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Houston taqueria customer shoots robber: Grand jury to determine whether armed man will be charged for Eric Washington’s death

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HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A grand jury will decide whether an armed taqueria customer, who shot and killed a robber last week in southwest Houston and is now being hailed a hero, will be criminally charged.

Investigators said the 46-year-old customer, who police have not identified because he’s not under arrest, turned himself in and is cooperating with detectives.

ORIGINAL REPORT: Houston robbery shooting: Customer shoots, kills robber armed with plastic pistol, police say

The 46-year-old’s attorney sent Eyewitness News the following statement:

“My client, who wishes to remain anonymous, was dining with a friend at El Ranchito Taqueria and as it has been seen on video, a robbery suspect entered the restaurant, and pointed a weapon at my client and the other customers demanding money. In fear of his life and his friend’s life my client acted to protect everyone in the restaurant.

In Texas, a shooting is justified in self-defense, defense of others and in defense of property. The customer has met with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office and Investigators with HPD homicide. He fully intends to continue cooperating with the ongoing investigation.

When the investigation is complete, this case will be presented to a Grand Jury. We are confident that a Grand Jury will conclude that the shooting was justified under Texas Law. This event has been very traumatic, taking a human life is something he does not take lightly and will burden him for the rest of his life. For that reason, he wishes to remain anonymous. Due to the overwhelming coverage, we ask the media and the public to respect his privacy.”

University of Houston Law Center Professor Sandra Guerra Thompson said even if he is indicted, a jury likely would not convict.

“When a person uses force during an armed robbery, they have very heightened protection under the law,” Thompson explained. “I know that there are a lot of questions about the use of a gun because it wasn’t a real firearm, but that really doesn’t make a difference because it was used as a firearm and a person would reasonably believe that they were facing an immediate threat of deadly force.”

The suspect can be seen on video taking control of the taqueria and pointing what looks like a gun at customers.

Suddenly, one customer starts shooting, even moving closer to the suspect as he keeps firing shots.

He puts what looks like the customers’ stolen money back on the table, then appears to realize the suspect’s gun wasn’t real.

The customers, including the shooter, left, leaving the owner and the workers in the shop.

On Monday, the medical examiner identified 30-year-old Eric Eugene Washington as the robbery suspect who was killed.

Records show Washington had an extensive criminal history and was out on bond during the would-be robbery.

Records show that in 2015, Washington was convicted on a lesser charge of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon and sentenced to 15 years in prison in connection to the shooting death of 62-year-old Hamid Waraich, a cell phone store owner. Houston police also charged two other men.

According to records, Washington was released on parole in 2021 and charged with assaulting his girlfriend in December 2022.

Waraich had a fiancée and three sons who reacted strongly when contacted by ABC13.

“If the guy who sopped Eric was around 10 years ago, maybe I’d still have my dad,” Aman Waraich, the son of the store clerk that was killed, said.

“Eric was an evil criminal that took joy in harassing and robbing innocent families. The individual at the taqueria is a true hero!” Sean Waraich, the victim’s other son, added. “He did the right thing in stopping the robber and in protecting the community from a dangerous perpetrator.”

Copyright © 2023 KTRK-TV. All Rights Reserved.

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Sports

Washington’s Taylor Heinicke benched for Carson Wenz, position to be reevaluated

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Washington coach Ron Rivera benched Taylor Heinicke for Carson Wentz in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s loss to San Francisco, but Rivera said he’s not yet sure if that’s a permanent move. Rivera said he’ll name a starting quarterback early in the week.

Wentz played the final two series for Washington in a 37-20 defeat that dropped the Commanders to 7-7-1. They remain in the seventh and final playoff spot.

Rivera said he’d evaluate the situation, talk it over with his offensive coaches and then make a decision. Washington hosts Cleveland (6-9) Sunday.

Offensive coordinator Scott Turner said he would not make a “knee-jerk decision” but used the fourth quarter as a chance to evaluate Wentz’s game. Rivera also said he didn’t want to see the 49ers “tee off” on Heinicke.

“It was an opportunity for us to see where Carson was and he did a nice job,” Rivera told reporters after the game. “We’re in a pretty good situation now.”

