For those that don't know, Pat Fitzgerald was fired earlier this week from Northwestern. He is 47 years old, former linebacker at the school and just signed a 10 year $50M contract where he has coached for 16 years. He was routinely recruited by the NFL and turned down many offers to go to a much larger school. He easily could have made much more money elsewhere and the Bears tried to get him as their HC a couple years ago. He remained loyal to his alma mater and was a prolific fundraiser for the school, he essentially was spearheading raising money for an $800M stadium. By all accounts a great guy.
So why was he fired? Football hazing. Apparently this was bizarre type of hazing, when a player would make a mistake on the practice field, especially say a freshman, the upperclassmen would clap over his helmet. Then back in the locker room, this "running" ensued:
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.
While Fitzgerald claims he had no idea, which is hard to believe since he was a former player, this came out:
According to the player who spoke with The Daily, Fitzgerald repeatedly made the signal during practices when players, specifically freshmen, made a mistake.
Then there is this:
In a once-a-year tradition dubbed “the carwash,” the first player said that some players would stand naked at the entrance to the showers and spin around, forcing those entering the showers to “basically (rub) up against a bare-naked man.” Upon entering the showers, the player alleged that players set up a hose they connected to the shower to spray people.
And then there is this:
The player also alleged that he witnessed and was forced to participate in what he called a naked center-quarterback exchange, wherein a freshman quarterback was forced to take an under-center snap from a freshman center, while both players were naked.
Fuck man, this is bizarre. I normally think a little hazing is fine, but this looks like a sexually charged locker room. No wonder they went 1-8 in the Big Ten last year. Ironically, an Assistant Coach on the team took over HC duties. LOL, I mean it's not like he was not aware either. Oh, there are calls to cancel the new stadium. I am just wondering if this had happened at say a successful SEC school versus the very liberal Northwestern if this whole issue would have been buried.
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