High School Football Players Who Attacked Ref Say Coach Gave The Order

High School Football Players Who Attacked Ref Say Coach Gave The Order

Victor Rojas and Michael Moreno, the two high school football players who have become pariahs for attacking a referee during a game, have now revealed that they did so on the word of their coach who told them “(he) needs to pay the price” for allegedly spewing racial slurs.

“His emotions just got mixed into it,” Moreno said on Good Morning America Friday morning. “He told us to do what we did.”

Although they were still dead wrong, one of the boys corroborates the coach’s accusation of racial slurs

Rojas said he heard Watts call a black student the n-word and told a Spanish student to “speak English, this is America.” The district said it plans to file a complaint against the referee of 14 years with the Texas Association of Sports Officials.

Watts’ attorney said the teens were “flat out lying” and the referee is looking into taking legal action.

In the end, it looks like this coach sent some boys to do a man’s job and cost them some dignity in the process

Moreno called the incident “one of my biggest regrets” and one he went through only because he trusted Breed as a “grown-up.”

“Everyone sees me as this thug or gangster: I did this because I’m a bad guy. That’s not who I am,” the aspiring aerospace engineer said. “Underneath the helmet and the pads, I’m really a great kid.”

Moreno has learned “you can’t just do that because of something you were told.”

“I’m ready to face my consequences,” he said. “I am greatly sorry for this and I regret it greatly. I hope people can change their minds about us and the consequences.”

Both these guys seem contrite and embarrassed. Hopefully that is taken into consideration when it comes time for punishment.

Images via ABC