Former Raiders head coach and current Washington Redskins defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio has ruffled some feathers with his recent Twitter activity. It started when he shared a picture of a fake tweet from democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
He was called out for sharing the post and has not yet deleted it. Del Rio brought himself even more attention when he posted a video about how President Donald Trump is not a racist.
Del Rio’s decision to make his political opinions very clear has upset a number of people.
Del Rio Says He’s ‘100% for America’
In a tweet that is now unavailable, a commenter said, “Just found out @coachdelrio is a trump supporter. Wish these old racist would stay off Twitter.” That comment did not sit well with the coach and he sent the person a strong message.
Del Rio is currently employed by the Redskins but they haven’t issued any response to the coach’s comments. While what he said upset some people, it remains to be seen if Washington will address the comments in any way.
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Del Rio Didn’t Support Anthem Protest in 2016
This isn’t the first time Del Rio has been vocal about certain political topics. Back when he was the coach of the Raiders, he made his stance on the National Anthem protests popularized by Colin Kaepernick known.
“It’s never come to a point where I’ve had to address it; it’s always been understood,” Del Rio said in August 2016, via the San Jose Mercury News. “You stand attention. You pay respect to our flag, our country. That’s always been kind of an assumed thing.”
He doubled down and clarified his stance.
“In America, as individuals, we all have freedoms, and that’s one of the things that makes our country great,” Del Rio said. “For us, I think it’s more about recognizing that you’re part of an organization. You’re representing our organization, and our organization believes that you should pay respect to the flag. Save those individual decisions to express yourself for an individual forum.”
If Del Rios hasn’t changed his stance on the Anthem protests, that could put him at odds with Redskins head coach Ron Rivera, who recently gave his support to players planning to protest.
“It’s their choice, it’s their decision and I support it because its in our constitution and that’s what our military personnel fought for. For our rights,” Rivera told the media earlier in June, per TMZ.
As the defensive coordinator, it’s not Del Rio’s decision on what players can and can’t do. Players are likely to protest this season and he’s going to have to accept it. Del Rio is new to the team so whether or not his new players are upset with him will be something to watch. Many players turned on Drew Brees very quickly when he gave his thoughts on the protests. This could cause problems for Del Rio in the future.
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Ex-Raiders HC Has Fiery Response to Getting Called out Over Trump Support