The New York Jets took the NFL landscape by surprise with the firing of head coach Robert Saleh on Tuesday.
Saleh was in his fourth year as the head coach of the Jets, but a tough loss to the Minnesota Vikings in London was his last chance to improve his 20-36 record as a head coach. The sudden nature of the firing has many NFL fans and analysts speculating about the true reason behind the move.
One speculation that has arisen amongst fans has to do with the fact that Saleh wore a Lebanese patch on his sleeve to show support for the war-torn Middle East.
Muslim advocacy group wants answers from the New York Jets regarding the firing of Robert Saleh
A Muslim advocacy group known as the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which is the “largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group” according to their website, released a statement addressing the firing of Saleh.
CAIR addressed the Lebanese patch as well as the fact that it was reported that Saleh was escorted out of the building by security.
Robert Saleh was escorted out of the facility by team security and was not allowed to meet with players or inform the team, per @ProFootballTalk 😳
More here: https://t.co/Vrv8W8aniV pic.twitter.com/wYknnkTlcb
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 8, 2024
“We commend Coach Robert Saleh for making history as the first American Muslim head coach in NFL history. Although no one should jump to conclusions about why the Jets fired Coach Saleh, the report that Jets security physically escorted Saleh out of the building does raise concerns about the possible motive for such unusual hostility—especially given that Saleh wore a Lebanese flag pin at a game just days ago and that owner Woody Johnson is a former Trump administration official who has been accused of making racially charged remarks. We encourage the Jets to thoroughly explain its unusually hostile reported treatment of Coach Saleh.”
The statement also addressed the fact that Jets owner Woody Johnson was an official in the Donald Trump administration. CAIR addressed the security escort as “unusually hostile,” as the initial report stated that former Jets head coach Adam Gase was not escorted out of the building.
Now that Saleh has been fired, there are no more American Muslim head coaches in the NFL. According to the statement from CAIR, Saleh was the first one.
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