Tim McFarland, the head coach of Ohio's Brooklyn High School football team, resigned on Monday after his team used racist and antisemitic language during their game last Friday.
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“Brooklyn High School coach Tim McFarland and his players repeatedly used the word "Nazi" as a playcall in a game against Beachwood High School. Beachwood, a Cleveland suburb, is roughly 90% Jewish.” https://t.co/BXqOqnR36M
— Rachel Bitecofer 📈🔭🇺🇲🇺🇦 (@RachelBitecofer) September 27, 2023
Calling the players, McFarland and the team used the term "Nazi" during their game against Beachwood High School, a fellow Chagrin Valley Conference team.
Per Samantha Hendrickson of the Associated Press, Beachwood is not only a Cleveland suburb but has a 90% Jewish population per a 2011 survey conducted by the Jewish Federation of Cleveland.
McFarland's team did stop using the term in the second half, but only because Beachwood threatened to pull their players from the field, per a statement released by Robert Hardis, the Beachwood Schools Superintendent. However, it seems that some players continued to use it and direct it toward the players anyway.
Brooklyn Schools Superintendent Ted Caleris said that McFarland "expressed his deepest regret," and Caleris apologized for the "hurtful and harmful speech that won't "be tolerated."
Caleris also mentioned that the Anti-Defamation League of Ohio contacted him, and he wants to use them as a resource moving forward. He also said that he and Beachwood have been in contact and that his school has been "appropriately concerned and apologetic."
"This is not the first time Beachwood student-athletes have been subjected to antisemitic and racist speech," Hardis said. "We always hope it will be the last."
As of now, there has been no mention of discipline toward the players.
