The head coach and seven assistant coaches of an Ohio high school football team have been suspended after they allegedly forced a Hebrew Israelite player on their team to eat pork as punishment on May 24.
The Columbus Jewish News and WIS News reported that the McKinley Senior High School football coaches punished the player for missing a weight-lifting session on May 20. The punishment involved him eating a pepperoni pizza against his religious beliefs. The coach, Wattley Marcus, allowed him to remove the pepperoni from the pizza, but eating the pizza still would have gone against his religious beliefs due to the residue from the pepperoni.
“In his view, the whole pizza was spoiled. The whole pizza was something that could not be ingested,” Edward L. Gilbert, the family attorney for the player, told WIS. “He was ordered to eat that, and if he did not eat it then he would be most likely removed from the team, and the other teammates would have to do extra exercise that day. So you have the whole team around in this gym. You have eight coaches there yelling at him that he has to eat this stuff.”
Gilbert also told the Columbus Jewish News that the player is looking to move to a different school district as a result of the incident. “I don’t know how this coach could have the respect of the community anymore. Coaches are role models in our community. They’re looked up to. I don’t know how this can be repaired.”
Canton City School District Superintendent Jeff Talbert said in a June 2 statement that the district’s initial investigation concluded “that the identified coaches engaged in actions that constituted inappropriate, demeaning, and divisive behavior in a misguided attempt to instill discipline in the student-athletes. This behavior will not be tolerated and further disciplinary measures for staff, which have not yet been determined, will follow. “ The Canton City School District Board of Education will be holding a meeting on June 3 on the matter.
Combat Antisemitism tweeted that the incident was “an appalling case of antisemitic abuse.”
In an appalling case of antisemitic abuse at McKinley High School in Canton, Ohio, a kosher-observant Jewish football player was forced by his coaches to eat pork as punishment for missing a weight training session.
The coaches are now on paid leave.https://t.co/tbjuph1EVc
— Combat Antisemitism Movement (@CombatASemitism) June 3, 2021
The Israel Group called for the coach to be fired in a tweet, stating: “We are reliving Nazi Germany.”
Ohio HS Football coach forced kosher Jew to eat pork! We are reliving Nazi Germany. #FireCoach, Call: 330-438-2712 #FightBack #LearnedFromNazis @TheIsraelGroup @bandlersbanter @benshapiro https://t.co/4f2ZQyMrlN
— The Israel Group (@TheIsraelGroup) June 3, 2021
This article has been updated.
