‘I don’t think John Terry is a racist, I think he said a racist thing’: Kieron Dyer DEFENDS ex-Chelsea captain over his controversial racism row with QPR team-mate Anton Ferdinand … and admits he’s heard racist remarks from white players ‘hundreds of times’

• John Terry and Anton Ferdinand clashed during a match back in October 2011
• Terry was cleared of racial abuse in court but charged and fined by The FA
• Kieron Dyer, a team-mate of Ferdinand’s in 2011, reflected on the incident 

By Jack Bezants for MailOnline

Published: 06:31 EDT, 23 June 2020 | Updated: 07:53 EDT, 23 June 2020

Kieron Dyer does not consider John Terry to be racist for what he said in an on-field exchange with with Anton Ferdinand in 2011 and says he regularly heard racist remarks from white players during his career.

Terry was cleared in court of racially abusing Ferdinand but was charged by The FA, banned for four matches and fined £220,000 after a four-day hearing. Terry did not deny saying the words ‘black’ and an expletive, but claimed he was repeating what he thought Ferdinand had said. 

The incident occurred in QPR’s 1-0 win over Chelsea in October 2011. Ferdinand’s older brother, Rio, was upset that Ashley Cole, a black team-mate of his through England and also of Terry at Chelsea, testified for Terry in court.

Kieron Dyer said he often heard racist remarks from white players during his career

John Terry and Anton Ferdinand (second left) clashed in a Premier League game in 2011

Terry was cleared of racial abuse in court but charged and fined by the Football Association

‘With the John Terry and Rio thing – Ashley and Rio fell out because Ashley defended John Terry in court,’ Dyer, who played alongside Terry for England and was a QPR player when the incident happened, said. ‘When people ask me “is John Terry a racist?”, I don’t think John Terry is a racist, I think John Terry said a racist thing. 

‘Anton said ‘you bang your team-mate’s missus’, he got angry and said ‘you black c***’ in retaliation. 

‘He said a racist thing which is wrong. But I’ve seen John Terry, I’ve been around John Terry, do I think he is racist? No.’

Terry allegedly once had an affair with the ex-wife of his former Chelsea team-mate, Wayne Bridge.

Dyer also referenced his infamous on-field clash with his then-Newcastle team-mate Lee Bowyer. 

‘Everyone would being up “did you fight with Lee Bowyer because he’s a racist?” No, Lee Bowyer is not a racist,’ Dyer said, speaking to The Kick Off.

Dyer was a QPR player in 2011 and had played alongside Terry in the England setup

Dyer said people would ask him if his fight with Lee Bowyer at Newcastle was to do with racism

Dyer said that the dressing room culture in his era as a player saw white players make black jokes in the dressing room.

Dyer came through the ranks with Ipswich in 1996 before joining Newcastle in 1999. He joined West Ham in 2007 and also had spells at QPR and Middlesbrough, as well as winning 33 caps for England. 

‘There have been times in changing rooms where white players have made black jokes but I just think it is a dressing room culture – it was then,’ Dyer said. ‘You could get away with saying certain things. 

‘I know they’re not a racist so I could take it as a joke. But if I thought someone was being racist I would have them up on it. But hundreds of times there have been times in changing rooms where that has happened. Probably in today’s football that doesn’t happen so much.’ 

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Updated (01/06/2018): TMZ Sports obtained the autopsy report for Glenn’s fatal crash and reported that it showed Glenn had marijuana in his system and his blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit. Toxicology tests reveal he was impaired with a .165 BAC. Police also found a marijuana grinder and bottle in the crash wreckage. Glenn’s cause of death is listed as an “accident” due to blunt force trauma.

ORIGINAL STORY (11/20/2017)

Updated at 7:45 p.m. to include more details about Glenn’s background.

Former Cowboys receiver Terry Glenn died early Monday after a car crash in Irving.

Glenn was driving on State Highway 114 with a woman when he veered out of his lane and struck a concrete barrier dividing the toll lane and main lanes, Irving police said.

Glenn, 43, was taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where he died about 12 a.m.

 Multiple news outlets identified his passenger as his fiancee. Police said she had minor injuries.

“Terry was someone that we all enjoyed very much in his time with the Cowboys,” team owner Jerry Jones said in a statement. “He was a gentle and kind hearted young man. We are all terribly saddened by this news of his passing. Too young and too soon. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, his loved ones and all of the people who were touched by his life.”

Police were still investigating Monday afternoon what led to the crash.

Glenn had a lengthy history of encounters with authorities, records show.

In 2009, he was arrested on charges of marijuana possession and public intoxication. In 2015, he was cited for driving 78 mph on a 60 mph road, court records show.

More recently, he was on deferred adjudication for a misdemeanor charge of accident involving damage in Denton County. The incident occurred in October 2016. He was arrested in March and was given deferred adjudication after pleading no contest last month, records show.

Also last month, authorities filed a misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated charged against Glenn — his second such charge in Denton County, according to court records. His arraignment hearing was scheduled for Monday.

Former Cowboys player Tony Casillas was among the first to spread the news of Glenn’s death Monday morning, tweeting about it and asking for prayers for Glenn’s fiancee.

Glenn played 12 seasons in the NFL and caught 593 passes for 8,823 yards and 44 touchdowns. He spent his first six seasons with the Patriots, going to the Pro Bowl in 1999. He caught Tom Brady’s first career touchdown pass in 2001.

Glenn played in 2002 for the Packers, who traded him to Dallas before the 2003 season.

Glenn played for the Cowboys from 2003 to 2007. He had back-to-back seasons with more than 1,000 yards receiving in 2005 and 2006 after being reunited with former Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe, who played his final two seasons for Dallas.

“Loved this man,” Bledsoe tweeted Monday after learning of Glenn’s death. “My son asked me a decade ago who my favorite receiver ever was because he wanted that jersey for Christmas. He got a Terry Glenn jersey from Santa. TG overcame horrible adversity to become a really good man. May your soul rest in peace, my friend.”

Glenn missed the first 15 games of the 2007 season because of arthroscopic knee surgery during the preseason. The Cowboys released Glenn in July 2008 because of health concerns over his right knee.

Glenn persevered as a teenager growing up in Columbus, Ohio. At 13, according to a  Chicago Tribune story, Glenn was told his mother, Donetta, had been beaten to death at 29 years old by a man who had abducted her. That left Glenn and his younger sister, Dorothy, without a parent. Glenn bounced from home to home after his mother’s death. He eventually joined Ohio State’s football team as a walk-on in 1993.

Glenn was a raw talent — he didn’t play organized football until his sophomore year of high school — and only caught 15 passes his first two seasons at Ohio State. But things changed in 1995. Glenn caught 64 passes for 1,411 yards and 17 touchdowns for Ohio State, winning the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s best collegiate receiver and being named an All-American.

New England drafted him seventh overall in 1996. Glenn caught 90 passes his first season — more than any rookie in NFL history at the time — for 1,132 yards. He’s one of only four players in the Super Bowl era to catch at least 90 passes for at least 1,100 yards as a rookie.