Attorney for Brooklyn coach who used ‘Nazi’ play call responds

BROOKLYN, Ohio — The attorney for former Brooklyn High School football coach Tim McFarland has released a long statement defending his client on Thursday, just days after members of the team used the word ‘Nazi’ during Friday’s game with Beachwood.

Amid the controversy, McFarland submitted his resignation on Monday. Three days later, his attorney, Peter Pattakos, has issued a statement that refers to the incident as “political correctness run amok.” Pettakos says McFarland “is weighing all legal options available to him against those who caused this extremely damaging and defamatory firestorm.”

Most notably in his statement, Pattakos says the use of the term “Nazi” is “by no means an anti-Semitic slur.”

“The notion that the use of this term in last Friday’s football game implies any anti-Semitism or intent to offend on the part of McFarland or any of the Brooklyn High players, coaches, or community is not only false but absurdly so,” Pattakos wrote. “The term ‘Nazi’ is by no means an anti-Semitic slur. As a matter of historical fact, the term ‘Nazi’ is well known to describe a notorious German political party that, after coming to power in Germany, employed aggressive military attacks known as ‘blitzkriegs.’ The term ‘blitz’ has long been a commonly employed term in the militaristic sport of American football, which is derived from this Nazi-era German military term, to describe similarly aggressive tactics by defensive players.”

Pattakos adds that the term “Nazi” has been “a commonly used line-call by football players in Ohio and presumably all over the U.S. for decades, including at the high-school level, to alert teammates of an oncoming blitz by the opposing defense.” He included an attachment from what he termed as “a handout from a popular coaching clinic put on by the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association in the 1990s.” The handout lists the term “Nazi” as among five “blitz control” calls, and describes it as a “call to alert the QB that an outside cover person is moving into a blitz position.”

Details of the incidents became public on Saturday in a letter to the Beachwood community from Superintendent Dr. Robert Hardis.

Hardis stated that he learned late in the first half of the game that Brooklyn’s team was repeatedly using the word “Nazi” to call out a play. Game officials were notified, as were Brooklyn’s athletic director and head coach. According to Hardis, during halftime, “Brooklyn’s coach acknowledged using this word as the play call, apologized, and agreed to change it when the teams returned for the second half.” Beachwood school leaders told the game officials that should the use of “Nazi” continue, they would pull their players off the field.

Beachwood is roughly 90% Jewish, and the incident took place just before the start of the Jewish High Holy Day of Yom Kippur.

“While McFarland is mindful of the atrocities committed by the Nazis in the holocaust leading up to World War II, the idea that someone would be offended by hearing the commonly used pass-protection call ‘Nazi’ at an American football game had not occurred to him until his counterparts on the Beachwood sideline brought the issue to his attention in the second quarter of last Friday’s game.” Pettakos added in his statement. “At that point, McFarland immediately instructed his team to stop using the term, and told the Beachwood coaches that he would personally apologize to any players who were offended. The Beachwood coaches told him that an apology would not be necessary, and the game then continued to completion. That should have been the end of this story. The fact that it was not is nothing short of absurd, and represents an especially unfortunate example of political correctness run amok.”

Speaking to 3News Thursday night, however, members of the local Jewish community pushed back on Pattakos’ downplaying of the word “Nazi.”

“The idea that the term ‘Nazi’ is not offensive to the Jewish community is simply untrue,” Jason Wuliger from the Jewish Federation said. “We have to remember who the Nazis were, and they were evil. They set out as one of their goals to annihilate the Jewish people, and they successful killed six million of us.”

Wuliger is the federation’s government relations committee chair. He stresses the term is still hurtful and certainly shouldn’t be a part of high school sports.

“I lost members of my family, and if you speak to most members of the Jewish community in Northeast Ohio they would probably tell you the same thing,” he added. “Either they lost family in the Holocaust or they had family members who survived the camps.”