Wentz last played on Oct. 13 when he broke his right ring finger in a 12-7 win over the Chicago Bears. He returned to the active game-day roster last week and was close to entering the game in the second half.

Wentz completed 12 of 16 passes for 123 yards and a touchdown in two series of work.

“We’re all competitors. I won’t sugarcoat it, we all want to be out there,” Wentz said. “If we lose that in this position we’ll be out of it real quick. So it would mean a lot [to start] but that’s out of our control. We’ll both prepare and work our tails off and nothing will change because of the circumstances. Whatever happens, happens.”

Heinicke said he’s used to being in this situation, always an underdog or on the verge of losing his job, especially in the NFL.

“I’ve heard things like that my whole life,” Heinicke said. “I try not to pay attention to it. I control what I control and that’s going out and playing as hard as I can and that’s what I feel I did. If they need to put Carson in there, OK. I’ll come to the facility every day, work hard and be the best I can.”

Heinicke played one of his more efficient halves of the season in the first two quarters, completing eight of 11 passes for 89 yards and a touchdown. Another drive ended at the 1-yard line when Washington failed to convert a fourth-and-goal. He threw a second touchdown pass in the third quarter.

But, in the fourth quarter, Heinicke lost one fumble deep at his own 11-yard line, leading to a 49ers field goal. On the next possession, he was intercepted — this time at the Commanders’ 25-yard line, resulting in a second field goal and 27-14 deficit.

“I was pretty banged up and the last two drives were turnovers, so I get it,” Heinicke said. “Carson did a good job.”

Rivera said Heinicke played “pretty good” in the first half and also said that to “pin all the turnovers on him would be tough. Those weren’t his issues. There were some things we could have done better.”

Still, that was enough for Rivera to make the change to Wentz. Washington’s offense had moved the ball during Heinicke’s starts — the Commanders were 13th in total yards during his first seven starts. However, they were 25th in the red zone and scoring and 27th on third downs.

Rivera was pleased with how Wentz played.

“He had good command of what we were doing, he stood tall in the pocket and got the ball out quickly a couple times and threw some good balls,” Rivera said.

Washington traded two third-round draft picks to Indianapolis and swapped second-round picks last April to acquire Wentz. He has a salary cap hit of $26.7 million in 2023 but has no guaranteed money left, so Washington could cut him without any financial penalty. But the Commanders do want to find out if he can be their guy in the future or not.

If Wentz starts, he’d be playing in an offense that is more run-heavy than when he played in the first six games. The coaches hope that would lead to more success for Wentz.

“Our ability to run the ball takes a lot of pressure off the quarterback,” Rivera said. “This is a different unit from the group he played with. There are some things that shows what he can do when he does have the opportunity to stand tall in the pocket.”

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US

Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez declared winner in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District

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The Associated Press has called the House race in Washington state’s 3rd Congressional District for Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez.

Perez currently leads Republican Joe Kent 50.8% to 49.2%, a margin of 4,621 votes, with 70% of votes counted.

The victory for Perez is a Democrat pickup of a seat that has been held by Republicans since 2011.

The seat had been held by Republican Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler who lost in her primary race after being one of the 10 Republicans to vote to impeach former President Donald Trump over his role in the Capitol Hill riot in January 2021.

2022 MIDTERM ELECTION RESULTS: REPUBLICANS NEED JUST SEVEN SEATS TO CAPTURE THE HOUSE MAJORITY

Democratic candidate Marie Gluesenkamp Perez has been declared the winner in the House race for Washington’s 3rd Congressional District
(AP Images)

Gluesenkamp Perez — who co-owns an auto shop with her husband just across the Columbia River in Portland, Oregon — said that as a small business owner who lives in a rural part of the district, she is more in line with voters.

Kent, a former Green Beret who was endorsed by Trump, has called for the impeachment of President Joe Biden and an investigation into the 2020 election.

REPUBLICANS SPLIT ON TRUMP’S EFFECT ON LACKLUSTER MIDTERMS AS CONTROL OF CONGRESS HANGS IN BALANCE

Joe Kent, a retired Army Special Forces chief warrant officer, and GOP candidate in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District
(Joe Kent campaign)

“What the media says is irrelevant, its another narrative designed to stop voters from ballot curing & to force me to concede – not gonna happen,” Kent tweeted around the time of the AP’s call. 

