Former NFL defensive end Isaac Rochell says a racist message sent to his Instagram inbox left him questioning the kind of person someone chooses to become — and pushed him to speak publicly about the family he’s built.
According to Us Weekly, the former Los Angeles Chargers, Indianapolis Colts, Cleveland Browns, and Las Vegas Raiders player revealed that someone sent him a DM filled with what he called “racial remarks.”
Instead of staying quiet, Rochell responded with a post celebrating his mixed-race family and making it clear he is not the one with the problem.
“I had someone DM me some racial remarks yesterday, and honestly it just made me reflect on life and who you choose to be,” Rochell wrote on Instagram alongside a black-and-white family photo showing him holding daughter Scottie as wife Allison Kuch touched her pregnant stomach.
“My family is made up of different backgrounds, religions, upbringings, and shades of skin, and there is truly no greater gift,” he continued.
Rochell explained that his mother is Italian, his father is West African, and Kuch is Polish, calling that mix “something I am proud of.” He added that being able to “love who you want and build a life together, no matter where you come from” is “a blessing I do not take for granted.”
Then came the line that had fans flooding his comments.
“And if you have a problem with the way my skin looks, that says everything about you, and nothing about me,” Rochell wrote. “Aka you’re a loser.”
Rochell has stayed in the public eye since retiring in 2025. A seventh-round pick out of the University of Notre Dame, he carved out a seven-year NFL career after being drafted by the Chargers in 2017.
He later signed a one-day contract with the team last July so he could officially retire where his career began.
