American football player says coach ordered him to 'crush' opposing quarterback

He told me I'd get game time if I crush the opposing quarterback in my first play,"

It was after the play though. With the wording here, it could also mean the coach ordered him to get a sack. Can someone give me the exact wording of the coach? Crush the QB whether the play is finished or not?

"It was weakness on my part. I made this written statement as a first step toward to atonement,"

Very honourable, after the coach has already been essentially canned. As well as making the written statement part of atonement, add a lifelong ban and compensation. I say that's a good start.

As for the coach, resigning is also not enough. He too needs a lifelong 'ban', and I would also say some jail time on top of the civil suits he's facing.

I believe the coach only resigned as coach. I understand he still has a high-ranking position at the university, though.

@DaDude

https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASL5Q4HKJL5QUTQP01R.html

The kid explained that he was benched a few days earlier because he "lacked motivation".

So, the coach told him this :

「（試合で使ってほしかったら）相手のクオーターバックを１プレー目で潰せ」

"If you want me to use you in a game, go crush the opposing quaterback in the first play."

When the kid said he'd do it, the coach added things like "It's meaningless if you don't really do it, you understand that ?".

dirty play is dirty play, and the American player knew full well about dirty play.  He knew it was wrong regardless and just took matters and interpretation into his own hands. Now there are coaches out there or in the past who did coax players to make dirty plays but not as openly as that one was. I was a victim of dirty play that caused me a season and not the same after that hit and damage to the knee. He should be in jail with hard labor along with the coach for his failure to be responsible.

@bjohnson The player is Japanese, not American. They're playing "American football".

Yeah, the coach: fined and fired, student: fined and no longer eligible to play school sports again. Hell, ban the entire university's team from competition.

A word of advice for athletes (and everyone else): If you have to use the Eichmann Defense, you're doing it wrong.

I have been a rugby coach at junior levels and I guess I may have said "go out and hit those guys as hard as you can" from time to time. I didn't expect players to hit any opposition players well after they threw the ball. That is kind of understood.

Unless the coach had a history of similar infractions, I would think that the player just went "rogue". Contrary to popular belief, not all contact sport participants are Rhodes scholars.

As a former rugby player, you can make a hard tackle legally; usually to try to make the other player lose confidence in their ability to get past you, though in the spirit of the game, you can also expect to be tackled hard yourself some time afterwards. Fair enough, that's the game.

An illegal tackle though, is always an illegal tackle, totally unacceptable; and is usually punished within the laws of the game. I'm not sure if police involvement is correct here, it should be dealt with by the club and American Football Association.

Not the exact same as a "coward punch" but given the metrics of what is considered acceptable in contact sports, some sensible comparisons can be easily drawn.

I have been a rugby coach at junior levels and I guess I may have said "go out and hit those guys as hard as you can" from time to time. I didn't expect players to hit any opposition players well after they threw the ball. That is kind of understood.

Spot on. Nothing wrong with a bit of biff in contact sports but off-the-ball incidents, king-hits/sucker punches etc are a totally different matter.

Nothing in this statement tells me that the coach ordered the player to make an illegal hit. I’ve played contact sports my entire life and have heard plenty of coaches say they want us to hit the opposing teams’ players hard. You can easily make a big hit on someone legally. What’s his explanation for making two more illegal hits after the first one on the quarterback? He was kicked out of the game by the fifth play! I have a feeling that this player acted out this why as a means to get revenge on his coach after getting humiliated by being told he wasn’t good enough and that he lacked motivation.

Standard "Coach Talk" Gotta hit the QB...... but hit him legally! Everyone who knows the game knows that if you hit the QB, he becomes less effective! Except Big Ben in Stealer town....who actually becomes more effective! But what I am curious about is how did the coach say it?? Injure him! Hit him no matter what???

Much ado about nothing...I’d like to know what the news is trying to not print by printing this sport injury endlessly.

As a player and a former coach, I would say this. Dirtiest hit seen in the longest time. Crush the QB does not translate to hit him that late and in that fashion. Nope, nope, nope. Only people who have no sense of sportsmanship would ever dream of doing such a nasty thing to another player. That was not crushing the QB. No player who understands, respects or loves the game ever wants to seriously injure another player. He is right. He should NEVER play American football again. In fact, he should see a counselor, because he has trouble with understanding right from wrong.

Crushing the QB is fine as long as it's within the bounds of the game

If the coach didn't mean it by that, why didn't the coach discipline him then immediately after the play? By keeping him in the game without a talking to, the coach pretty much gave him the implicit green light

And wasn't it just a scrimmage too? Not even a game that counts?

The act was wrong. But the fallout and hysteria is OTT.

Did you see him on the news tonight? I hope he doesn't do anything rash.

Stop hassling this boy and let him come to terms with his foolishness.

Well, I politely disagree. That hit was vicious and it was not only one time. He went after the other QB and another player after that ands as rightfully kicked out of the game. He was out of control and he deserves the media and public condemnation over his actions. He could have put that boy in a wheel chair, permanently. It is way to early for us to just forget and let him alone. Frankly, I would like to see him arrested.

