Reader comments
3 East High football players arrested, kicked off team

Thanks for the positive spin at the end. With such an unfortunate series of events and stupid behavior by those kids, its nice to know that the team is pulling through this and that the 3 are being held accountable. The article was written well and I applaud East's coach for stepping up and handling this well. Good luck to all the East boys the rest of the year.

Coach Whitehead is a great coach. His greatness is in his ability to make sure his players become good, outstanding citizens. Good Job Coach. Keep up the good work. Telafalala!

I know first hand that this kind of stuff goes on at other schools and very little if anything is done depending on the "athlete" that is committing the crime. I applaud you in what you did coach! I also applaud the team in their support to the three boys as this was DEFINATELY not their faults!

Coach Whitehead is an amazing.

Coach Whitehead is a class act. He is a coach in whom a parent can have confidence he will not only teach your son football, but build his character as well. The conduct of these three boys is not representative of the team, the coaches, or the school. I am glad to see appropriate action being taken.

Are you kidding!!! Are we to believe that the coaches and administrators had absolutely no idea that this disgusting behavior was going on around them. This is not just a one time event, this happened several times. Where is the out rage, the coaches didn't know, but almost every student did. These acts took place at school, a play where we expect our students should be protected. This isn't throwing a kid in a locker. Wake up people

A rarity here: Courage displayed on so many levels:
1. A student "ratted out" his fellow teammates to an assistant coach (the guilty 3 were all starters).

2. The assistant coach immediately reported the incident to the head coach.

3. The head coach immediately notified the proper authorities.

So often we read about players, teams, coaches, and even school administrators who try and cover up such events, but EVERYONE involved took the courageous road and placed honor above football.

I feel bad that these events occurred, but hopefully others will see the positive outcome to this situation and take courage to eliminate these heinous acts once and for all.

That's just too wierd. Hmm... I wonder if all your East High football players treat eachother that way? Either way... Way to go you East High Leopards! You show your true colors with this one!

Do you mean to tell us that teachers/coaches know everything that goes on at a school? Did you ever do anything that no teacher/coach/parent knew about? GET REAL! Kids know, and have always known, how to get away with things; even the disgusting crap described here. Really, what would you have coaches do? Be in the locker rooms every second watching all the kids dress/shower? Should teachers now escort every kid to the bathroom as well? As far as what is being reported, this situation was handled correctly. If not, please educate us all on what could have been done differently.

It has nothing to do with courage. You can't sit back and talk about how good of job the coach did. He did what he was suppose to do nothing more and nothing less. It's funny to me how we praise people for doing what they're suppose to do. It's their job!!!

Yes, heinous activities took place. Events that should have never taken place, let alone on the campus of a public school.

A previous post questioned the outrage. I assure you that there was outrage. I assure you that Coach Whitehead, his staff, his varsity players, the sophomore players, and the administration were outraged. There was no "lax" attitude in dealing with this terrible event.

I assure you that this is eating Aaron Whitehead up. Many people outside looking in do not realize how much a coach puts into a program. Coach Whitehead places more into his program than the average coach. He places honor and character above winning. Coach Whitehead did do the right thing at the right time. As a previous post stated, a lot of courage was displayed.

His job is to coach. Not police perverted children. He did do more than most coaches. He did more than his Job.

What are you talking about? He did what he was suppose to do. What any coach would have done. Don't talk about courage when they do what they are suppose to do. Good for the coach for doing what he's suppose to do. It's nice to know that if my kid gets sexually assaulted a coach will stand up for him or her. But it wasn't like it was a tough decision on his part to make and to call the authorities. Any coach would have done that. Don't make him sound like he's one of a kind. It was his program where this happened...

Where are you from? The "perfect world" of Lone Peak, you say.

Yes it happened in his program. However, worse have happened in other programs, high school and college that were never reported. Perhaps the coach did the obligatory thing, but courage was shown by the team mate to stand up to the three bullies. I wish we were as all honorable as you.

Yes he did his job. Courage or no courage, he did what he was supposed to. He didn't hide anything when contacted by the press, he didn't pass it off to district personnel or administrators, he took accountability for his program. Courage. Well, it's debatable, I think so, but you are entitled to your opinion. You make it seem like it's another day at the office. What he did was not easy. Honorable? Absolutely. A lot of programs would try to hide this. The coach reported it immediately and took immediate action.

It is hard to hide assaults happening at a school like this between August 30th, September 3rd and 6th until September 11th.

Instead of calling an administrator or the police that night (I'm sure coach Whithead knows both numbers) he waited until the next day. The police were informed the day after that. And posters in this blog are saying that this is what coaches, teachers, and administrators are supposed to do? They are dangerously wrong.

I'm sorry, but if one of my children went to East High School, they would be pulled out today and not returned with these people responsible for their safety. As an educator of 15 years I question the safety of students at East High School. Mandatory reporting of any abuse is supposed to be done the same day. This should have been reported at the first whisper of any danger to students, period. I hope the UDE looks into the licensing of these individuals and takes appropriate and swift action for the safety of all students.

My athletes do not attend East, but I had to write in. Parents of all athletes at East should be the first to applaud the school's actions. Contrary to some student's and parent's beliefs, the administration, teachers and coaches are NOT babysitters. They are NOT responsible for the student's behavior or moral ethics. That is taught at home, that is the responsibility of PARENTS! And if the student brings the sort of unacceptable behavior, that these students are accused of to the school, one should take a closer look at their personal lives and NOT BLAME the school staff. I also applaud the student who was brought up with the moral ethics at home to stand up and report the incident he witnessed. Thank you for making a stand for the young men in your school and for letting all student athletes, who a few consider themselves above the law, know that unacceptable behavior is just that and that no matter the reason given "hazing" or otherwise, they are finished. Hopefully, East is working with the parents of these young men in finding them some help.

When I think of hazing (and by no means do I condone it), I think of a large group of upperclassmen putting the newbies through humiliating activities.

With this case--three boys acting independently of the team, stalking and attacking a lone student--it sounds like sexual predation, and something so violent and deviant can't be lessened with the rote "boys will be boys" cliche.

The suspects involved are not looking to initiate others into their football fraternity, they're acting on psychopathic urges that should be met with counseling, jail time and being listed on the registry.

The head coach was informed by the sophomore coach after 10 pm that night. Prior to school starting the next day, the head coach was in the principal's office reporting it. Where the previous post is wrong, it was reported to the police within minutes of the coach and the principal meeting. Only the third attack was reported to the coach. The other two attacks came to light during the police investigation. The three players were arrested shortly there after.