Bruins signing Miller 'minimizes' bullying victim's experience, his mother says

The mother of the classmate Mitchell Miller bullied said the Boston Bruins' decision to sign Miller to an entry-level contract "blindsided" her family.

"Isaiah is just victimized over and over again because Mitchell's a good hockey player," Joni Meyer-Crothers told The Athletic's Fluto Shinzawa. "So it's like you don't have to show that you've grown and you're remorseful because you're a good hockey player. ...

"So it minimizes what Isaiah's went through and makes him feel like he went through everything in vain. That his life doesn't matter. And his life does matter. His life matters significantly."

Miller admitted in court in 2016 that he bullied Joni's developmentally disabled son Isaiah, according to the Arizona Republic's Craig Harris and Jose M. Romero. Isaiah, who is Black, said Miller frequently called him the N-word and "brownie" while harassing him for years as they grew up together in Ohio. In one incident, Miller and another classmate tricked Isaiah into eating a piece of candy they had wiped along the inside of a urinal.

Joni said Miller contacted her son through Instagram recently.

"The only time he sought Isaiah out to apologize to him was about a week and a half ago when Boston told him, 'We're not signing you unless you apologize,'" she said.

"So then he decided, 'Hey, I better get ahold of Isaiah and apologize.' ... He tried to sit down with Isaiah and tell him he was sorry, but it was all because of this, because of being signed by Boston. It was about hockey. ... So it's empty."

Boston general manager Don Sweeney admitted Friday that signing Miller could have been the "wrong" choice, per WEEI's Scott McLaughlin. Sweeney added that the team didn't speak to the Meyer-Crothers family but that the Bruins were involved in getting Miller to reach out to his former peer.

Joni said she has no interest in speaking to Sweeney, but that she would invite Nick Foligno, Patrice Bergeron, and Brad Marchand into her home after hearing their comments.

"I was very impressed with what they said. Extremely impressed," she said. "That definitely gave us comfort."

In the press release announcing the signing, both Miller and Bruins president Cam Neely said the 20-year-old will continue to participate in educational and community programs.

Joni said she's "thankful" the Bruins want to help Miller but the signing still sends the wrong message.

Miller's agent, Eustace King, addressed the situation Sunday morning.

King, who is Black, said he respects the "fierce emotions" in response to Miller's behavior but his client has committed to accountability and healing.

The Bruins reversed their decision regarding Miller later on Sunday, announcing that "based on new information" he would no longer be given the opportunity to represent the team.