Source: New York Post
The lawyers for a New Jersey jock charged with pledging allegiance to ISIS bizarrely claimed his obsession with the terror group stemmed from wanting to be “on a team again” — following a brain injury from football. Tomaskann Jimenez-Guzel’s defense team said the 19-year-old accused wannabe jihadist was vulnerable to being brainwashed because of “an extensive history of traumatic brain injuries” from getting battered as a starting defensive end on Montclair High School’s football team. Jimenez-Guzel, who was likely headed for Division I college football, lost his sense of purpose, identity and community after he was forced to retire from the sport in 2023 over his injuries — which left a void that other aspiring terrorists filled, the court papers from Monday claim.