The results of about two dozen congressional races across the country are still outstanding, and all Republicans need to successfully flip the chamber are seven of them.

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The American flag flies at half-staff over the U.S. Capitol, Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022,
(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

So far, after Tuesday’s midterm elections results, Republicans have secured 211 seats of the chamber’s 435 members — just shy of a 218-member majority.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Andrew Mark Miller is a writer at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to AndrewMark.Miller@Fox.com.



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Sports

Dave Butz, stalwart of Washington’s 1980s defenses, dies at 72

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Dave Butz garnered a reputation as something of a gentle giant over his lengthy NFL career, a notion he disabused in the 1980s by becoming a menace to opposing quarterbacks.

“Every quarterback I hit knows I hit him,” Butz said upon his retirement after the 1988 season.

Butz, the massive lineman who helped anchor the defense for Washington’s NFL team in the 1970s and ’80s and was part of two Super Bowl-winning teams, has died, the team announced Friday. He was 72. The cause of death was not disclosed.

After a standout college career at Purdue that eventually landed Butz in the College Football Hall of Fame, the St. Louis Cardinals selected him with the fifth pick of the 1973 NFL draft. Butz played only two seasons with St. Louis before departing acrimoniously (a hatred that would fester throughout his career with Washington, which then played the Cardinals twice a year as NFC East rivals). Though Butz technically was a free agent who could sign with whichever team he chose, at the time NFL rules stated the team that signed a free agent had to compensate his former team. That didn’t bother Washington Coach George Allen, who in 1975 paid the Cardinals what was then the largest compensation for a free agent in NFL history: first-round draft picks in 1977 and 1978 plus a second-round pick in 1978.

Allen would call it “one of the best trades I ever made,” even though Butz came to Washington soon after suffering a serious knee injury and would only start 18 of 42 games his first three seasons in D.C. But Butz eventually became a dependable presence at left tackle on Washington’s defensive line, starting all but one game for the rest of his career.

Simply massive at 6 feet 7 and 300-plus pounds — he also wore size 12EEEEEEE cleats — Butz eventually became Washington’s primary run-stuffer, his helmet annually showing the scars of his trench wars with offensive linemen.

From 1984: When Butz is inspired, mountains are moved

Butz’s pass-rush skills would soon present themselves as well. In the strike-shortened 1982 season, Butz tied for second on the team with 4.5 sacks as Washington won its first Super Bowl title, its defense limiting the Miami Dolphins to 16 yards in the second half of Super Bowl XVII. The next year, Butz’s finest, he recorded a career-high 11.5 sacks and earned Pro Bowl and all-pro honors for the only time in his career, rebutting critics who questioned his supposed lack of a mean streak.

“If you mean do I have the ability to blindside a quarterback or hit him in the middle of the back as he’s throwing the ball, I have absolutely no problem with that whatsoever,” Butz said of his methods. “To hit him with 300 pounds, plus another 30 pounds of equipment.

“Because my problem is I’m immense. Once I’m there, I’m going to hit him. But if I had to hit that quarterback — and I could take his legs out from under him, break his legs or whatever — I wouldn’t do it. I’d still hit him high.

“I’ve broken collarbones, dislocated a few shoulders on some quarterbacks. On one quarterback, I heard the bone break, when [teammate Karl Lorch] and I hit him. He was trying to get up and I said: ‘Stay down; you’re hurt.’ ”

Still, Butz developed a reputation as an enigmatic player who was “equal parts serious and sensitive,” as The Washington Post’s Gary Pomerantz put it in a 1984 profile.

“He kids around a lot, but sometimes it’s hard to tell,” Darryl Grant, who lined up to Butz’s right on Washington’s defensive line, told Pomerantz. “I try to stay clear of him when I’m not sure what his mood is.”

Butz’s 59 career sacks rank fifth in Washington history.

No one questioned Butz’s toughness after a 1987 game against the New York Jets. Butz had been hospitalized for an intestinal virus but checked himself out of an Arlington hospital on the morning of the game. He finished with three tackles and a sack in the 17-16 Washington victory, even though he had lost 26 pounds because of the virus.

“It was,” he said after the game, “the first time in 15 years that I’ve weighed under 300.”

