The much discussed Lebanese flag pin on Robert Saleh's jacket (Images courtesy of Reuters/Paul Childs
Many NFL fans already think the New York Jets are off their rocker when it comes to franchise strategy. Their front staff seemingly make critical decisions by throwing darts at a wall. A few reminders would be giving a coaching gig to Nathaniel Hackett, drafting and keeping around Zach Wilson for so long, and of course firing Robert Saleh. We were all scratching our heads over the timing of Saleh’s firing. What most of us haven’t thought to do is consider the impacts of this tragic firing on the Muslim and Arab community. Let’s get into it!
A Little Background
During Arab American Heritage Month 2025 here at The Forkball, we have taken it for granted that everyone is on the same page on which countries this includes. Also, there is a common misconception that all people of Arab heritage are Muslims, which isn’t true either. So we’re going to differentiate with this source. Robert Saleh is both of Arab heritage and the first Muslim head coach in the league. Let’s learn a little more about the things that make Saleh great.
Muslim States
There are eight Islamic states: Afghanistan, Brunei, Iran, Mauritania, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. There are 19 states that have declared Islam as their country’s official religion. These include Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Morocco, Palestine, Qatar, Somalia, Syria, Tunisia, and the UAE.
There are many other secular states that are predominantly Muslim, and there are Muslim minority states that have a large number of followers of Islam. Also, in many of these states, there are other minority religious groups.
Arab countries
The number of Arab countries in the world is a bit contested. Some say the 19 Arab World states and others say the 22 members of the Arab League. There are other countries that speak Arabic and are sympathetic to the aspirations of the Arab people but are not members of the Arab League, although they could be. However, we will just stick with the Arab League definition for now.
These 22 states are Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, UAE, and Yemen.
A Quick Comparison
As we can see, there is much overlap between the two groups in many different regions. Many Islamic states are not Arab world members. Afghanistan, Brunei, Iran, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Maldives, and Malaysia, for example. On the other hand, some Arab states are not referred to as Islamic states, like Lebanon and Sudan. Now that we have important background, let’s dig in deeper.
What The NFL Saw
When most people saw Robert Saleh get fired by the New York Jets, we were confused. The front office is a dumpster fire; their draft, trading, and personnel choices are seemingly made by toddlers, and the overall franchise culture is trash. The team performance was poor, but most of us felt Saleh was not the predominant problem. He certainly didn’t deserve a mid-season firing. Who would thrive with Nathaniel Hackett calling plays as the OC?
Nathaniel Hackett being in NYC was the symptom of a greater problem. New York dropped everything for Aaron Rodgers. Despite his advanced age and legs made out of glass, the Jets kept him around for two seasons. He brought Nightmare Nathan with him and saved the coach from being fired after a first season from Hedes.
Robert Saleh felt like a casualty of the Aaron Rodgers era, taking the fall that came in part from accommodating Rodgers. You can’t convince me that Rodgers was both a coach and a front office staff member in New York. Until they put the kibosh on the QB, of course. Many fans likely felt Saleh’s firing was a combination of a poor record and Aaron Rodgers. However, some of us saw a bit more.
A Slightly More Nuanced Take
As someone who writes about the HR nightmare that is the NFL, I tend to look for historical context and past mistakes from the league when perceiving happenings. Many people look at this situation like I do. We know that research indicates that Black coaches are fired twice as often as their white counterparts with a winning record. They also have to spend way more time at lower-level coaching positions to get the chance to be an HC. Did this prejudice extend to Robert Saleh?
That question is hugely hypothetical since there have only been a handful of Arab coaches in the NFL, and Saleh was the first Muslim head coach ever. He’s one of the few Arab coaches in any American football league ever. It wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility that implicit bias of the franchise led them to fire Saleh unfairly, mid-season.
There was an assertion that it was because Robert Saleh wore a Lebanese flag pin the game prior to his firing. That felt a little too blatantly racist for 2025, but the fact that it was on the population’s consciousness is important to note.
Affected Population Perspective
The opinions that matter the most when talking about impact are the affected populations. Reporter and producer Emma Vigeland highlighted the presence of the patch when discussing the firing of Saleh. Vigeland is very sensitive to matters like these and brings awareness to other similar topics.
Radio personality Joe Benigno also proposed a similar message. These messages didn’t necessarily come from the exact affected community, but they did bring a lot of attention to this issue. A person violated Robert Saleh’s privacy at a Northern New Jersey Whole Foods, asking if the Lebanese flag pin contributed to his firing. He drove away without making a comment.
Arab American Sports Fan
It cannot be emphasized enough how powerful and meaningful this article was from Omar Zahran—a writer and Arab American sports fan. Zahran brings up his own perspective of the impact of racism on coaches of color and many other fantastic takes, so make sure to read the article from beginning to end.
What really stood out to me was the writer’s pride in seeing another Arab American in such a powerful position. Zahran brings up that when Saleh became head coach, it was critical representation. He notes that there were two Arab individuals in American sports that he was aware of. An NBA player who is Arab Canadian and Robert Saleh.
Growing up in Dearborn, Saleh has a childhood that is similar to some other Arab American NFL fans. We discuss this community a bit in the article on the 2024 NFL draft here. Saleh is proudly American, proudly Lebanese, and proudly Muslim. Many Americans can resonate with Saleh, and when he was fired, that stung in a way that many of us didn’t consider. In addition to empathy, this insight calls all American sports leagues into question when it comes to a total lack of Arab Americans present.
The Council On American-Islam Relations (CAIR) Speaks Out
In addition to media voices and an avid sports fan, we also have feedback from CAIR. The Civil Rights Organization is attempting to hold the NFL accountable when they bring up facts many of us didn’t know. Saleh was escorted from the NY Jets facility after being fired. This is rare in the NFL and didn’t happen when his predecessor Adam Gase was fired.
Alleged past racial remarks from the owner had some hypothesizing contributing factors that led to Saleh’s firing. The Lebanese flag might have upset someone allegedly like that. No one knows for sure, but the CAIR did ask for some accountability in a statement, saying, “We encourage the Jets to thoroughly explain its unusually hostile reported treatment of Coach Saleh.” We want to know too, CAIR. Why would the Jets treat an Arab American Muslim man so uncharitably? Many answers that come to mind don’t paint the franchise in a positive light.
Final Thoughts
We will likely never know everything that went into Robert Saleh’s mid-season firing last season. Representation is critical, and so are optics. The New York Jets raised red flags with their behavior surrounding the head coach’s firing. Was it just Aaron Rodgers or was it not so implicit bias? Make your own opinions on that.
As the only Arab American head coach of the NFL and the first Muslim head coach ever, Saleh meant a lot of different things to a lot of different people. He allowed for young people from many different communities that receive little representation in the sports world to see that they too can follow their dreams. Losing Robert Saleh was more than just a head coach most of us admired being sacked.
Hopefully this article allows the average viewer to look a little deeper at sports happenings with a heightened sense of empathy. Things are rarely what they appear to be on the very surface level, and we owe it to other sports fans to hold the NFL accountable if things aren’t right. Hopefully Robert Saleh finds another head coaching position for a franchise that appreciates the talent he brings to the table soon!
