How does a football coach react to one of his players showing support for the survivors of breast cancer (including the player's own grandmother and great grandmother) during Breast Cancer Awareness Month? If you said by kicking the player off the team, you're right. The story below the fold...
Coy Sheppard is a 17 year old high school student at Mendenhall High School in Mississippi. His great grandmother, a breast cancer survivor, gave him a pair of pink football cleats and the young man wore them for a game to help raise breast cancer awareness. However, when Coy showed up at practice the following Monday wearing the cleats again, he was kicked off the team.
Sheppard, who was relying upon the credit for playing football to fulfill his physical education requirements for graduation, is now suing for reinstatement so he can graduate on time, with any damages awarded in the suit being donated to the American Cancer Society.
The school maintains that the shoes weren't the problem, but rather that Sheppard was insubordinate to the coach's order to not wear the pink shoes, but Sheppard's father pointed out "He's had five or six different colored shoes throughout his last two years of kicking for Mendenhall and when he got the pink shoes that's when it became an issue. I think it is the pink shoes."
The younger Sheppard tried to apologize for reinstatement, but the coaches refused even when he promised to leave the shoes at home and not wear them again. As a result of the school's unwillingness to budge punishing a male student for the egregious sin of wearing pink, the Sheppards filed their suit with a former state supreme court justice as their lawyer.
And all of this over a pair of pink cleats. There is a profound homophobia in men's sports where not being seen as manly is the worst offense one can commit. The important part of this story is not that Sheppard disregarded his coach's order to remove the pink cleats, it is the reason behind the coach ordering him to do so. It is the perception the coach no doubt had as to the color not being fit for a man. I wonder if the coach would think the same of all the players in the NFL who choose to wear pink (including pink cleats) last month for the same reason Coy Sheppard did. For standing up for breast cancer survivors and being confident enough in his own masculinity wearing pink football cleats, Coy Sheppard has shown himself to be a far better man than his coaches. The coaches and his school ought to be ashamed for their actions.
Update [2010-11-11 13:47:31 by craigkg]: They came to their senses! He's been reinstated. High school player with pink cleats returned to team:
The Simpson County School Board and Mendenhall High School senior Coy Sheppard have reached an agreement that allows him to return to the Tigers football team, after his removal over pink cleats he wore in October to promote breast cancer awareness.
“We were able to resolve all the differences between the parties,” said Sheppard’s attorney, Oliver Diaz Jr. of Jackson, who sued the Simpson County School District, Mendenhall High and football coach Chris Peterson.
“The School District has agreed to reinstate Coy to the football team,” Diaz said Thursday. “They have agreed that he will receive his credits for graduation for playing football. Coy is going to continue to speak out on behalf of breast cancer awareness.”
...
Now that the lawsuit has been dropped, Sheppard will return to the field Friday night. Diaz said the kicker will be wearing his regular cleats, as the pink ones were especially for Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October
Update [2010-11-11 13:47:31 by craigkg]: Wow! Rec List. Thanks gals & guys.