8 coaches forced a high school football player to violate his faith and eat pork as teammates

[Soph0571]

watched

McKinley Senior High School head football coach Marcus Wattley and seven asst. coaches in Canton, Ohio are on paid leave after forcing a 17-year old player, a Hebrew Israelite, to violate his faith and eat pork as punishment for missing practice after he sustained an injury, The Washington Post reports.

The student, who is not being named, was forced to sit in the middle of a gymnasium and eat a pepperoni pizza with his fellow players egging him on. Not only would his position on the team be jeopardized if he refused, but his fellow players would also be subjected to punishment because of his actions.

"Ed Gilbert, the family's attorney, said at a news conference Tuesday that the Canton City School District violated the child's First Amendment rights," The Post notes, when the coaches "compelled the boy to eat pork on May 24 despite his numerous objections because of his faith. Gilbert said the family plans to sue the school district."

The 17-year old "was verbally assaulted by the coaches and faced pressure from his peers to eat the pizza despite his religious beliefs."

[link:https://www.rawstory.com/coaches-force-israelite-eat-pork/|]

What is WRONG with people? And how are they still in a job?

[TreasonousBastard]

1. This is an abomination. Would they do this to a vegan student? A WASP vegan?

[RVN VET71]

8. Yes, they would, in all likelihood. Sadism knows no bounds.

[Rabrrrrrr]

19. Of course they would - because Vegan weak in the mind of conservatives.

also, they love being powerful. So, yeah.

[Tanuki]

2. This incident is horrible on so many levels. I feel this youngster was criminally

assaulted. Can't believe the coaches are only on "paid leave' over this.

[smirkymonkey]

7. +1000

[secondwind]

3. We are devolving as a society, bit by bit.

[Jon King]

10. Actually not true, society was even worse in the past.....

Please, men used to routinely beat their wives in the 1950s, blacks were openly persecuted, football team hazing involved all kinds of filthy and horrible stuff.

Just things were kept under wraps back then and no social media for word to spread like this.

[SidneyR]

11. Yet we always

claimed to be a "democracy." That was and remains little more than propaganda. The democracy part was and is fake. It's not a democracy with open oppression of minorities.

[Cosmocat]

12. This is true, however the norms of decency and common sense in this country are rapidly degrading

We had grown to some extent from the things you noted in the 70s, 80s and 90s going into the 2000s, but since BHO became president and republicans fully lost their minds we have been on a rapid decent from civility, reason and common sense.

That is why 45 came down the esclator I told people he was no joke, that he embodied what their party was becoming, and in nominating and electing him they put the deterioration of our society on hyperdrive.

We haven't even remotely seen the bottom yet.

[Amishman]

25. I disagree, the fact that this is notably unacceptable shows HUGE progress

There is no previous enlightened age where our modern values were universal.

Progress is always a rocky road, and this is an example of a bump on the way.

[dhol82]

4. Hebrew Israelites are a black sect

Wonder how much that had to do with this abomination?

[Mimi Susi]

24. Pizza eating punishment

Through a relative of mine with connections to the team: the coaches have used whole-pizza eating as a punishment for quite some time. Their rationale is that they eat the pizza in front of the other team members and then have to sit out practice while the rest of the team practices. It makes no sense to me at all in the first place. The student had told the coaches on numerous occasions that he did not eat pork for religious reasons. McKinley is a predominately black school, and the coach is black so I don't see racism as the issue.

[dhol82]

26. Thanks. It was just a thought.

Weird punishment.

[BGBD]

36. Oh, that explanation helps it make a little more sense

I thought about this as a weird punishment at the start too.

But, if the idea is that you blew off a practice or something then the punishment is now that you are taking it easy, eating pizza and watching your buddies working hard. The idea is to shame you into not doing it again, because theoretically you don't want to let your teammates down.

[wnylib]

5. Why is their leave a PAID one?

Why do they even still have jobs?

[Maine Abu El Banat]

6. Paid Leave?

That's another way of saying vacation.

[usaf-vet]

9. In the case of sports in HS and college (OHIO Gym Jordan) as long as you are winning coaches......

..... will keep their jobs. It is as simple as that in this ex-school member's opinion.

