Former Arizona draft pick Mitchell Miller makes first public comments since team ditched him

As you may recall, Mitchell Miller was drafted by the Arizona Coyotes in 2020, their top draft pick although he wasn't taken until the fourth round. Shortly after, his rights were renounced by the team after a story came out that Miller had been convicted in court of bullying a mentally-disabled teen back when both were 14-years-old. Miller was also dropped by his university hockey team, although he was allowed to continue studying there. Now, Miller is making his first public comments on the issue in an interview with AZCoyoteInsider.com, a site started by Craig Morgan, formally of The Athletic.

"I totally understand why people are mad at me," Miller said. "It obviously was wrong, what I did, and I said what I said to Isaiah (the boy he was convicted of bullying). I'll own up to everything I did. I'm not going to try to defend myself. I was definitely wrong. I don't want it to define my life or my hockey career, but I take all ownership of what I did."

"This isn't about saving my career. Obviously, I want to play hockey. It's my dream, but I want to let everyone know that I made a mistake and how sincere and sorry I am that I affected their family and their lives. I got dropped by Arizona and North Dakota, but it's not about saving my career. It's letting people know what I did was wrong. Again, I take all ownership of what I did and I'm not going to defend myself on all of that stuff. I've just got to take it, but I have matured since eighth grade."

The mother of Isaiah Meyer-Crothers has publicly stated that Miller never apologized to her child for what he put him through, which involved racial slurs, punching and tricking the boy into licking a lollipop that had been wiped in a urinal. Miller did reportedly write an apology to the boy, but she contends that was court ordered and Isaiah never received a copy. She even replied to the Tweet of the story from the original author reiterating that point.




The ruling also stated Miller was to have no contact with his victim, which Miller says he has followed. Asked what he would say to Meyer-Crothers if he could talk to him, Miller said he would apologize.

"I would definitely apologize again; just tell him how sincere I am and how sorry I am that it affected his life," he said. "If I could talk to him again I think we could be friends again. I wasn't allowed to talk to him, so I haven't had the chance to apologize to him face-to-face, but I would like to catch up with him. We were good friends, so I'd like to see how he's doing and what he's been doing since eighth grade."

"I kind of lost everything because of this, but it obviously affected their family way more. It affected them the most, but from my side, I have realized how much I lost, and it made me think about my life. I started seeing a counselor right after it all happened, and I still see a counselor when I go back home to figure out how to keep going and follow a dream. It goes both ways, but I think it helped me become a better person and become more mature."

Miller also stated he would like a second chance.

"I hope to share my story with others of what happened to me and Isaiah, and I hope we can sit face to face and chat, maybe later in life,» he said. "From a hockey standpoint, I think I deserve a second chance to play again and I have learned from my mistakes, but it will definitely be a tough road. Even after eighth grade, it was tough going from there to play for different teams and explaining what I did and what I have learned."

Morgan notes that he did the interview by explaining to Mitchell and his parents that he would ask tough questions and Miller was to be the only person allowed on the phone with him. In other words, no one could coach him on his answers. It will be interesting to see if this is enough to get his hockey career back on track or whether that ship has sailed.