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Attorney: New photos show Canton McKinley football player at 2019 barbecue fundraiser—Canton Repository

An attorney representing former McKinley High School head football coach Marcus Wattley has released photos that show the 17-year-old at the center of the firing controversy attending a barbecue fundraiser in 2019.

Attorney Peter Pattakos of Fairlawn contends the photos show the player has willingly consumed pork in recent years – despite the family’s contention that eating the meat violates his Hebrew Israelite faith. …

The newly released photos show a team fundraiser called the McKinley Rib Challenge. The event, according to Pattakos, took place in 2019. A plate of food can be seen sitting in front of the boy in two of the photos. The boy is not actively eating the food in either photo.

The boy’s family is represented by Akron-area attorney, Edward Gilbert.

“I am familiar with that,” Gilbert said of the photographs. “If you look at those photos, my client has his hand under the table. The question is, ‘Is he eating them?’ And, ‘Are they beef ribs?’

Click here to view a PDF of the full Canton Repository report