Washington won its second Super Bowl that season, and Butz had two tackles in a 42-10 dismantling of the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXII.

In his final season in 1988, Butz played in his 197th game for Washington, at the time a franchise record. In an interview with The Post around the time he set the record, he recalled coming up six inches short of a touchdown on one of his two career interceptions, in 1981 against the Chicago Bears.

“Only good thing was Walter Payton didn’t catch me,” Butz said of his near score, mentioning the Bears’ legendary running back. “Bad part was that the center did.”

Butz got the game ball the day he broke the record. It was inscribed, “Six inches too short.”



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US

US Coast Guard suspends search for 9 people missing after a float plane crashed into Washington’s Mutiny Bay

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Ten people, including a child, were on board the plane when it went down shortly after 3 p.m. Sunday, the US Coast Guard’s Pacific Northwest district said in a news release. Searches by the USCG and local agencies spanned about 2,100 nautical miles, the release added.
The body of one person has been recovered, the release said. Initial reports said nine people were on board.

“It is always difficult when it comes time to make a decision to stop searching,” Capt. Daniel Broadhurst, incident management branch chief for the 13th Coast Guard District, said in the release. “The hearts of all the first responders go out to those who lost a family member, a loved one, or a friend in the crash.”

Mutiny Bay is just west of Whidbey Island and about an hour north of Seattle.

USCG Pacific Northwest tweeted Sunday night that the plane was bound for Renton, Washington, despite earlier reports it was headed to Seattle Tacoma International Airport.

The Coast Guard dispatched rescue helicopters, boats and aircraft to conduct its search. First responders from South Whidbey Fire, the Island County Sheriff’s Office and the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office were also on scene, the USCG release said.

The National Transportation Safety Board will be investigating the cause of the crash, according to the USCG.



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Health

Bird flu detected at Washington’s Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in mallard ducklings

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The virus that causes bird flu, which has infected millions of wild and domesticated animals across dozens of states, has been detected in mallard ducklings at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, the National Park Service said. 

It’s the first case that has been found in Washington, D.C., though surrounding states have reported cases, including Maryland, Delaware and Virginia. 

Bird flu has been detected in mallard ducklings at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C.
(iStock)

The National Park Service is urging tourists and visitors not to handle live or dead birds at the memorial. 

“Pets should be kept leashed and not allowed to interact with live or dead birds or other wildlife,” the park service said. “Visitors can assist by reporting observations of sick and dead birds, or other ill wildlife, to park staff.”

ZOOS IN US RESPOND TO BIRD FLU OUTBREAK AS INFECTIONS MOUNT

Infected birds shed the virus primarily through their saliva and feces, though human cases are exceedingly rare. 

This file photo shows a mallard duck moving past a discarded protective face mask inside the partially-drained reflecting pool along the National Mall in Washington, U.S., October 3, 2021. 
(REUTERS/Tom Brenner)

The CDC has counted bird flu cases in more than 40 million domesticated birds and about 1,400 wild birds, but there has only been one case in humans. 

A man who works with infected poultry in Colorado tested positive via a nasal swab in late April and recovered after taking the antiviral drug oseltamivir. 

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Since 2003, there have been more than 860 human infections across 19 countries, about half of which have resulted in death, according to the CDC and World Health Organization. 

Paul Best is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to Paul.best@fox.com and on Twitter: @KincaidBest. 

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Sports

NFL Draft: Chiefs GM Brett Veach confirms Washington’s Trent McDuffie one of 18 ‘first-round’ targets

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When you’re the keeper of 12 picks in the NFL Draft (like the Kansas City Chiefs were as the first round opened on Thursday night), it is nearly impossible to imagine and play out every angle. Led by general manager Brett Veach, the Chiefs tried to do just that.

As it turned out, they failed. And that was a very good thing.

“With our first pick, it’s funny because, every year, we go through what we think [is] every scenario possible, and we didn’t go over McDuffie’s scenario,” laughed Veach during his post-Round 1 press conference.

The “McDuffie scenario,” as the general manager described, was Washington cornerback Trent McDuffie falling to the 20s — and to be exact, to pick No. 21. Before the draft began, Veach had revealed that Kansas City’s personnel department had identified 18 true first-round players. McDuffie was one of them.

