Pro-Trump NFL Coach Jack Del Rio Defies Mob, Savages Critics of His Politics: 'Kiss My A**'
Here’s the state of America right now: Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but some opinions are more equal than others.
Take the National Football League. Given the political climate of recent weeks, Colin Kaepernick isn’t just getting another look from NFL teams. The former 49ers quarterback has become a newly canonized secular saint, a martyr who gave it all because he Got It before the rest of us did. Brett Favre saw fit to compare him to Pat Tillman, the Arizona Cardinals who gave up an NFL career to fight in Afghanistan, where he was killed.
If he’s signed, nothing St. Colin of the Left says will be called controversial. You may think it’s controversial. In fact, the majority of Americans might. That won’t matter. It’s not controversial, as far as the mainstream media is concerned. He can wear socks with cops dressed as pigs. He can donate to an organization named after convicted cop-killer Assata Shakur. None of this, however, will be called controversial.
Washington defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio, who’d previously been a head coach with the Oakland Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars, is not of Kaepernick’s political persuasion. He’s a supporter of President Donald Trump. When a Twitter user called Del Rio a racist, he responded the user could “kiss my a–.”
Cue the headlines about him being “controversial.”
The whole thing began for Del Rio when he retweeted a fake Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweet on June 24. In the fake tweet screenshot, AOC begged supporters to keep the lockdown on to ensure Donald Trump loses the presidential election this fall:
Wow ?!! Proof….. c’mon AOC https://t.co/KNDRmzX6nH
— Jack Del Rio (@coachdelrio) June 24, 2020
We’ve all had better nights, I’m sure Del Rio would admit. This is the time when most figures would apologize. Del Rio actually decided he wasn’t going to back down. He next addressed Donald Trump and race via a video from popular conservative social media figure Samantha Marika.
Fact not fiction https://t.co/M38UuiHTbs
— Jack Del Rio (@coachdelrio) June 24, 2020
“Fact not fiction,” Del Rio wrote of the video.
This didn’t sit particularly well with liberal Twitterers.
Not a good look, coach.
— Joe B. (@JOE_BA) June 24, 2020
Go back to his behavior since the seventies, and if your still questioning his ethical makeup set up some meetings with your black players. I’m sure there will be a few who have an opinion..
— Allen Contreras (@1csufdig) June 24, 2020
Hey @Redskins might want to tell coach this is DC. WE DON’T LIKE 45 and to avoid the fans booing him might want to shut down his Twitter or at least make it private. #TrumpIsARacist
— Sandra (@sva1126) June 24, 2020
In other words, Del Rio should shut up and coach. The same way that liberal professional athletes should never be told to shut up and play. Got that?
On the other hand, there was some support for Del Rio:
So proud of you for taking a stance. PLEASE don’t walk back these tweets and apologize. I know you’re going to get hate for this but we NEED people I’m telling game on our side of the political spectrum to stand up for our beliefs too.
— SkolVikings72 (@SkolVikings72) June 24, 2020
I dont watch sports but i know a good and a Patriotic man..and you are that..!..thank you..??
— Joan (@Joan29529269) June 24, 2020
There was also, according to The Washington Post, a tweet in which Del Rio reacted to a tweet saying NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace “faked” the supposed noose that touched off an FBI hate crime investigation. (The “noose” was a loop on a rope used to open a garage door that had been there since at least 2019, according to a statement from the Justice Department.)
“Really dude, WTF?” Del Rio wrote. It was unclear from context whether he was attacking the Twitterer who said Wallace “faked” the noose or whether he was criticizing the NASCAR driver.
Del Rio’s final political tweet of the night came in response to the user who called him a racist. “Just found out @coachdelrio is a trump supporter,” the user tweeted, according to WTTG-TV. “Wish these old racist would stay off Twitter.” The user has since made the tweet unavailable, but Del Rio had a message in response.
“I’m 100% for America, if you’re not you can kiss my A$$,” he wrote.
I’m 100% for America, if you’re not you can kiss my A$$ https://t.co/PKCLPIbqVJ
— Jack Del Rio (@coachdelrio) June 24, 2020
Del Rio got a whole lot of plaudits for this one:
They assume racism because that’s the lie the media has sold them about Republicans. Little do they know we want all races to unite against the far left that seeks to segregate us all again and focus solely on race instead of what’s in our hearts & character.
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) June 24, 2020
Thank you for actually standing up for yourself.
— DSitzel (@Dsitzel) June 24, 2020
??? for courage for standing up for your convictions…once you show weakness towards the cancel culture of the left you’re finished
— Red (@sposfanatic) June 24, 2020
The mainstream media headlines, you can imagine, were not as kind.
NBC Sports Bay Area: “Jack Del Rio goes on controversial Twitter rant, supports Donald Trump.” The Washington Post: “Jack Del Rio creates a stir with Twitter activity; Redskins have no comment.” Clutch Points: “Redskins defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio creates Twitter storm with tirade tweets.”
In other words, this was reprehensible stuff. It was a “rant” and a “tirade,” something his employer should comment on.
This was a guy taking a political stance. I thought we were for that these days. There was nothing particularly odious about what he said, unless you don’t like the president.
As for whether this affects his job, The Washington Post notes that Del Rio has “generally gotten along well with his players, and his political views don’t seem to have caused a significant problem in the past.”
The Post also noted Del Rio supported former Oakland Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch when he stood for the Mexican national anthem and sat for the American anthem during a 2017 game in Mexico City.
In the face of criticism from Trump, Del Rio, who was the Raiders coach at the time, said “everybody should pay respect to the flag … but it is America and everybody can make their choice.”
Del Rio is all for expression, apparently. Others aren’t willing to extend him that courtesy.
All Del Rio did was stand up for himself. We applaud him — and think more conservatives in the public eye should have the courage to do the same.
It’s time to be heard, even if the media thinks it’s “controversial.”
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