Start loosing and the door is not far away.

[2Gingersnaps]

17. For those who think "toxic masculinity" is not a real thing,

Gym Jordan is a case in point, in the showers while hundreds of kids were assaulted by the team doctor. Grade school sports programs is where this crap begins.

[ECL213]

22. Bingo! This is Canton McKinley High School...

It probably spits out more college players than any high school in the Midwest. Their coaches could probably shoot somebody in the middle of Fifth Avenue and not lose any supporters. I highly doubt the school board would risk the upcoming football season on a "prank played by a few bad apples".

[Mimi Susi]

28. Not just these guys

The former coach of the Canton McKinley swim team has been found guilty of sexually assaulting some of his swimmers over multiple years. He is in prison. It's where Gym Jordan belongs. It took a swimmer with a high-profile parent to get the swim coach indicted.

[RVN VET71]

13. He's black and jewish.

Deliberate humiliation by his coach, his team mates encouraged by the coaches to taunt and ridicule the kid, the full knowledge of all participants in this public assault that they were forcing the kid to violate his religious principles: these are all offenses warranting firing, at the very least.

Without hearing the other side, I am reluctant to out and out condemn the coaching staff and players. But if the basic narrative here is true: a young man’s coaches organize a public humiliation of him in which he is encircled by his “team mates” and forced to violate his religious beliefs while they jeer and urge him while the coaches look on passively -- or join in on the “fun,” this is a firing offense. Obviously.

If it is true that this happened and that it happened as described, justice would be required to fire the coaches and disband the team. The coaches need to be further held accountable, of course. This kid may be a strapping youth, but goddammit he’s 17 years old and has been subjected to one of the worst forms of child abuse. As for the team, those who joined in the humiliation party do not deserve the respect afforded normally to high school athletes and so the team itself should be disbanded. (There may have been kids who were there by order of the coach but who hated what they saw and regretted it, but those with consciences will understand that with public sin comes public consequences.)

[OldBaldy1701E]

16. Bear in mind (rant included)

That the article says the rest of the team was to be punished if the boy did not eat the pizza. So, I am not so sure about placing blame on the entire team. Having said this, I totally agree with disbanding the sport at the school for a bit and make sure everyone sees that there are consequences to this type of cruel and illegal behavior.

Rant starts here

Ahh, who am I kidding? The coaches are probably (note I said probably) white and have had good winning seasons at the school. Schools know that the bulk of their 'free cash' comes from sports, not to mention the prestige. (I recall seeing around 20-30 people at the academic events at the school where I used to work. I also recall seeing at least a hundred or more at the football/basketball/baseball/track/etc. events. But, no one was showing any 'favoritism' towards the jocks... at least according to the head of the school, a former basketball/baseball jock who, like so many males in charge of schools, put all kinds of effort into the sports programs and then shrugs when the academic side asks for more attention. It is why I finally decided to not continue working in the education sphere. Too much emphasis on sports and not enough on smarts. Oh, I am well aware of the talented kids who were both 'star' athletes as well as high scoring students. I also know that they are such a scarcity compared to the general school population that to even use this to defend what goes on in our schools is a bit laughable. But who knows? One day, we might get back to teaching kids how to learn, as opposed to making them memorize things and then repeat them... a practice that shows no understanding or application. But, it looks good...)

Rant over.

[Zeitghost]

37. The head coach

The coach is black, so are most of the players on the team.

[Effete Snob]

23. Minor correction

Neither this uniquely American group itself nor various Jewish communities consider them to be Jewish.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hebrew_Israelites

According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), "Some, but not all [Black Hebrew Israelites], are outspoken anti-Semites and racists." As of December 2019, the Southern Poverty Law Center "lists 144 Black Hebrew Israelite organizations as black separatist hate groups because of their antisemitic and anti-white beliefs". Former KKK Grand Wizard Tom Metzger once remarked to the Southern Poverty Law Center, "They're the black counterparts of us."

[RVN VET71]

32. I know some of the history but -- and I know you agree with me --

this kid was subjected to a horrible form of child abuse -- and those responsible need to be punished severely.

But point well taken. His religion may be anti-semitic and the coaches might have piled on because of that. In that case, of course, their punishment should be even more severe.