Believing that a player of his caliber wouldn’t be available at pick 29, Veach called the New England Patriots, who were willing to swap 21 for 29, one of the Chiefs’ two third-rounders and one of their fourth-rounders. Veach drafted his guy.

“When you make a move, you’re going to do that for a guy that you have in that [first-round] range, so we were able to do that,” said Veach. “I think the fact that we were aggressive to some degree shows [and] kind of tipped your hand on what you thought of McDuffie. We certainly thought he was one of those players, and that’s why we made that move.”

Veach called the 21-year-old to inform him of the good news. It was more than just the player waiting to hear it.

“My family’s huge,” said McDuffie, speaking to the local Kansas City via Zoom media after Round 1. “I feel like we’re the closest family ever, so during the draft, I wanted to make sure my aunts, my uncles, my grandparents — just everybody was there, everybody who supported me growing up throughout my football career was able to come enjoy this moment with me. When I got the call, I saw Kansas City Chiefs, and I was like, ‘Hold on. Let me step out.’ Talking to coach Reid, talking to Spagnuolo, talking to the Hunt family, and all of a sudden my family starts screaming. And I’m like, ‘Hold on. What am I missing here? What’s going on?’ I run inside and of course, my name popped up on the screen, and everybody started screaming.

“I was like, ‘Give me a second, coach. This might take a minute or two. When I get a chance to talk to y’all, I’ll let you know.’ Honestly, it was just such an exhilarating moment — just being able to spend that time with my family, so it was awesome to be a part of that.”

Veach confirmed that the Chiefs never had McDuffie to Kansas City for a visit simply because when it comes to some prospects, it isn’t necessary. McDuffie said the Chiefs hosted him for an informal interview at the Scouting Combine, but that was it.

This team saw no chance that he’d be there near pick number 29… or even in range of 29.

“I think we were committed to being selectively aggressive, and if a player like a Trent McDuffie was there, ‘Hey, let’s go make a move and get him because he’s really good,” said Veach. “Probably wouldn’t have been there at 29. We were surprised he was there when we selected him with New England’s pick, but I think that was our mindset going in, and we just followed the plan.”

The Buffalo Bills were slotted to pick at No. 25, and Veach felt the Chiefs would have to get ahead of them if they were to secure McDuffie.

“[Derek] Stingley and Sauce [Gardner] went high, and we had a grouping of corners there,” started Veach. Just knowing some of the team needs that were directly in front of us, and I believe Buffalo did take a corner shortly after, and I believe traded up a spot, too.”

The Bills originally had the No. 25 pick but swapped up to 23 to take Florida’s Kaiir Elam.

“We knew that was coming,” explained Veach. “We had called teams — I believe the pick before and the pick after — of the New England trade, just to put ourselves in the position. The way the board was falling and knowing that we’re picking real late in this draft here, and the odds of a guy like McDuffie being at 21, let alone 29, were very low, so we just thought it was the right time to make that move.”

Modeling his game after a familiar name

McDuffie comes in at 5 feet 11 and 193 pounds, which some would say is average or a bit undersized for a first-round cornerback. But pressed about that aspect, head coach Andy Reid did not seem all that worried.

“He’s got enough size, and he’s played against big receivers and done a nice job,” said Reid. “We thought that his size was fine there.”

As a three-year starter at Washington, McDuffie compiled 94 tackles (71 solo), with eight passes defensed, including two interceptions. Self-described as a defensive back more than simply a cornerback, McDuffie uttered a name during his first media chat that most Chiefs fans would wind awfully familiar.

“I look at myself almost like a Tyrann Mathieu type of guy,” he said of the 5-foot-9 All-Pro, “someone who’s going to be able to go in and just play a bunch of different positions and just help out the team however I can. That’s a big thing for me moving forward, is just going in there with the mindset of, ‘However I can get on the field — however I can help out this team,’ I’m going to do everything that I can to do it, so I know that this organization has a great defensive mindset, so honestly, very excited to be part of this team.”

McDuffie had been modeling his football career off of the former Chief since the days he watched him as a college player.

