An Ohio high school reversed the suspension of two football players who defied administrators by carrying flags that signal support for law enforcement at the start of a recent football game. A day after Ohio’s Little Miami High School told the players they would not be allowed to practice, the school reversed the suspension, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.
In a statement released earlier this week, the school said its investigation showed, “there were no political motivations behind this display of support for first responders on 9/11, but there were stances (sic) of insubordination,” the newspaper reported. The flag with the blue stripe signals support for the police, often expressed with the slogan, “Back the blue,” while the flag with the thin red line is connected to support for firefighters.
Players Jarad Bentley and Brady Williams told “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday that they were told “no” when asked permission to carry the flags.
“We wanted to carry out flags to honor the first responders who went towards danger instead of running from it 19 years ago, and we were told ‘no’ and we kind of took that to heart and we still wanted to honor them and so we did,” Williams said.
“There was a big blowup,” Williams added, explaining what happened after they were suspended. He also noted that they “have a lot of supporters.”
When asked what made him want to carry the flags on the field, Bentley said, “Because if it was my dad that had died trying to save those people, I wanted someone to honor him in that way as well.”
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Bentley acknowledged Wednesday that he and Williams “broke the rules,” stressing that they “did it to honor those who died 19 years ago.”
“So in our eyes, we think we did the right thing,” he continued.
Williams said carrying the flags on the field was “100%” worth it and “if I would have the chance to do it again, I would.”
Williams went on to say that his father “means everything” to him and he looks up to him.
“I love what he does,” Williams said. “I’ve said since I was a kid that I want to be a police officer, and now I even want to be one more.”
The superintendent, Gregory Power, told WKRC-TV he has received hate messages by email and voicemail since announcing the suspension of the two players.
Bentley also said he’s “proud” of what his father does for a living.
“I want to be just like him,” he added.
