Two students who were there told ABC7 News the video was from a football practice at El Cerrito High School. One student said it happened in 2019, although it just recently gained traction online.
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A spokesperson for the West Contra Costa County Unified School District confirmed to ABC7 News that the district is aware of the incident.
"This behavior is unacceptable and inconsistent with WCCUSD's values," spokesperson Raechelle Forrest said in a statement. "The safety of our students and staff are our top priority and we take these matters very seriously. The district is currently conducting a full investigation, and we will take the appropriate steps pending the investigation's results."
On Wednesday, the school district released the following statement to ABC7 News:
"While the incident is still being investigated, we want you to know that we do not tolerate anything that puts our students' safety at risk. The drills displayed are unacceptable. We have placed the head coach on administrative leave until a full investigation is complete. The district is investigating this matter. We can confirm that the incident occurred in 2019."
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WATCH: School district investigating video of brutal youth football drill
School district investigating video of brutal youth football drill
The video has over 2 million views on Twitter and has prompted responses from prominent NFL players, coaches and sports analysts who are expressing concern over the players' safety.
"This is so far out of line, it's horrible," former NFL coach Jim Mora tweeted. "Who can ever justify this? If a coach teaches this, he isn't someone you should ever allow your kid around. This is horrible."
"Fire these coaches on the spot," former 49er Adam Snyder wrote.
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"Parents do your homework- do not allow your kids to play for coaches that do drills like this. This is not football!" ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit said.