Northwestern Football Coach Pat Fitzgerald Suspended Two Weeks After Hazing Allegations

An anonymous ex-Northwestern football player made disturbing allegations about hazing and other rituals related to the program when he spoke to another media outlet.

Northwestern announced Friday that it had suspended coach Pat Fitzgerald for two weeks
without pay following an investigation into allegations of hazing.
Northwestern said that it didn’t find “sufficient evidence” that Fitzgerald or the coaching staff was aware of the hazing.

The Evanston university institution was made aware of the allegations in November of 2022, according to an article published in the Daily Northwestern.

The player also told The Daily that head coach Pat Fitzgerald may have known that hazing took place.

“I’ve seen it with my own eyes, and
it’s just absolutely egregious and vile and inhumane behavior,” the
player, who asked to remain anonymous in this story, said.

From the Daily Northwestern article: 'The former player said he reported his experiences to the University in late November 2022. He alleges that much of the team’s hazing centered around a practice dubbed “running,” which was used to punish team members, primarily freshman, for mistakes made on the field and in practice.'

Further stated in the article was that 'If a player was selected for “running,” the player who spoke to The Daily said, they would be restrained by a group of 8-10 upperclassmen dressed in various “Purge-like” masks, who would then begin “dry-humping” the victim in a dark locker room.'

“It’s a shocking experience as a freshman to see your fellow freshman teammates get ran, but then you see everybody bystanding in the locker room,” the player said. “It’s just a really abrasive and barbaric culture that has permeated throughout that program for years on end now.”

The Daily obtained images of whiteboards labeled “Runsgiving” and “Shrek’s List,” containing a list of names indicating players that the player said needed to be “ran.”

According to the Daily, the player said the tradition was especially common during training camp and around Thanksgiving and Christmas, which he said the team called “Runsgiving” and “Runsmas.”

“It’s done under this smoke and mirror of ‘oh, this is team bonding,’ but no, this is sexual abuse,” the player said.

According to the former player, team members allegedly identified players for “running” by clapping their hands above their heads around that player. The practice, the player said, was known within the team as “the Shrek clap.”

Daily Northwestern Source Article

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