signing Mitchell Miller was the worst PR debacle in recent boston sports history
As president of the Bruins, the buck stops with Cam Neely. That is, unless we’re talking about the team’s unconscionable decision to sign a prospect who mercilessly bullied a Black developmentally disabled classmate for years and has failed to express any sort of contrition.
Apparently, the Bruins’ errant signing of Mitchell Miller can be chalked up to the team’s “vetting process,” which doesn't seem to include any legwork whatsoever.
Neely met with reporters Monday to try to clean up his team’s self-inflicted mess, but only created more questions. On Sunday, the Bruins said they released Miller based on “new information” they learned about the case.
Apparently, that “new information” was their failure to reach out to the victim’s family. Neely called that “concerning” and said it was “absolutely” a problem.
Gee, you think?
It takes one Google search to show that Miller isn’t just some 20-year-old kid who made a bad mistake in junior high and is looking to make amends. The Arizona Republic reported on Miller’s disturbing background two years ago when the Coyotes selected him in the fourth round of the 2020 NHL Draft. The Republic’s report leads with an anecdote about how Miller admitted in an Ohio juvenile court to bullying his classmate, Isaiah Meyer-Crothers, whom Miller tricked into licking a lollipop that had been wiped in a bathroom urinal.
“Meyer-Crothers had to be tested for hepatitis, HIV and STDs, but the tests came back negative,” the story says.
The tale gets worse from there. Meyer-Crothers and his family say the bullying lasted for years, and included racial taunts as well. Other students confirmed that Miller repeatedly called Meyer-Crothers the “N-word” and other epithets.
"We like to take pride in what we do in the community and we hold ourselves accountable,” said Neely. “We dropped the ball, and I'm here to apologize.”
Neely said the Bruins first broached the idea of signing Miller in August. But over the next two months, they apparently failed to consult with the victim’s family, the league and even their own players. Over the weekend, Patrice Bergeron said the signing “goes against” team culture.”
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said Saturday he doesn't know whether Miller will ever be allowed to play.
Well, isn’t that nice? The Bruins risked all of this for a kid who might not never be allowed to play in the NHL.
The Coyotes cut Miller in October 2020, and North Dakota kicked him off their hockey team. When asked why the Bruins thought Miller was deserving of a second chance, Neely sounded aloof.
“From everything I've heard, he was working on himself, working in programs to better himself," he said. "I was under the impression it was a 14-year-old kid who made a really, really bad decision and did some horrible things, and he's 20 years old now. I was under the impression that he, in the last six years, had done a lot of work on himself."
If Miller is working to “better himself,” he hasn’t told anybody. Meyer-Crothers’ mother told WBZ Friday that Miller only reached out to her son last week — on Instagram.
While it’s true that people’s teenage years shouldn’t define them, they have to show they’re remorseful and trying to change. Miller hasn’t done any of that.
John Guilfoil, the head of JG Public Relations, told me on my “Sports Media Mayhem” podcast the Bruins look bad in every aspect.
“Ultimately, we don’t know if Mitchell Miller deserves a second chance, and this process will do nothing to shed light on that for us,” said Guilfoil. “We’ve learned nothing about Miller’s character, how he is as an adult now. We don’t really understand why the Bruins did this.”
Neely didn’t provide any answers, besides downright incompetence.