[Effete Snob]

33. Yes, his religious freedom was violated

No, he is not, by any stretch of the imagination, "Jewish".

Mislabeling his religion, whatever one's opinion of it, is also disrespectful to him and to others which are most certainly not associated with it.

[RVN VET71]

35. Apparently they would disagree with your characterization.

But that is a debate for another time.

And, so you know, I would have to side with you in that debate. It would cover some very deep issues, spiritual as well as theological, but in the end the Black Hebrews would remain unconvinced by us, and so would we by them.

And so it goes.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

14. These idiots need to be fired

[thucythucy]

15. I know it's an unpopular opinion, but

I hate football. Especially high school football.

It's physically dangerous for the kids involved (recent and not so recent studies on long term brain injury, etc.) and besides that the culture it engenders is just a cauldron of toxic masculinity and bullying. Its emphasis on winning above all else, it's glorification of "no pain no gain" and brute strength, it's hyper-patriotism are all long standing problems. Then too, think of the resources devoted to it all across the country--as was pointed out here, this high school has eight, count 'em eight fucking coaches. I wonder how many reading specialists or school psychologists or other vital teachers and specialists the same school employs.

And the myth of high school football "building character" is a cruel joke. From what I've seen, it teaches young men how to be bullies and exalt in their power over others. Like fraternities, so much of the "male bonding" involves pounding on women, girls, and weaker boys and men. All of this comes with a sense of male entitlement that can and often does spill into every other aspect of life.

And please don't come back at me with the whole "it provides scholarships and a way for minority students to get a college education." Maybe some few kids benefit--at great sacrifice for themselves, their health, and their overall education--but if making colleges more diverse is the goal there are far more effective ways this could be done. To me it's more about using the bodies of young black men for entertainment and to make money for mostly white owners and white institutions.

I'm not against all high school sports. But the cult of football is so problematic I wish it had never happened.

Side note: Ronald Reagan got a big boost in his career as a right wing demagogue after his "win one for the Gipper" schtick. How many other right wing politicos came of age and learned their personal "skills" through the football-culture complex?

[kirkuchiyo]

20. Not an unpopular opinion for this guy

I would love nothing more than to see football banned from schools. Actually, all sports.

[hunter]

31. I agree with you.

High school football does not make the world a better place.

Far too often it makes the world a more hellish place.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

18. Child abuse. Charge them with child abuse. They have a DUTY OF CARE. . . . nt

[secondwind]

21. Bingo

[Hekate]

27. And in other news, like-minded coaches cut off a kid's dreadlocks. Then there's Gym Jordan...

What is wrong with this version of adults mentoring youth?

[Sympthsical]

29. Why does a high school team need *seven* assistant coaches?

The rest of the story is appalling, but that detail stuck out. My high school team had one PE teacher as an assistant. That was it.

Seven? WTF do they think they are, the Patriots?

[LizBeth]

34. 8 coaches for one time.... 3, 4 tops but 8.

[ok_cpu]

38. The school board voted unanimously to fire 7 of the coaches tonight

It looks like one wasn't fired. Not clear why.

https://www.cantonrep.com/story/news/2021/06/03/canton-mckinley-high-football-coach-marcus-wattley-six-assistants-fired/7517670002/

CANTON – What Canton City school officials called a “misguided attempt to instill discipline” has led to the firing of McKinley High School head football coach Marcus Wattley and six of his assistant coaches.

The Canton City school board on Thursday voted unanimously to not renew the coaching contracts of Wattley, assistant coaches Cade Brodie and Tyler Thatcher, and assistant baseball coach Romero Harris, who has related weight room duties. With the same vote, the board also deemed assistant football coaches Frank McLeod, Zachary Sweat and Josh Grimsley as ineligible for future coaching positions.

[tishaLA]

39. Follow up: Canton McKinley High football coaches ousted

What Canton City school officials called a “misguided attempt to instill discipline” has led to the firing of McKinley High School head football coach Marcus Wattley and six of his assistant coaches.
https://www.cantonrep.com/story/news/2021/06/03/canton-mckinley-high-football-coach-marcus-wattley-six-assistants-fired/7517670002/