 I made this written statement as a first step,,,

Which written statement?

as a first step toward to atonement,

Does nobody check the language before publishing?

Nothing wrong with a bit of biff in contact sports

wrong century dude. An NRL player was just banned for throwing one punch last weekend (he fractured the other blokes eye socket). Nothing wrong? That is macho BS. If you can't play within the rules, step aside.

he actually told him to "break" him. He said 壊してこい（こわしてこい）which actually means "break him"

It's too bad that JT didn't put the video up so it could be seen here for those that don't know how this is really close to criminal. This is equal to a basketball player going for a lay up and a player from the other team purposefully pushing his legs out from under him as he comes down.

This player went out of his way, chased the player down, and actually, lowered himself so he could hit him in the lower back like a battering ram in the lower back. Actually willfully lowered himself in full stride. Most of the time when a player is tackled from behind both players are standing up straight, not bent down over in a battering ram position aiming for the lower back. But when they do that, there is going to be a fight because it is just so dangerous to do and we know full well why it is so dangerous and would could actually happen to the player being hit.

And as far as the coach is concerned; if he would have told me to do that, I would have refused and most players would have as well. We might try to take a player out, but legally. Never like that. More importantly, you want to get into his head and let him know you are going to be in his face every single time. Hit him hard enough, he gets shook up and does not want to play anymore and starts thinking too much. And once again, he is out of his game. But what he did, was just trying to hurt him seriously. SMH. Watch the tape!!!

If you actually listened to the player during the press conference, you can tell that there was no ambiguity. He was told he would never get play time in the future unless he injured the opposing QB.

The assistant coach talked to him again to make sure the player understood, they would not accept an excuse like "there was no chance".

The instruction from the coach was clearly to injure the QB, not tackle him hard, plain and simple.

I am so angry about this incident. Both the player and coach should be banned for life from playing or coaching any form of sport in Japan. Their action could have made a rival player use the wheelchair, or killed him instantly.

There is no place in Japan sport for hurting rival competitors, in any way.

Good to see Miyagawa manning up and taking responsibility for his actions. I would hire him.

@Ganbare - There is no place in Japan for hunting rival competitors? Only Japan? Hmmmm. Well, you might want to get rid of all contact sports because players are targeted all the time. You must not like boxing or any kind of fighting sports. But just like in any other contact sport, there are things that are unacceptable and this was one of them. There is nothing wrong with targeting a player. Nothing at all. But how it was done, is the problem. By the way, don't tell me that does not happen in rugby. Cause it does. However, this play would not stand in America either. He would be banned for the rest of the year.

@Hide - I seriously doubt his account is accurate. No coach who has been involved with American football would ever tell his player to main another team's players. One, every coach has seen so many young players unable to play football again because of a serious injury and it sad to see. Two, if it ever gets out, they are done. Who wants to maim someone for a win? Nobody except a young man with too much testosterone flowing. I am sure that he was told to take him out but what he meant was KO him. Not main and handicap. You put people out of the game on defense and you will have playing time. That is a sure bet.

There is no place in Japan for hunting rival competitors? Only Japan? Hmmmm. Well, you might want to get rid of all contact sports because players are targeted all the time. You must not like boxing or any kind of fighting sports. But just like in any other contact sport, there are things that are unacceptable and this was one of them. There is nothing wrong with targeting a player. Nothing at all. But how it was done, is the problem. By the way, don't tell me that does not happen in rugby. Cause it does. However, this play would not stand in America either. He would be banned for the rest of the year.

100% Agreed.

Kay just saw the play for the first time.

Its totally dirty and he should rightly be held liable for any injury and damages.

He intentionally injured the man. This should be heavily punished in any sport, even combat or impact sport where it seems less un ordinary than say a golfer tackling another from behind.

But I don’t get why it’s national news for so long.

And if the coach told him to get the QB...uhhh, that’s actually a Defensive Linesman’s job.

He just seems totally crazy. If the coach was just getting him fired up and he decided to literally do it illegally, who’s to blame here?

Every football coach on earth wants their linesman to get to the QB and put him down. But nobody meant that!

Regardless of who said or did what, I fear this mindlessness, thoughtlessness. I thought sports was to develop quality people, not animal instincts. Sorry for the victim.

No question what the kid did was criminal. And according to another article he committed 2 more personal fouls after this incident and was eventually ejected from the game. The kid, who is an adult, needs to be accountable for his actions, but more so, the coaches and to a certain extent Nichidai (if there was any systematic cover-up).

@ Nessie: re the Eichmann defense: in Japan where pressure from authority, particularly at a renowned and top program as Nichidai, the coaches--who technically are still teachers--should be held to a higher standard.

A word of advice for athletes (and everyone else): If you have to use the Eichmann Defense, you're doing it wrong.

