Typically, during election season it feels natural to doubt everything you see, or at the very least take it with a grain of salt and seek information from an unbiased or neutral source, regardless of which side of the aisle you're on.
An incident caught on film during a recent Georgia high school scrimmage has been dividing the internet the past several days after a new angle surfaced showed the whole truth.
The initial widely shared film from the contest, which took place between Milton HS (GA) and Newton HS (GA), came from Newton head coach Ben Reaves.
Reaves, who has led Milton HS to state titles in 2018 and 2023 with a runner-up finish in 2021, shared a clip (that he has since taken down) showing a Newton assistant slapping a Milton player on the back of the helmet while two officials stood within five yards.
Below is a screen shot of that tweet.
While nothing could excuse the action of a coach putting his hands on a player from the opposing team, another angle quickly surfaced later showing #7 in red stomping on the coaches foot with his cleat.
— Tre (@100Kimfroze) August 10, 2024
*Best Paul Harvey radio voice* - "...and now you know, the rest of the story."
The new angle prompted a number of takes dividing the internet that ranged from:
- The coach had no ill intent, it was his reflex to being stomped on, therefore he shouldn't have been let go.
- The coach should have never have been out of the box to begin with.
- If the coach is no longer on staff, is the player who provoked the reaction being held accountable as well? If he isn't, aren't we creating entitlement in allowing that to happen?
As you can see from the tweets attached to the second angle, after about a day, coach Reaves and Newton's coach Skelton were able to connect and both put out a statement.
Reaves also shared that he took down his initial critical tweet.
Reaves' tweet does state that both side are happy "with the actions that will be taken by both programs," which seems to imply that there is some accountability shared by both sides, which certainly seems like the right thing to do as both angles make it clear there were two individuals at fault.
While that original tweet is now unable to be viewed to show the full story, there remains no reason why a coach should ever put hands on a player.
Provoked or not. No place for it in our profession. Be the adult you want your kids to look up to, and don't shy away from holding all those in your program - players and coaches alike - accountable.