Across the nation, in a range of endeavors, including sports, the color pink is worn in October in honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. MLB players wore pink wristbands. NFL teams wore pink wristbands and pink-edged hats, and in some cases, pink cleats. Unfortunately, some people aren’t up to speed on the nuances of the fight against breast cancer.
In Mendenhall, Miss., one high school football coach did not understand the relationship between the color pink and Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Head football coach Chris Peterson kicked 17-year-old Coy Sheppard off the football team for wearing a pair of pink cleats. The coach even ridiculed the kicker for wearing the shoes.
Sheppard, a kicker, wore his pink cleats in an Oct. 8 game, where he kicked extra points and his team won. Coach Peterson berated Sheppard at halftime, according to the lawsuit, but Sheppard finished the game in his pink cleats and wore them to the next practice.
Sheppard, a senior, needs the academic credit from playing football to help fulfill graduation requirements.
The cleats were a gift from Sheppard’s 82-year-old great grandmother, a breast cancer survivor. Sheppard wore the cleats to honor her and his grandmother, who is also a breast cancer survivor. His lawsuit sought his official reinstatement to the Mendenhall football team.
Sheppard was reinstated on Nov. 16 and has since dropped the lawsuit. –torrance stephens, ph.d.