“Growing up, shoot, watching Tyrann Mathieu at LSU — he was one of those dudes where he wasn’t the biggest,” continued McDuffie. “[Mathieu] wasn’t the fastest, but he was always going to make a play. And that’s something that I always try to do in my game — is just be that person that’s going to flash on the screen. You know? Just be that guy that’s always around the football because I’m a football player, and I want to create the best opportunities for my team. So just watching Tyrann Mathieu and watching how he became a leader, how he practices, how he plays games — just the tenacity and heart that he gave is something that I can look at and try to model my game after.”

The Mathieu-like aspect of his game must have translated to the film.

“Trent’s a guy that can come in here Day 1,” said Veach. “He’s wired the right way, extreme knowledge of the game, three-year player, three-year starter, and it was certainly a position that we wanted to address.”

McDuffie joins a cornerback room that lost Charvarius Ward to the San Francisco 49ers this offseason — and thus, is definitely in need of more depth. With the next-best corners after L’Jarius Sneed being Rashad Fenton and Deandre Baker, a rookie starting as an outside corner on Day 1 sounds like it could be the Chiefs’ expectation.

Considering the lack of previous communication with the Chiefs, it all came as a bit of a surprise to McDuffie. Still, the call was well-received.

“When I got that phone call, it was like, ‘Whoa! Kansas City? This is dope.’”

One of the voices on the other line was defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.

“He just pretty much told me, of course, ‘Congratulations. Happy to have [you].’” recalled McDuffie. “We didn’t talk too much because — of course — the night was going crazy. But I’m excited to go meet him [Friday]. I’m excited to sit down, start learning this defense, start learning about how I can help the team. And I mean, moving forward, shoot. I’m ready to go tomorrow… I’m just ready to play football at this point.

“The draft’s finally done, I finally have the team, so I’m ready to just jump out there, get with the team and start building those bonds.”

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Sports

What we learned from Washington’s win over Seahawks on Monday night

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FULL BOX SCORE

  1. This game was won in the trenches. Washington’s focus on its offensive line — even amid injuries — paid off Monday night for a Football Team intent on running the ball relentlessly, helping them rack up 152 total rushing yards, with Antonio Gibson (29 carries, 111 yards) serving as the bell cow. J.D. McKissic enjoyed a nice revenge game against his former team, running seven times for 30 yards and a touchdown and catching five passes for 26 yards, which included a reception on a screen for Washington’s first touchdown of the night. Washington was unafraid of challenging Seattle up front, repeatedly bashing into the defense with the belief it would produce positive plays. It did, and on one drive in particular — an 11-play, 73-yard march driven by healthy gains on the ground — punctuated the difference in ability up front. Washington ran it down Seattle’s throat on a key scoring drive and rode the run late, taking marginal gains while bleeding clock, finishing with a dominant win in time of possession and a two-point victory.
  2. Even without Chase Young and Montez Sweat, Washington’s defense still brings the juice. The Football Team only recorded two sacks Monday, but stuffed the run all night and created enough havoc up front on pass rushes to make Russell Wilson frequently uncomfortable, undercutting Seattle’s passing attack. A complete lack of a rushing attack — Wilson finished as the Seahawks’ leading rusher with 16 yards on two carries — put the Seahawks in long down-and-distance situations, leading to a conversion rate of 4 of 12 from the NFL’s worst team on third down, and it was statistically worse than that until the final drive. It wasn’t until Washington spent a final possession in prevent that Seattle finally found consistent success through the air, and after losing the time of possession battle by a massive margin (41:10 to 18:20), the Seahawks didn’t have enough time to take the lead. They could only hope for a touchdown and a game-tying two-point conversion, and Kendall Fuller ruined those dreams with an interception on the conversion attempt. Keep-away worked for Washington, and so did its stifling efforts up front.
  3. Russell Wilson deserves better, but so do his pass-catchers. First in line for an apology or an explanation is DK Metcalf, who was essentially nonexistent for a half of football and recorded his first reception in the game’s final minute (on four total targets). Wilson can pass the buck to his offensive line, which failed to adequately protect him well enough to give him time to find open targets, turning the offense into one of two outcomes: quick passes underneath or deep shots to Tyler Lockett in one-on-one situations, but without advantageous positioning. One early deep completion to Lockett inspired hope, but the Seahawks proved it was unsustainable by the time the game ended. After Wilson spent an offseason publicly requesting more help up front, then missed a month with a finger injury suffered by getting hit while throwing, he’s right back where he was a year ago. Even worse, the Seahawks are miles behind where they were last season and could be headed for an offseason of significant change.
  4. Game reps are helping Taylor Heinicke’s growth. Heinicke isn’t an elite quarterback by any means, but he’s spurred a conversation about his viability as Washington’s quarterback beyond 2021 because of how he’s improved with the more time he’s spent on the field. Heinicke completed 27 of 35 passes for 223 yards, one touchdown and one interception (off a deflection), and largely avoided the colossal mistakes that would have hindered Washington’s chances. Instead of pushing the ball downfield in risky fashion, Heinicke was content with taking the open man underneath. With seven minutes left to play, 11 of Heinicke’s 20 completions were to running backs. One — a screen pass to McKissic — went for a touchdown, and Heinicke repeatedly found open targets underneath Seattle’s at-the-sticks zone coverage to keep Washington on or near schedule. A key fourth-down completion might have been his best, when Heinicke sat in the pocket, held two defenders (one being Bobby Wagner) at an underneath target with his eyes, then threw it over both of them to DeAndre Carter for a crucial conversion. Washington is very much in the playoff hunt because of wins like Monday night’s, one that wouldn’t have happened if Heinicke didn’t lean on his team’s rushing attack and accept short completions are sometimes more valuable than highlight-reel plays.
  5. Hats off to Michael Dickson. Seattle is 3-8 and headed nowhere but to the land of frustration, but the Seahawks’ punter had an excellent night. Thanks to Seattle’s inability to convert on third down and maintain possession, Dickson was tasked with punting eight times and racked up 400 yards, averaging 50 yards per punt and dropping three inside the 20. It made for long fields for Washington (which the Football Team used to its advantage in the time of possession battle) and kept the game within reach, which is precisely a punter’s job.

