New England Patriots kicker Justin Rohrwasser said after he was drafted that he is planning to get his controversial tattoo covered up, but he now says he would like to remove it altogether.
After he was taken by the Patriots in the fifth round of the NFL Draft, Rohrwasser made headlines all over the country for the “Three Percenters” tattoo he has on his left forearm. The Three Percenters support gun rights and have been categorized by some as a militia and anti-government, though they dispute those characterizations on their website. Rohrwasser told reporters he did not do enough research before getting the tattoo as an 18-year-old and that “it will be covered.”
In an interview with WBZ’s Steve Burton on Monday night, Rohrwasser took things a step further. He said he wants to have the tattoo removed rather than covered, calling the ink “shameful.”
“I got it when I was 18. It was described to me as the percentage of colonists that rose up against the British. I thought that was such an American sentiment, a Patriotic sentiment,” Rohrwasser said, as transcribed by Matt Vautour of MassLive.com. “Coming from a military family, that really spoke to me. I always was proud to be an American. … As soon as I saw what it was linked to Saturday, I knew I had to have it totally taken off of my body. I said ‘covered up,’ but I want to get it removed from my body. It’s shameful that I had it on there ignorantly.”
Rohrwasser also apologized to his friends and family for putting them in a difficult spot.
“I’m sorry for all my friends and family that had to defend me. Putting them in that compromising position is one of the biggest regrets I’ll ever have,” he said. “To them I’m sorry. I’m going to learn from this. That’s not who I am. Hopefully, you’ll all find that out.”
Most people find it hard to believe that Rohrwasser would have gone all this time without realizing what his tattoo represented. The Three Percenters were connected to the white supremacist rallies in Charlottesville, but Rohrwasser insists he had no idea about that until Saturday.
