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Ex-Washington State Coach Nick Rolovich Speaks Out on Why He Didn't Comply With state's vaccine Vandate
ESPN ^ | Adam Rittenberg, Kyle Bonagura

Posted on 09/24/2022 3:16:29 PM PDT by nickcarraway

Former Washington State coach Nick Rolovich is finally speaking out about his reasoning for not getting the COVID-19 vaccine in 2021 and the "ugly conversations" he says occurred with school administrators that led up to his firing.

Rolovich, in his first public comments since his firing, told Allison Williams, the host of The Daily Wire's Breakaways, in an interview published on Friday that "lack of answers, lack of dialogue" about the effects of the vaccine, as well as his beliefs as a Catholic, led him to not comply with Gov. Jay Inslee's mandate for Washington state employees.

Washington State fired Rolovich and four other assistant coaches last October for failing to comply with a state mandate to receive the vaccine. The school fired Rolovich for cause, preventing him from receiving the approximately $9 million remaining on his contract. Earlier this year, Rolovich filed a $25 million wrongful termination claim against the school.

"The priest broke it down to me, because he wanted to know why, and I said, 'This is just how I'm feeling,' and he says, 'Well, that's your conscience talking to you and the Catholic church recognizes your conscience,'" Rolovich told The Daily Wire. "That was what was speaking to me the whole time. It was real hard because I was unvaccinated, couldn't meet with the [players]. I'm stuck in my office all day. It was really unhealthy for me, but I have no regrets on my decision."

He said his only regret was not revealing publicly, while still at Washington State, that he wouldn't get the vaccine for religious reasons.

"I thought as football coach, you don't need to talk about politics, you don't need to talk about religion, you don't need to talk about medical," Rolovich said. "That was all kind of off limits. For our staff. I just said, 'You're for it, you're against it. I don't care.' It just got real strange, real fast."

According to Rolovich, Washington State athletic director Pat Chun eventually outlined his options when he would not comply with the vaccine mandate.

"[Chun] said, 'You got four options: resign, get the vax, get a medical exemption, get religious exemption,'" Rolovich told The Daily Wire's Allison Williams, a former ESPN reporter who left the network because of Disney's vaccine mandate for employees. "I'm not getting the shot. I'm not resigning. I'm not going to get a medical because I could go get a fake card, easy, but then I'd be lying. ... I'm going to do a religious [exemption]. And they both said 'We're not going to believe you, you know, the governor's not happy with you.'"

Rolovich said Washington State's human resources department approved his religious exemption request, but it then went to Chun, his supervisor, who wrote a letter questioning Rolovich's belief in science. Rolovich told Williams he thought Chun "helped" in getting his exemption request ultimately denied.

When reached by ESPN, Chun and Washington State declined to comment on Rolovich's allegations.

Rolovich also addressed a presentation Dr. Guy Palmer, a WSU regents professor of pathology and infectious diseases, gave to the athletic department about the COVID vaccine. Rolovich said after several "planted questions" from athletic department employees, David Fox, Washington State's director of football operations, asked Palmer about the effects of the vaccine for women trying to get pregnant. Rolovich alleged that Fox's comments upset Chun, who two weeks later said he wasn't renewing Fox's employment.

"I already said to renew him, I was happy with the job he did," Rolovich said. "[Chun] says three or four times [Fox is] an at-will employee. And I call [Chun] an F---ing coward and walked out. That's when it really started getting bad between me and Pat."

Rolovich did not address a 1-on-1 meeting WSU arranged for him with Palmer, who told ESPN that Rolovich had "major hesitancy" about the vaccine and asked questions commonly linked to conspiracy theorists.

"Kind of typical ones: Is Bill Gates involved with the vaccines? Does [Gates] hold a patent on the vaccines?" Palmer told ESPN. "He asked whether SV40 is in the vaccines and whether that could be a dangerous thing. And the answer to that is no."

Rolovich told Williams that he's waiting on a right-to-sue letter from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to continue his legal action against Washington State. He said he's not sure if he can get another job in coaching yet, but noted that others, such as frontline workers living "check to check," sacrificed more than he did, adding, "It's just not a real good look on our society."

"A lot of people called me, texted me, [saying] 'I'll take 10 shots for that money,'" Rolovich said. "That's great, I won't, not right now with what we know and how I feel. Sitting here seven months later, to me, God was right, trusting that feeling and that belief really did end up helping me out."


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: coaches; collegefootball; football; freedom; mandate; ncaa; unvaccinated; vaccine; vandate; washingtonstate

1 posted on 09/24/2022 3:16:29 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

Time now to sue the University into receivership...


2 posted on 09/24/2022 3:20:43 PM PDT by WinstonSmith1984
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To: nickcarraway

“I didn’t want to” should be a good enough reason.


3 posted on 09/24/2022 3:22:10 PM PDT by ifinnegan (Democrats kill babies and harvest their organs to sell)
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To: nickcarraway

Well…who can blame him for his faith and not wanting to be an experiment.


4 posted on 09/24/2022 3:22:30 PM PDT by Jan_Sobieski (Sanctification)
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To: WinstonSmith1984

Sue. Sue. Sue.