Next Gen stat of the game: Taylor Heinicke completed 23 of 25 passes of fewer than 10-plus air yards, gaining 166 yards and scoring one touchdown.

NFL Research: With his return of a blocked point-after attempt for a two-point conversion, the 279-pound Rasheem Green became the heaviest player to score a defensive two-point conversion since rule changes made the play possible in 2015. Green covered 94 yards of total distance and reached 18.4 miles per hour on the return, per Next Gen Stats.

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Business

Facebook documents offer a treasure trove for Washington’s antitrust war

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Haugen’s disclosures, along with her role in a series of Wall Street Journal investigative articles and her appearances in a recent “60 Minutes” interview and Senate hearing, have set off Facebook’s most serious political crisis in years, while potentially adding momentum to efforts in Congress to toughen antitrust enforcement against U.S.-based tech giants.

The disclosures related to Facebook’s competitive landscape also could aid the antitrust lawsuit that the Federal Trade Commission launched against the company last year, which seeks to force it to split off Instagram and the messaging app WhatsApp. The FTC has struggled in court to define key elements of the case, including what a social network is and how Facebook dominates that market. The new documents could help the agency fill in those blanks.

Facebook’s public filings to the SEC offer less detail on its users than its internal documents provide, including data broken down by age groups. Facebook also does not publicly provide data broken down for WhatsApp and Instagram — but these documents do.

“This is very, very strong support for the core story underneath” the FTC’s case, said a former agency staffer who reviewed the documents for POLITICO and spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid influencing the agency’s litigation. “There’s a lot to regret in these documents if you are Facebook.”

But in court papers filed this month, the company accused the FTC of cherry-picking data to portray Facebook as a monopoly abusing its power. The government’s claims, Facebook’s lawyers wrote, are “a litigation-driven fiction at odds with the commercial reality of intense competition with surging rivals like TikTok.”

And the documents Haugen provided only support Facebook’s argument, company spokesperson Christopher Sgro said in an interview Friday.

“Far from supporting the government’s case, the documents presented to Facebook firmly reinforce what Facebook has always said: We compete with a broad range of services for people’s time and attention, including apps that offer social, community, video, news and messaging features,” Sgro told POLITICO. “Consumers freely switch among these features — both within Facebook and outside it — and the FTC’s artificially narrow market definition ignores this obvious reality.”

