Brickbat: Eat It

In Ohio, the school board of Canton City School District has fired McKinley Senior High School head football coach Marcus Watley and six assistant coaches for forcing a football player to eat a pepperoni pizza against the boy's religious beliefs. The student is a Hebrew Israelite and does not eat pork or products containing pork, such as pepperoni. After the player missed an optional practice, Watley told him he would have to eat an entire pizza or his teammates would have to endure extra drills. He was also told his own status on the team could be in danger if he did not eat the pizza. Watley's attorney, Peter Pattakos, said the coach was only trying to teach the student a "lesson." He said the boy was not forced to eat anything and was allowed to remove the pepperoni before eating the pizza.