Northwestern football hazing allegations: Players claim ‘vile and inhumane’

Northwestern football is coming off a 1-11 season in 2022, and now a rapidly evolving scandal hangs over the Big Ten program weeks before the start of the season.

Hazing allegations led the school to suspend coach Pat Fitzgerald for two weeks, and new claims published by The Daily Northwestern student newspaper detail how brutal the rituals supposedly were.

Northwestern has some of the best seasons in program history under Fitzgerald, and despite last season’s record there was reason for optimism in 2023 as the school pushed for state-of-the-art renovations of Ryan Field. Now, the allegations hover above the team.

Here’s what you need to know about Northwestern’s hazing scandal and what allegedly went on within the program. (Warning: Sexual content is contained in the allegations.)

Northwestern football hazing allegations, explained

The Daily Northwestern reported Saturday that hazing rituals within the Northwestern football team involved “coerced sexual acts” in addition to physical punishment.

An anonymous player told the newspaper that the primary form of hazing was called “running,” an act in which the player would be “restrained” by several upperclassmen. They would then start “dry-humping” him in a dark locker room.

The Daily Northwestern reported that a second anonymous player confirmed the allegations.

“It’s just absolutely egregious and vile and inhumane behavior,” the first player told The Daily Northwestern, adding that Northwestern football has an “abrasive and barbaric culture that has permeated throughout that program for years on end now.”

The player claimed that upperclassmen would single out an individual for “running” with a hand signal and alleged that Fitzgerald sometimes made the signal himself during practices. Northwestern previously said its investigation could not conclude that Fitzgerald had any knowledge of hazing within the program.

The Daily Northwestern further reported that freshmen were allegedly “forced to strip naked and perform various acts,” including a ritual called “the carwash” that the player described as “extremely painful.” During “the carwash,” players would be forced to brush past other naked players before getting sprayed with a hose.

Both players claimed witnessing another ritual in which a freshman quarterback was forced to take a snap from a center while the two were both naked.

The first player said he reported what he knew to the university in November 2022.

A statement attributed to the “entire Northwestern football team” released Saturday night called the allegations “exaggerated and twisted,” going so far as to say the claims are “fabrications.”

Statement from Northwestern’s entire team pushing back against the allegations of hazing, which they call “exaggerated and twisted.” They also say coach Pat Fitzgerald had no knowledge or involvement in the allegations. pic.twitter.com/lMOAgCe0EB

— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) July 9, 2023

The statement…