High school football coaches fired after allegedly forcing player to eat pork

A high school football coach and six assistant coaches have been fired after they allegedly forced a player to eat pork against his religious beliefs.

A high school football coach and six assistant coaches have been fired after they allegedly forced a player to eat pork against his religious beliefs as punishment for missing a non-mandatory practice. The player, a rising senior at McKinley Senior High School in Canton, Ohio, had missed an optional practice on May 20 due to an injury, according to his family's lawyer, Edward Gilbert. When the teenager returned to practice four days later, the head coach told him he had to eat a pepperoni pizza otherwise his teammates would be forced to do extra drills and his own status on the team could be compromised, Gilbert said. "Everyone on the team knows this child will not eat pork," Gilbert told Cleveland ABC station WEWS on Tuesday. The student, who consumes only meat or poultry that is certified kosher because he is a Hebrew Israelite, was forced to eat the entire pizza in the school gym while his coaches and teammates watched, according to Gilbert.