Ex-player requires Fitzgerald ouster after questions

• Adam Rittenberg, ESPN

  • Senior WriterJul 9, 2023, 09:49 PM ET Close College football reporter.
  • Joined ESPN.com in 2008.
  • Graduate of Northwestern University.A former Northwestern football

  player who stepped forward with accusations of prevalent hazing within the program spoke Sunday with university president Michael Schill, who is thinking about harsher discipline for coach Pat Fitzgerald.The former player, who spoke to ESPN on the condition of privacy

  , stated he told Schill about the hazing he witnessed and experienced at Northwestern, much of which he said was sexualized. Schill, in a letter sent out late Saturday to the Northwestern neighborhood, had actually said he will reassess the two-week suspension Fitzgerald got Friday following a university-commissioned investigation of the hazing accusations.”Fitz absolutely knew about hazing in this program,”the previous player informed ESPN.”Fitz absolutely stopped working by not intervening. Fitz knew, and he ought to have made it stop; and if he really did not understand, he should not be the head coach. In either case, he must not be the head coach, since he is not keeping track of and protecting the security and well-being of student-athletes. “Fitzgerald, the team’s coach given that 2006 and an embellished

  former Northwestern player, said in a declaration on Friday that he had no knowledge of hazing activities within the program. The university’s examination, led by lawyer Maggie Hickey and the ArentFox Schiff company, found that while the former player’s claims were “largely supported by the proof,”coaches did not understand about ongoing hazing– although they had opportunities to discover and report problematic conduct. The school did not launch specific findings.Northwestern players on Saturday released a statement supporting Fitzgerald, stating he had no knowledge of the alleged occurrences which the allegations from the previous player were” exaggerated and twisted. “The previous player said Sunday that Schill was” very receptive “to his accounts of hazing within the program and offered him resources to deal with the trauma.A present Northwestern player, who asked to remain anonymous, likewise informed ESPN on Sunday that the former player, whose hazing allegations late in 2022 released the

  examination, notified him of a detailed strategy with the sole objective to take down Fitzgerald. The present player on Sunday communicated a discussion he stated he had early this year with the former player to Northwestern trustees and other prominent university figures. “He simply kept highlighting,’Yeah, it’ll be okay. I’m simply trying to get Coach Fitz fired,'”the existing player told ESPN.”I do not believe he ever acknowledged what he’s saying is

  not true. It was much like, ‘I may embellish or exaggerate to get Coach Fitz fired.’He stated his sole objective was to see Coach Fitz rot in jail.”The truth is none of that stuff happened in our locker room.” Editor’s Picks 1 Related The current player said the former player told him he would go public

with in-depth accusations if the university’s investigation did not result in Fitzgerald’s dismissal and referenced the 2021 scenario including athletic director Mike Polisky, who stepped down amid media and public pressure nine days after being promoted. Polisky had been named as an offender in a suit filed by a previous Northwestern cheerleader.”He was believing he could do the same with Coach Fitz, if he went to The Daily Northwestern and went public with it, “the current player said.Told of the existing player’s account, the former player said he wanted to”definitely look for action to get Fitz out of the program”however that

he had other goals.”I wish to clarify this abhorrent, illegal habits,”the previous player stated.” I wanted unlawful behavior out of the program.

This is an absolutely barbaric and outright culture that eventually rests on the shoulders of the head coach.” The former player told ESPN that hazing was organized and widespread in Northwestern’s program, frequently led by a group of older players called the”Shrek gang.” The group would lead a hazing activity called “running,”usually against freshmen or younger players who had actually made mistakes in practice, he said. According to the previous player, older players using masks would restrain the victim in a dark locker space and engage in sexualized behavior. The previous player said he was”run”as a freshman.”They have been held down against their will by numerous upperclassmen with masks on and have been violently dry-humped in a dark space, “the former player stated.”This is Title IX stuff, this is sexual assault and sexual attack. I don’t understand why the university isn’t making the details public.”The previous player said Fitzgerald signaled for players to be contributed to” Shrek’s list”with a specific clapping motion throughout practice. He said he saw Fitzgerald make the movement at least five times because the 2020 season.”He would be smiling menacingly at the individual who screwed up, while simultaneously clapping his hands over his head in the specific way, i.e., our head coach interacting that this individual did something incorrect and requires to be placed on the list and hazed appropriately. The vast majority of the team would then participate in, following Fitz’s lead,” the previous player said.The existing player informed ESPN that the team begins practices with slow claps but that he has actually never seen Fitzgerald take part in the clapping as a signal.The former player stated names would be contributed to a whiteboard in the locker space and that the “running”would then happen at certain times of the year, consisting of Thanksgiving and Christmas. The former player sent out ESPN an image of a whiteboard, headlined”

SHREK’S LIST “and listing the names of players, in addition to bulleted items that included “naked slingshot,””naked bear crawls,””naked [center-quarterback] exchange”and”naked pass rush. “”That was in the middle of the locker room for all eyes to see throughout my whole time in the program, “the former player said.”I will say with one hundred percent certainty that every person who has actually ever been available in this program between 2020 and now has actually seen [the whiteboard] Every single player in this program from 2020 to 2023 understands what Shrek is and knows about the hazing that occurs.”The present Northwestern player informed ESPN that he never ever heard of “Shrek’s list”and had never ever seen the whiteboard in the locker space. He included that Fitzgerald avoids of the locker space, informing players it belongs to them.The previous player described other instances of hazing in which players needed to perform naked acts in the locker space, consisting of simulating the center-quarterback exchange in football games. He pointed out the” automobile wash,”in which naked linemen soaped up their bodies and blocked the entrance to the group showers. He likewise described the “Gatorade shake difficulty,”in which three freshmen were forced to consume as many Gatorade shakes as they might within 10 minutes.”I never ever saw somebody not violently toss up either throughout or after the challenge,”the former player stated. “I have actually seen freshmen required to get involved get ill from this tradition for a number of days following the event.” Another previous player who played early in Fitzgerald’s tenure informed ESPN that he saw the”Gatorade shake challenge “as well as the “vehicle wash.

“The second previous player discussed other events in which players were pushed to do naked pullups and other things in a gym during preseason camp in Wisconsin.” Did I feel comfortable? Not actually. However did I feel like I had an option? No,”

the other previous player stated.”Some people thought it was enjoyable, while other people thought it wasn’t a cool experience. It was very terrible. Because sense, it does indicate a culture due to the fact that there’s a fine line as it pertains, is this team bonding, team building, or is this hazing?”The whistleblower stated he spoke with

other former Northwestern players who concluded their professions before he reached the program and that they saw the exact same hazing activities.The former player likewise said Northwestern’s assistant coaches were irresponsible about the hazing. He said he experienced numerous circumstances in which his position coach was inquired about”Shrek,” just for the coach to “put his hands up in the air and say, ‘Stop talking

. I don’t want to know anything about it.'”The present player, who shared the exact same position room as the former player, stated “Shrek”never ever came up in meetings.Asked about Saturday

‘s declaration from the team pressing back against his allegations, the previous player told ESPN: “Clearly, individuals are going to come out and openly support Fitz and openly oppose hazing, however naturally there would be this response due to the fact that a lot of people within this program are either wrongdoers or onlookers. “