No question that what Mitchell Miller did to Isaiah Meyer-Crothers was horrific and shocks the conscience. Others have more eloquently stated how disgusting those acts are.
I choose to believe Isaiah's mom when she says the taunting continued until at least 2 years ago. Why? Because the initial police report states that Mitchell Miller lied about committing those undefensible acts. That is a prior instance of material falsehood about the abuse. There is no such indication that the victim's family has ever lied.
While I believe in second chances, I also believe that such chances have to be earned. There is no indication whatsoever that Miller has earned it. By all accounts, he has consistently done only the minimum required of him by the criminal court. He has shown by all accounts no remorse. The court judge found that he was just sorry he was caught.
The letters he sent to all 31 teams was to me extremely self serving. Even the statement he had issued through the Coyotes still indicates a refusal to take full responsibility for his actions and the extreme harm he committed against Isaiah.
"I am extremely sorry about the bullying incident that occurred in 2016 while I was in eighth grade. I was young, immature and feel terrible about my actions. At the time, I did not understand the gravity of my actions and how they can affect other people.
“I have issued an apology to the family for my behavior, completed cultural diversity and sensitivity training and volunteered within my community with organizations such as Little Miracles. Over the past four years, I have had a lot of time to reflect and grow and I am very grateful to the Arizona Coyotes for taking a chance on me. I promise not to let them down.
“Moving forward, I want to be a leader for this cause and help end bullying and racism."
[emphasis added]
Coyotes prospect addresses disturbing racism, bullying incidents
I have emphasized a couple things.
First, to call it an incident completely minimizes what happened. He's not owning up to it. This was criminal abuse, racism, and assualt. It occurred over a period of 7-9 years. It was not a one off as the word "incident" implies. It was premeditated and would have continued had Miller not been caught.
Second, he states he wants to be a leader for the cause and to help end bullying and racism. Such a statement is on the surface plausible. But then to be a leader means fully acknowledging his actions, feeling remorse, and above all be willing to discuss such behavior and say how wrong it was.
From the above report, Miller was simply not willing to talk about what he had done to Isaiah. And it wasn't just one team saying this. It was multiple teams. Reports are at least 1/3 of teams had him as a Do Not Draft. That's not being a leader against bullying and racism.
Thus, his statement to me reads that he was simply telling people what he thought they wanted to hear.
Miller minimizing what he had done to Isaiah, showing no remorse, telling teams what he thinks they want to hear, writing letters to teams apologizing but not to Isaiah... It's not a 14 year old doing this but a fully legally recognized adult.
Miller is not being denied a career. He has any other fields he could go into. His hockey career isn't even over. Plenty of NHL players go through the college route and then sign on with a team after graduation. More players do it that way than are drafted in rounds 3-7.
He has those 4 years of college to prove has changed, to prove he has remorse, to do more than just the minimum required, to prove he is a better person than what he has shown so far.
