Fired coach forced Ohio player to eat pizza that violated his religion, lawyer says

Update: The Canton City School Board voted Thursday to fire the head football coach and six assistants.

A suspended football coach in Ohio forced a player to eat pepperoni pizza knowing it violated his religion, an attorney says.

Canton City School District announced Friday it had suspended eight members of the McKinley High School coaching staff, including the head coach, during an investigation of an incident that “calls into question whether appropriate team management, discipline, and player accountability infrastructures are in place.”

The district didn’t release details of the incident.

During a news conference Tuesday with the player’s family, Akron attorney Ed Gilbert said head football coach Marcus Wattley and seven assistant coaches forced the boy to eat the pizza in the middle of a gym May 24 as punishment for missing a voluntary practice, The Repository reported.

The boy and his family are Hebrew Israelites, Gilbert told McClatchy News.

Though the student told his coaches at least 10 times he’s forbidden from eating pork or its residue, Gilbert said they still forced him to eat the whole pizza after picking off the meat, WKYC reported.

“We’re just distraught by the whole situation,” Gilbert said, according to WKYC. “We don’t understand how this could have happened. We want to get to the bottom of it as well, and if we have to go through a lawsuit to do it, then it’s on.”

In a statement after the vote to fire the coaches, Superintendent Jeff Talbert called the coaches’ behavior “demeaning.”

“The investigation found 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,” Talbert said. “This behavior will not be tolerated.”

This story was originally published June 2, 2021 at 9:06 AM.