Former Alabama Crimson Tide and NFL cornerback Fernando Bryant lost his job at Strong Rock Christian School, likely due to a social media post that included a bottle of alcohol. He was a coach and physical education teacher, positions he held for less than three weeks.
“I was led to believe it was my wife’s [post],” Bryant told 11Alive’s Alec McQuade. “They never showed it to me or never said anything other than a parent brought it to their attention,” Bryant said.
A statement by the school confirmed that it was a social media post that caused Bryant to be terminated.
“This letter will confirm that Strong Rock Christian School has made a decision not to move forward with your employment in the position of head coach of the football team and physical education teacher. As we discussed, after we made the offer to you, some within our parent community raised concerns regarding your family’s public presence on social media and the internet and questioned whether the postings and information were consistent with our Christian values. We’re sorry that our relationship had to end before it started. We wish you the best,” the letter stated.
The social media post that caused the stir apparently stems from a picture Bryant and his wife took for sponsors as part of a magazine shoot.
“Are you for real?” Bryant said when the picture was shown to him.
Ok, this is real….but very odd.
HS coach fired b/c of a picture posted on his wife’s Instagram 3 years ago https://t.co/wP56R1JEtq pic.twitter.com/rfAlZZf9gO
— FootballScoop (@FootballScoop) February 22, 2017
Bryant told 11Alive that the school does require its staff members to be Born-Again Christians but that there was no mention that they could not consume alcohol or any specific guidelines about alcohol.
Incredibly, the interview process for Bryant to be hired at Strong Rock Christian School lasted two months, during which time the school did serious investigations into his background and history on social media, per the report.
Bryant isn’t ruling out taking legal action against the school.
“It is a little disheartening. I went through a long process,” Bryant said. “I don’t understand it from the standpoint of the day they hired me to the day they said they couldn’t have me as their head coach. Nothing had changed. Nothing changed from the standpoint of anything they knew about me.”
The school would not comment about Bryant’s termination, per the report, citing Bryant’s privacy.