Facebook’s users are ‘hard to lose’

An estimated 162 million U.S. adults over age 30 use the social network each month, or 78 percent of that population, according to a March 2021 presentation created for Facebook’s Chief Product Officer Chris Cox. Just about all 18- to 29-year-olds in the U.S. also use Facebook, they said.

All told, Facebook has 174 million daily active users in the U.S., according to the internal data. By comparison, Google-owned YouTube has 122 million, while Snapchat has 87.3 million and TikTok has 50 million, according to publicly available estimates. Worldwide, Facebook has more than 2.7 billion users.

While fewer U.S. teens use Facebook’s main social network, nearly all of them use Instagram; the company estimated that 22 million American teens use the service. Instagram also has reached that same high rate of usage with the under-35 crowd in France, Great Britain and Australia.

Once users sign up, they rarely leave, another presentation found.

“Social apps often stop growing but rarely shrink,” the research concluded based on data from nearly a dozen apps including Facebook, Twitter, Snap, South Korea’s Kakao and Japan’s LINE messaging app. “Once you get a user on your app, it’s hard to lose them.”

Facebook’s enormous reach is central to the FTC’s suit, which alleges that Facebook holds a monopoly on “personal social networking services” — online services with a joint social space to maintain relationships and share experiences with friends, family and acquaintances.

Facebook and Instagram are “the digital equivalent of a town square,” the FTC quoted CEO Mark Zuckerberg as saying in a public Facebook post, while a messaging service like WhatsApp is “the digital equivalent of [a] living room.” The suit accused Facebook of engaging in “buy or bury” strategy for crushing the competition, citing among deals its $1 billion purchase of Instagram in 2012.

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Sports

Washington’s Jack Del Rio on Jon Gruden emails: ‘I don’t have much respect for it’

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Jack Del Rio didn’t mince words when he was asked about Jon Gruden and the emails that were revealed to show homophobic and misogynistic comments in conversations with former Washington Football Team president Bruce Allen and others.

Gruden replaced Del Rio as head coach with the then-Oakland Raiders before the start of the 2018 season. Del Rio is the last Raiders coach to get to the playoffs and is the only one to get to the postseason since the team lost the Super Bowl to the Gruden-led Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the 2002 season.

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Coach Jack Del Rio of the Jacksonville Jaguars meets coach Jon Gruden of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after play at Raymond James Stadium on Oct. 28, 2007, in Tampa, Florida. The Jaguars won 24-23.
(Photo by Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)

Del Rio, now the defensive coordinator for Washington, characterized Gruden’s emails as “shocking” and “embarrassingly bad.”

“It was, I guess, shocking. Embarrassingly bad for a person in that position to have those kinds of thoughts and to express them like that. I don’t have much respect for it,” he said Thursday, via NBC Sports Washington.

Gruden’s email scandal cast a dark cloud over the Raiders this week. He resigned in the wake of The New York Times report about the emails.

NFL LAWYER JEFF PASH’S EMAILS WITH EX-WASHINGTON EXEC SCRUTINIZED IN NEW REPORTS

“I have resigned as Head Coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. I love the Raiders and do not want to be a distraction. Thank you to all the players, coaches, staff, and fans of Raider Nation. I’m sorry, I never meant to hurt anyone,” he said in a statement.

Defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio of the Washington Football Team looks on during minicamp at Inova Sports Performance Center on June 8, 2021, in Ashburn, Virginia.
(Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)

Gruden in at least one email, according to the Times, called NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell an anti-gay slur and a “clueless anti-football p—y” and argued that Goodell shouldn’t have allegedly pressured then-St. Louis Rams coach Jeff Fisher to draft “queers,” in reference to former NFL defensive lineman Michael Sam, who was the first openly gay player to be selected in the draft.

Head coach Jack Del Rio of the Oakland Raiders looks on from the sidelines against the Kansas City Chiefs during their NFL football game at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on Oct. 19, 2017, in Oakland, California. 
(Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

The email appeared to show a complete disconnect from Gruden’s messaging when his own player Carl Nassib came out as gay before the start of the 2021 season and became the first active openly gay NFL player.

The emails were reviewed as part of an NFL workplace investigation into the Washington Football Team. Gruden’s emails about Goodell were flagged in the investigation. Among them were disparaging remarks about NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith.

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Gruden was in the fourth year of a 10-year, $100 million contract. He was also removed from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Ring of Honor.

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