Former NFL player, youth coach reportedly goes on expletive-laden rant against 11-year-old
Charlie Rogers, a former NFL player and current youth football coach in New Jersey, is under scrutiny after reportedly launching a profane voicemail rant about an 11-year-old child and football.
What are the details?
According to the Asbury Park Press, Rogers — who used to play for the Buffalo Bills, among other teams in the NFL — left a voicemail for Chris Schuster, the parent of the 11-year-old boy on a rival team.
The message was reportedly a threat to send opposing players after the 11-year-old child in an upcoming football game. Rogers is a coach in the American Youth Football Organization in Matawan, New Jersey, as well as the offensive coordinator at St. John Vianney High School.
The outlet obtained a 44-second voicemail rife with expletives and threats that Rogers reportedly left on Aug. 25. Rogers allegedly targeted Schuster’s son, who previously played for Matawan AYF and left to play for the Saint Bart’s Buffalos.
In the voicemail, the man purported to be Rogers said, the Press reported:
Hey Chris, this is Coach Charlie, dog. I’m telling you right now, today in the summertime before we’ve even started a game yet, right, we are going to blitz every [expletive] play until your guy come out the game. So don’t bring him to the game. You know I’m [expletive] off about this [expletive] right here. And I’m telling you, I swear to God, we are going to blitz, we don’t care if we give up a badge or not, we’re blitzing everybody. We are blitzing every single [expletive] play. And [inaudible] that it’s a bad [expletive] move and I don’t like it and it’s a stupid move and we are going to blitz every single [expletive] play. Hang that [expletive] up, Hill … every play!
Saint Bart’s and Matawan are set to face off on Oct. 7. The outlet reported that Rogers declined to comment on the voicemail when reached by telephone, but did say, “I love all kids. I put my heart and soul into my kids.”
What did the child’s parent say?
Schuster, who was the acting president of Matawan AYF, stepped down from the position after the organization reportedly refused to do anything about Rogers’ purported voicemail.
“The fact that this is a youth football coach and a paid high school coach makes it that much more disturbing,” Schuster said.
“These kids don’t wish harm on any other kid. It’s the coach’s views that make this so dangerous,” he added.
“What I do want to make sure is that kids on the team and the kids on the other team are safe, and that there’s no bounty hunting,” Schuster said. “The main reason why I wanted my kid out of there is because of the way he is talking on the phone, that is day-to-day talk. The kids in Matawan deserve better than somebody treating them like that.”
Anything else?
The Jersey Shore AYF is set to hold a hearing on the issue on Thursday, according to the outlet.
Lou Montanaro, president of the Jersey Shore AYF, told the outlet that Matawan AYF did offer to suspend Rogers for one game.
The outlet reported that Montanero “indicated he had listened to the voicemail,” but did not comment on it.
“Typically when a complaint comes in anywhere through the league it will be heard by a hearing committee or the executive board and it could be for any different reason,” Montanero explained. “It is standard practice for us to hear things like this when complaints come in.”
You can listen to the voicemail in the video player below.
(Content warning: Rough language):
