Although Jeter said his son was not present during the alleged abuse and did not participate in varsity team activities — which the focus of the lawsuit — he said the public “may not recognize or fully appreciate these distinctions.”

“As a result, some reasonable members of the public may question whether the undersigned would show favoritism to the Hoover defendants due to his child’s involvement in the football program in general,” the order stated.

“Therefore, in an effort to avoid any appearance of impropriety and to promote public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary, the undersigned does find that he shall recuse himself from this case.”

The lawsuit, filed in December by the guardians of the alleged victims — identified in court filings by their initials, D.G. and D.L. — alleged the Hoover Board of Education was negligent in the hiring of Drew Gilmer and Adam Helms.

Videos of the practice went viral after they were posted online, leading the board to put Gilmer and Helms on administrative leave before the coaches resigned days later in August.

In their motion asking Jeter to recuse, the plaintiffs also argued that Jeter should do so because his wife worked for the school district.

But Jeter said that argument was not persuasive because his wife hasn’t worked for the district in four years and his family is not paid by the school system.