5 posted on 09/24/2022 3:23:16 PM PDT by steveyp
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To: nickcarraway
Nobody should comply with vaccine or mask mandates
They are both dangerous to your health.
6 posted on 09/24/2022 3:26:31 PM PDT by SmokingJoe ( )
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To: nickcarraway

My 65 year old friend that had just passed a physical with flying colors, got the jab and one booster. Three months later one of her retinas had separated and both of her breast were removed due to “sudden onset” breast cancer.

My wife and I are 68 and consider getting the jab the equivalent of a death sentence. Everybody that got jabbed used their body to beta test these drugs. And the “comical” part is they did it without financial compensation.


7 posted on 09/24/2022 3:26:35 PM PDT by cuban leaf (My prediction: Harris is Spiro Agnew. We'll soon see who becomes Gerald Ford, and our next prez.)
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To: nickcarraway

“I call [Chun] an F-—ing coward”

for religious reasons also?


8 posted on 09/24/2022 3:35:23 PM PDT by gandalftb
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To: nickcarraway
And they both said 'We're not going to believe you, you know, the governor's not happy with you.'"

That's Gov. Jay Dimslee, who illegally held "emergency powers" for 2 years past the time they were lawfully scheduled to retire with out legislative renewal.

9 posted on 09/24/2022 3:44:08 PM PDT by llevrok (Pronouns: Me/myself/& I)
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To: nickcarraway

Right-to-sue letter?


10 posted on 09/24/2022 3:46:41 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: steveyp

Sue. Sue. Sue.
= = =

With respect to gender equality, Is that A Boy Named Sue?


11 posted on 09/24/2022 3:49:56 PM PDT by Scrambler Bob (My /s is more true than your /science (or you might mean /seance))
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To: cuban leaf

A friend’s wife got her 2nd shot.

Arm started tingling quickly. Smell and taste gone.

Then an ovarian cyst (REMOVED).

Then another ovarian cyst - a different kind than the first.

Mucho treatment - - - a year later she is getting better.


12 posted on 09/24/2022 3:53:00 PM PDT by Scrambler Bob (My /s is more true than your /science (or you might mean /seance))
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To: nickcarraway

The coach is smarter than the entire university... but then again just about anyone with common sense and a HS education is far smarter than most professors at universities.


13 posted on 09/24/2022 3:53:18 PM PDT by maddog55 (The only thing systemic in America is the left's hatred of it!)
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To: llevrok

Jaydolph Inslee still holds on to emergency powers.


14 posted on 09/24/2022 4:42:53 PM PDT by algore
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To: nickcarraway

$25 million should be $25 billion. Bankrupt the university, impoverish every damn useless worthless state government puke involved.


15 posted on 09/24/2022 4:57:00 PM PDT by Newtoidaho (All I ask of living is to have no chains on me.)
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To: algore
Jaydolph Inslee still holds on to emergency powers.

Even though Joe Biden declared the pandemic is over.

16 posted on 09/24/2022 5:22:44 PM PDT by seowulf (Civilization begins with order, grows with liberty, and dies with chaos...Will Durant)
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To: maddog55

Hell, the supreme court justice that was confirmed can’t define what a woman is…. We got some real nutcases that rule over America.


17 posted on 09/24/2022 6:37:07 PM PDT by dragonblustar (Romans 12:12)
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To: Newtoidaho
impoverish every damn useless worthless state government puke involved.

Are you going to let Brandon walk on his part OR are the state officials just a start?

18 posted on 09/26/2022 1:27:36 AM PDT by politicianslie (Those who got vaxxed need to update their wills. You are a guinea pig in a dangerous drug trial.)
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To: SmokingJoe

Healthcare worker in my family who lost a job over the clot shots is now having to test weekly in another job as they are not vaxed.

I don’t think sticking a Chinese-manufactured swab up nose is healthy either.

WTH is wrong with our country’s medical community??? Rhetorical question as I know what is wrong...$$$$$$$$$$$$


19 posted on 09/26/2022 1:35:23 AM PDT by Freedom56v2
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To: Freedom56v2
WTH is wrong with our country’s medical community???

Bill Gates, MR Eugenics has given $100's MILLIONS to the presstitutes. BIG PHARMA tells the idiots with medical degrees what to think and especially what to say. There are more idiots that will tell you NOT to take the jabs than there were, but the majority will probably still kill you with their pro jab recommendations.

When was the last time a DimWIT politician told you that global warming was NOT the most important thing ever? A big part of "solving the climate calamity" is reducing the population. VAXXXXXINES are key to reducing the number of useless air breathers.

Tell your relatives to line up and get jabbed. That way Gates and his fellow murderers won't have to starve you to death. The vaxxxxxxines will kill and most of the jabbed idiots still don't know what is coming. Myocarditis is normal in children, heart attacks to young, healthy athletes has always occurred....

20 posted on 09/28/2022 8:46:42 AM PDT by politicianslie (Those who got vaxxed need to update their wills. You are a guinea pig in a dangerous drug trial.)
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