New Patriots kicker will remove tattoo of far-right militia group
A lot of people know who Justin Rohrwasser is now, but not entirely for the right reasons.
Rohrwasser is the New England Patriots’ new kicker, drafted on Saturday out of Marshall. He made headlines shortly afterward due to one of his tattoos, which is associated with the far-right militia group the Three Percenters.
Rohrwasser initially said that he would get the tattoo covered up because he had no idea that the symbol was associated with the group. In an interview on Monday night he went even further, saying that he would have the tattoo entirely removed.
Rohrwasser vows to remove Three Percenters tattoo
Rohrwasser was interviewed by WBZ-TV in Boston on Monday night, and said definitively that he would remove the tattoo he got when he was 18.
"As soon as I saw what it was linked to on Saturday, it was exactly that time I knew I had to get it totally taken off my body," he said. "I said cover it up [to reporters], but I want to get it removed from my body. It's shameful that I had it on there ignorantly."
Rohrwasser told reporters after he was drafted that he didn’t know that his tattoo was linked to anything controversial when he got it in 2015.
The Patriots’ new kicker explains why he has a tattoo associated with the right wing militant group Three Percenters: pic.twitter.com/0qIbtLSsuJ
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) April 25, 2020
In his interview on Monday, Rohrwasser clarified a little more.
"It was described to me as the percentage of colonists that rose up against the government of the British. I was like, 'Wow, that is such an American sentiment, a patriotic sentiment.' Coming from a military family, I thought that really spoke to me. I always was proud to be an American. I'm very proud to be an American."
‘I’m going to learn from this’
Rohrwasser told WBZ-TV that he learned about the tattoo’s association not long after he was drafted Saturday.
"We were celebrating and hugging [on Saturday]. So happy. I went on to Twitter. I saw that someone had taken a picture of me and put it with my tattoo and linking me to some horrific events — obviously Charlottesville and these horrible things."
The aftermath of the tattoo’s discovery has affected Rohrwasser. He became emotional during the interview when he spoke about how sorry he is for what his family and friends have gone through because of his poorly researched teenage tattoo.
"I'm sorry for all my [friends] and family that have to defend me. Putting them in that compromising position is one of the biggest regrets I'll ever have. To them, I'm sorry. I'm going to learn from this. I'm going to take ownership of it. This is not who I am. No matter what, that's not who I am. Hopefully, you will all find that out."
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