
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