New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh sparked controversy during the team’s NFL game against the Minnesota Vikings in London on Sunday.
The 45-year-old was spotted on the sidelines at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium wearing a Lebanese flag below the Nike logo on the sleeve of his team hoodie.
The night before Sunday’s game – the first of the NFL’s international fixtures this season – Israeli bombing continued on Beirut, the Lebanese capital, amid the Israel-Hezbollah war.
The Hezbollah stronghold in south Beirut was hit by more than 30 strikes overnight, which were heard across the city, with smoke still seen billowing from the site after dawn, Lebanon’s official National News Agency said.
Saleh, who is of Lebanese heritage, previously wore a similar patch last October but his decision to bear the flag Sunday raised eyebrows as the anniversary of the beginning of the war in Gaza approaches.
Saleh’s clothing in the wake of the attacks left NFL fans divided on social media with many furious, while others defended his right to express pride in his heritage.
‘Robert saleh p***ing off a lot of the Jew York community with the Lebanon flag on his top no doubt,’ one social media user shared to X, formerly known as Twitter.
‘What a t**d that guy is,’ another added, while a third wrote: ‘I hope they leave Hezbollah Sally in London when the Jets come back to New York.’
The Jets suffered humiliation at the hands of the Vikings throughout the first half of Sunday’s game, risking a blowout defeat until a last-gasp touchdown on the brink of halftime.
And some social media users claimed that Saleh’s political stance would not help his job security.
‘Bigger issue is the Lebanese flag on saleh’s sleeve,’ one fan said, replying to another post criticizing the Jets’ performance.
‘I am not sure that Robert Saleh wearing the Lebanese Flag, which he obviously added on his own, is going to help him with his ownership as his team gets embarrassed again,’ another added.
For what it’s worth, the Jets wound up losing today’s game to the Vikings 23-17.
While the NFL largely curtailed the kneeling during the National Anthem and overt wokeness, starting in 2022, the league began allowing players the option to “proudly wear a helmet decal of the country or territory’s flag that represents their nationality or cultural heritage.”
The American flag was added to NFL helmets after the September 11th terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. (Remember when we all put American flag stickers on our cars’ rear bumpers?) Naturally, the Roger Goodell-era NFL had to dilute that patriotic message. They either didn’t think through what would happen, or didn’t care that their decision would eventually lead to today’s headline.