Detroit Lineman to Apologize to Oilers’ Jones for Racial Remark

Houston Oiler defensive end Sean Jones can expect an apology for a racial remark directed at him by Detroit lineman Eric Andolsek, Lion Coach Wayne Fontes said Monday.

“In the fourth quarter, he called me a nigger,” Jones said. “He said ‘Come on you . . . nigger.’ I’ve been called everything in the book since I’ve been playing football, but nobody’s ever called me that.”

Andolsek acknowledged that he used the term but said he did not mean it in a racial way.

“Yeah, I called him that, but it’s not a racial remark,” he said. “You get upset out there, and words come out of your mouth you don’t really mean to say.”

Said Fontes: “I talked to Eric and he will apologize to Sean Jones and he will apologize to our entire football team. I know Eric and he’s not that kind of person. I don’t think this will hurt this team.”

Fontes also said he would call Jones to “straighten it out. There’s no place for that in the NFL.”

Jones declined to talk further about the incident Monday.

“I said everything I wanted to say yesterday (Sunday) and I’m not going to spend the rest of the season talking about it,” Jones said.

“It’s just amazing to me that in the 1990s we still have these type of ignorant little things, especially when half your team is black,” Oiler fullback Alonzo Highsmith said.

Andolsek said Jones was overreacting.

“Stuff happens, you know. That’s just the first thing that came out of my mouth,” Andolsek said.