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Branding rituals found at Roswell
Football aide quits: Investigation points to assistant overseeing players using paper clips to sear scars of solidarity.
Bill Sanders, Paul Kaplan - Staff
Thursday, January 5, 2006
Seventeen football players at Roswell High School branded themselves in a show of solidarity this past season, and an assistant coach who attended the rituals has resigned amid a county investigation, school officials confirmed.
Mario Hansbrough, the defensive coordinator for the north Fulton school, made a weekly routine of taking players off campus, behind the school, on Thursday nights and overseeing as they branded red-hot paper clips that left an inch-long scar on the chest of defensive players who were set to start that Friday, according to athletics department officials, including head coach Tim McFarlin.
McFarlin said the players had seen a branded fraternity Greek letter omega on Hansbrough's shoulder, and decided to do something similar as a show of defensive solidarity.
He said Hansbrough talked the kids into using small paper clips instead of something more drastic.
"I'm disappointed he was there," McFarlin said. "He used poor judgment, but I know his heart, and I know he didn't do one thing to hurt kids. He was doing this because the kids were intent on doing something anyway. We all make poor decisions at some point in life. If it was up to me, I'd retain him, but I know the liability issues here."
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