Word of advice, learn about the culture of Japan, and how underlings, not just in sports, but throughout society will go to great lengths to do what their superiors want done, even if not "specifically" told to do so.

It took a hell of a lot of guts for this young man to get up and tell everyone what happened. I sincerely hope that this experience does some good for him in his life!

As I noted in another thread, this player should not have been on the field. He already had 2 personal fouls against him and that should have had him ejected from the game.

BUT since he still was playing, it rather obvious that this kid wanted to play, and would have done anything to please his coaches, as proved by the previous fouls as well. He was trying to make an impression that he was "tough" and could follow orders too.

Sad to say, but this story doesn't really surprise me.

I knew a guy who was a wrestler who was blamed by his entire team for not winning a HS district tournament because he refused to go after an opponent's badly injured ankle (from a previous match). Even though he went on to win the match by a regular decision in points, he would have scored more points for his team by a pin or default. He told me he didn't touch the guy's injured ankle despite the shouts from his coaches and teammates to do just that. Anyway, they lost the tournament by a single point. Would he have done things differently in hindsight? "Hell no!", he told me and he went on to tell me that he wasn't going to cripple anybody for the rest of his life because of a sport.

@sandiegoluv

well, the player went to apologize to the injured player, had a press conference and told all the details and answered questions, while the former head-coach has been hiding and avoiding the press, and answered "I will answer it later in a written statement" when asked whether he gave the instructions to injure the opposing QB.

I believe the player . The university and the former head-coach can and should have their press conference if they believe the player lied during the press conference. But they are just waiting for time to pass and hoping people will move on and forget about this.

I am going to end my time in this debate by saying this.

Football players know what the coach meant, and it surely was not that. The coach can not come out because that is what he said. EXACTLY. But that is NOT what was meant. They say it all the time.

Yubaru - Sorry, that is not a good enough excuse. If you don't know the difference between right and seriously wrong, that is a personal problem. Don't blame culture.

The only funny part about this is how hard he was trying to squeeze out his crocodile tears during the interview but he couldn't quite do it

But they are just waiting for time to pass and hoping people will move on and forget about this.

Actually, the explanation is a lot less sinister than that; the school officials realized quite quickly that this player had committed a criminal assault on a player from another team. The advice to Miyagawa to remain silence was an attempt to shield him (and by extension the team) from legal consequences. Instead, this player admitted that he intentionally went out to assault the other player and cause him bodily harm (under alleged orders from the coach) and now criminal charges have been filed.

Miyagawa is a 20 year old adult, not a kid, and he assaulted someone. It doesn't matter that it happened on the field during a game. He admitted to the assault and he can and should be charged now.

Sorry, that is not a good enough excuse. If you don't know the difference between right and seriously wrong, that is a personal problem. Don't blame culture.

It's not an excuse, it's a fact.

There is no single fixed translation for Tsubuse! or Kowase! These are catch-all words that have a raft of meanings in English, such as "take the guy out, kill him, destroy the guy, crush him, smash him, get him, damage him, bust him, wreck him", etc.

Normally such play would be hidden but this guy did it super late and in plain view of everyone. Seriously bad timing and sheer stupidity. The only good things to come out of this are that a) his opponent was thankfully not too badly injured and b) light is yet again being shone on the power harrassment nature of Japanese coach-player structure.

＠sandiegoluv

The player committed serious fouls THREE times in the same game, and when he finally got ejected from the game, the coach did not yell at the player or anything, he was acting like everything is normal.

The coach just said " I will take responsibility for this" to other players as an explanation for the serious fouls.

The head-coach put pressure on the player, who is on a sport scholorship and have to obey pretty much everything the coach says.

No one who understands Japanese sports culture or just Japan would doubt this young man did what his coaches ordered him to do. That he has admitted it is what is different this time. The coach is primarily responsible for this action as well as the school as a whole for allowing such a coach to be in this position to start. This all fits in with other stories of harassment of athletes by superiors in Judo and Sumo, sometimes resulting in death. This time the opposing quarterback was the victim of such horrible behavior. He could have been paralyzed by the blindside hit.

I changed my opinion after finding something out that I had not known about. However, yes the claims that it was protecting the player are ridiculous. But I do know a lot of players, and that is why I reacted the way I did. That is just NOT something that coaches tell their players to do, but it seems that even monkeys fall from trees as is the case with this coach actually having 3rd year players practice how to actually injure players which is something just unheard of and astonishing. But in the end I still have to say, it was the player who did it. Not the coach. As a former player, and one who knows quite a few who agree, walking off would have been the reaction to such an ugly way to win a game. Just down right low down dirty dog of a way. That can not be overlooked. Both of them need to suffer for this one. I do respect him for holding the press conference himself while the school tried to stop him. But still, walk off the field and hold a press conference. Tell the media what is going on beforehand, never, ever lower your helmet and drive it like a battering ram into another player's lower back just cause you want to be able to continue playing and coach is being a weenie.

Darn it. Sorry for the repeat about being an ex-player and knowing many. My bad.