Sports have a storied history of hazing, bullying, and the “boys will be boys” mentality. Some consider it a rite of passage in sport, leading to stronger individuals and better people in the global community moving forward. But what happens when this isn’t the case? More often than not, the person who is being bullied will have no recourse and is left wondering what is wrong with them and why they were the one being picked on. As social media continues to grow, so too does the ability for past experiences to be spread like wildfire. Stories of a hockey player’s past are seemingly just as important as the potential they could bring to the hockey club moving forward. This quality, a person’s character (or lack thereof), has rightfully ended careers in certain circumstances. Football teams like the Cowboys have been notorious for drafting and signing talented players with “character issues” that other teams don’t want because they think, in addition to getting the player for great value, the person can be changed for the better.
These issues of a player’s character come to the forefront in the case of Mitchell Miller, a recent 4th round draft pick of the Arizona Coyotes. These issues, to some extent, were known to the Coyotes when they drafted Miller this past year. Team president and CEO Xavier Gutierrez noted in a statement that, “Prior to selecting Mitchell in the NHL Draft, we were aware that a bullying incident took place in 2016. We do not condone this type of behaviour but embraced this as a teachable moment to work with Mitchell to make him accountable for his actions and provide him with an opportunity to be a leader on anti-bullying and anti-racism efforts.” Since the draft, the Coyotes have clearly learned more about the incident, where Miller was convicted of bullying Isaiah Meyer-Crothers, a developmentally disabled black classmate of his in 2016. In the time since this news came to light, the Coyotes have renounced Miller’s draft rights and he is now a free agent. The University of North Dakota, where Miller was supposed to be playing collegiate hockey for the next few seasons, has also announced Miller will no longer be part of the team.
The statement by Gutierrez is a bit troubling to me. With the huge amounts of money put into scouting, you’re trying to tell me that they discovered Miller was convicted in a bullying incident, but did not bother to further investigate the incident? This speaks directly to the culture in sports that I mentioned earlier. This acceptance of bullying as a “boys will be boys” teaching moment has gone on for too long. A half-hearted “sorry” doesn’t fix the years of bullying and mental distress which has been inflicted on Meyer-Crothers.
Coyotes GM Bill Armstrong said in a statement that he supports the decision to renounce Miller’s rights, which came well after amounts of public backlash and pressure was directed at the organization. In his statement, he notes that “Mitchell is a good hockey player, but we need to do the right thing as an organization and not just as a hockey team. I’d like to apologize to Isaiah and the Meyer-Crothers family for everything they have dealt with the past few months. I wish them all the best in the future.” To offer Miller praise for being a good hockey player immediately preceding an apology to the impacted family is a bit disingenuous to me. This isn’t the time or the place to compliment Miller for being such a great player. His conduct off the ice is far more important than his play on it.
In a statement, the Hockey Diversity Alliance (HDA) noted that the incident shows that “zero tolerance of racism can’t be taken for granted by the NHL. The NHL and the Coyotes should sign the HDA pledge and start practicing what they preach.” This is a systemic issue that starts at a grassroots level and which we have failed to deal with for generations. We need to have proper guidance from the players themselves, the ones which kids look up to all their life, because if we get that, perhaps we can finally move towards hockey being a sport that doesn’t condone bullying so heavily. Until then, it’s business as usual.