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Questions about a head coach’s termination made one longtime radio personality suspicious of the NFL team’s owner’s concerns about Middle East optics.

(Video Credit: Jake Asman)

With one year remaining on his contract, the New York Jets dismissed Robert Saleh Tuesday as “Gang Green” treated their head coach as though he were gangrenous. However, a losing record with the team wasn’t the only reason that former WFAN radio host Joe Benigno suspected was behind the termination as he pointed to Saleh’s Lebanese heritage.

During an appearance on “The Jake Asman Show,” the host of the “Oh the Pain” podcast brought up the sleeve patch seen on the coach’s sweatshirt when the Jets played the Minnesota Vikings at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.

“I gotta say something else, and I hate to get political, but I have to in this case,” contended Benigno. “Saleh had the flag of Lebanon on his shirt the other day in London.”

“Now, we all know what’s going on in the Middle East. There is no sugarcoating of what’s going on in the Middle East. We all know about Hezbollah firing all these rockets out of Lebanon, and all what’s going on there, into Israel,” he continued. “We know he is Muslim. I think he is representing the people of Lebanon because I don’t believe the people of Lebanon really are happy with Hezbollah. I don’t think that’s the case at all. And I wonder if that has played into this in a way as well, because… I did see this on the regular news that this was actually brought up.”

While a number of people had brought up the patch worn by the coach born to Lebanese parents as the world marked one year since the Hamas terror attack on Israel, others were quick to point out that Sunday wasn’t the first time during his 20-36 losing record with the Jets that he’d displayed the standard, a part of the NFL Heritage Program.

Sunday’s loss was the second consecutive one of the season, but the team was at 2-3 when Saleh was canned Tuesday.

While he did not get into specifics, co-owner Woody Johnson did release a statement and said, “This morning, I informed Robert Saleh that he will no longer serve as the Head Coach of the Jets. I thanked him for his hard work these past three-and-a-half years and wished him and his family well moving forward. This was not an easy decision, but we are not where we should be given our expectations, and I believe now is the best time for us to move in a different direction.”

“Jeff Ulbrich will serve as our Interim Head Coach for the remainder of the season,” the heir to the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical fortune continued. “He is a tough coach who has the respect of the coaches and players on this team. I believe he along with the coaches on this staff can get the most out of our talented team and attain the goals we established this offseason.”

Kevin Haggerty
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