Brooklyn City Schools Superintendent Dr. Ted Caleris acknowledged to WKYC earlier this week that he found out about what happened “late Friday night” after the game. According to the superintendent, McFarland told him the “Nazi” audible call had been in his playbook “for multiple years” and “was not specifically designed for the Beachwood game.” Caleris could not verify if it was used during any other games in the past.

“This is the first time our school district found out that that he was using that,” Caleris told 3News’ Neil Fischer.

Caleris eventually spoke to McFarland and both decided “it was best for everyone for him to move on,” with the coach offering his resignation in that moment. He left Brooklyn after just over 2 1/2 seasons as head coach, during which he posted a 9-18 record with one playoff appearance.

“McFarland—who has been a well-respected high-school football coach in Northeast Ohio for more than four decades—is also disappointed in the leaders of Brooklyn High School for demanding his resignation despite knowing he is a decent man who neither intended nor caused any harm to anyone involved in these events. He prays for a better world where common sense can be restored and such issues are not blown beyond all reasonable proportion,” Pettakos said of his client.

You can read Pattakos’ entire statement in his below tweet.

Following Pattakos’ statement, Hardis and the entire Beachwood City Schools Board of Education responded with the below letter:

“Brooklyn Superintendent Theodore Caleris, Chagrin Valley Conference Commissioner Don Lewis, and I have been working collaboratively in response to the events of September 22. These efforts are student-focused, educational, and restorative. We hope they will take a negative incident and turn it into something positive for Beachwood’s and Brooklyn’s student-athletes as well as the thousands of student-athletes who compete in the Chagrin Valley Conference.

“Unfortunately, in the meantime, attorney Peter Pattakos has issued a statement on behalf of former Brooklyn football coach Tim McFarland. The statement succeeds in taking a terrible situation and making it worse. Mr. McFarland is now demonstrating further ignorance, lack of accountability, and a recklessness that, in hindsight, ought to come as no surprise given the lack of judgment he displayed as a coach. Mr. McFarland should not be entrusted with the leadership of children.

“The Board of Education and I are proud that Beachwood is a community with amazing families, students and school staff who place education and the care and wellbeing of children as their highest priority. We are honored to serve this community. Our school district did not ask for the attention Mr. McFarland’s actions have focused upon us. We would prefer to keep our attention on the business of running an excellent school system. However, we will speak up when our community is targeted with ignorant and hateful attacks on its character. In our estimation, the actions of Mr. Pattakos and Mr. McFarland take no account of both communities’ students and what would serve those students best at this time.”

In a more conciliatory tone, Hardis, Caleris, and Chagrin Valley Conference Commissioner Dr. Don Lewis later released joint remarks promising continued cooperation to prevent further incidents like this:

“Beachwood City Schools, Brooklyn City Schools, and the Chagrin Valley Conference are jointly committed to fostering an environment of respectful competition among our student-athletes and adhering to the highest standards of sportsmanship. After the events of September 22, our two districts and the Chagrin Valley Conference have been in frequent communication. We will remain in touch, work together, and subsequently transform this negative situation into a positive one for the thousands of student-athletes who compete in the Chagrin Valley Conference, a league in which participating members agreed upon a set of sportsmanship standards several years ago.

“Our two districts want to make the Chagrin Valley Conference Sportsmanship Standards actionable for all participants in sports – the players, coaches, staff, and spectators. Beachwood’s and Brooklyn’s respective directors of athletics will develop a set of specific steps for schools to take when these standards are not upheld. They will propose them to Chagrin Valley Conference member school districts in the coming weeks. This is meaningful collaboration with an outcome that will uphold the highest standards of conduct for the benefit of all Chagrin Valley Conference student-athletes.

“Beachwood City Schools and Brooklyn City Schools are committed to continuing dialogue and taking actions that will prevent harmful speech. We are completing plans for future educational interactions between the schools and will share those details with our respective school families soon.”

“Thank you for your support of our student-focused work.”