Miko Grimes uses anti-Semitic language to blast Dolphins' brass

ByJenna Laine ESPN logo
Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Miko Grimes, the wife of former Miami Dolphins and current Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Brent Grimes, blasted Miami brass on Monday, using anti-Semitic language that she later tried to clarify.

In a tweet referencing Dolphins owner Stephen Ross and executive vice president of football operations Mike Tannenbaum, Miko Grimes tweeted:

The family of her husband's current team -- the late Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer -- Bryan, Edward and Joel Glazer and Darcie Glazer-Kassewitz -- are the descendants of Jewish immigrants from Lithuania and lost family members in the Holocaust. Malcolm Glazer also contributed to the construction of the Palm Beach Synagogue before his death.

Miko Grimes later clarified on Twitter that her intent was not to offend Jewish people, tweeting: "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?"

She went further in a statement to ESPN:

"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. That's a fact! Why people find facts offensive is strange to me. And now im a racist? Lmao! How?"

She added: "If what I said is racist or anti-Semitic, why isn't it also racist to only hire their own? America is just an easily offended, fake reacting, bunch of cry baby a-- p------! Anyone that thinks I'm a racist needs to build a f------ bridge and get over it. I'm not a racist, I'm a realist."

The Buccaneers' public relations staff is aware of the tweet.

Miko Grimes also tweeted that things got so bad for her husband, Brent, in Miami, that the 32-year-old cornerback contemplated retirement before signing with the Bucs this offseason.

She added, "No way I was gonna let him retire with a bum at qb, gm and owner! No f------ way! We will go out on a high with a REAL qb, not a wr at qb!"

In March, the Bucs signed the four-time Pro Bowl player to a two-year contract worth $16.5 million, reuniting him with former Falcons head coach Mike Smith, now the Bucs' defensive coordinator, and former Falcons offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter, who is now the head coach.

Miko Grimes has made no secret that a major source of contention for her in Miami was the Dolphins' situation at quarterback. Last year, she openly criticized Ryan Tannehill, who threw 24 touchdowns and 12 interceptions on the season.

In December, when the team was 5-10, she tweeted:

Grimes, who will be 33 this month, had just been named to the Dolphins' 50th anniversary team when he was released in March. He was scheduled to make $8 million in 2016 and count $9.5 million against the cap.

At NFL owners meetings, Dolphins owner Stephen Ross acknowledged that Miko Grimes' social media posts played a role in Grimes' departure from Miami.

"I think everybody knows what she represented," Ross said to reporters. "I thought it was best that the Dolphins move on from Brent and Miko."