![]() (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)īuckner told the Tribune he is still looking at exactly what additions must be made to Illinois law to best protect student-athletes. Northwestern University merchandise for sale at a shop across the street from Ryan Field on July 10, 2023, in Evanston. Jason Li, a junior at Northwestern, said he doesn’t keep up with the football team but now sees hazing as something the whole campus community should be more aware of. “The fact that is happening here at this renowned school with a renowned athletics department and (recreation) facilities and stuff is really big,” she said. Lu added that she agreed with calls for Fitzgerald to resign. She called the hazing reports unsettling, especially since the behavior happened “just down the street,” she said. “We see again, (Northwestern) administration, failing to like, step up and like, do things about the well-being of students,” she said. Timeline: Pat Fitzgerald’s Northwestern football career ]Įvanston resident Cathy Lu, who graduated from Northwestern in the spring, said the allegations of hazing were not at all surprising, adding that she’s found the school to generally be complacent when it comes to students’ concerns. