Fire Framingham Youth Football President, Councilor-Elect Demands

FRAMINGHAM, MA — A Framingham City Councilor-elect is calling for Framingham Youth Football and Cheerleading President Jason Smith to be fired after revelations that three coaches were trading racist messages — and Smith may have known about the messages since 2018. The three coaches were fired on Wednesday by the private football league.

Also, parents of Framingham Flyers players have come forward with allegations that one the coach minimized complaints about bullying, including one instance where a player was pinched and called "fat."

On Friday morning, Councilor-elect Cesar Stewart-Morales said that Framingham Youth Football has let down parents, and that the organization's leaders are putting "children at risk." Smith said on Thursday he would step aside temporarily.

"While the behavior of the recently terminated 'coaches' is reflective only of their own abhorrent views, the admission by [Smith] that he was alerted to some of this activity over a year ago in October 2018 and that he withheld this information from the board until this week is completely unacceptable," Morales said in a statement. "I call for Jason Smith's permanent removal from the position of president and any other role within the organization."

The three coaches were fired on Wednesday after that racist messages about black people were publicized by the MetroWest Daily News.

On Oct. 26, the parent of a Framingham player sent a letter to Smith complaining about a coach. The letter alleged that players were bullied without consequences and injuries were ignored.

"[One parent] stated her son returned from practice crying saying he was dropped on his head and had a headache and would be going to the ER. She was concerned because she wasn’t informed of the injury from a coach. Another mother sent a message stating her son was being called fat and had pinch marks on his belly from other teammates pinching him. [The coach] responded stating the child was hurt due to a 'fair and square' tackle and told the mother to speak to him personally by text or email," read the letter, which was shared with Patch by a parent.

The parent said that the concerns were raised with the coach through a league app. Screenshots show that the coach asked parents to email him directly, and then shut down the chat group.

"Let's talk directly parents. There is NO bullying. And if there was it would be dealt with. Harshly. Email me directly and again this [app] will be shut off," the coach responded, according to screenshots.

Patch has reached out to Smith for comment about the letter. We will update this story if we hear back.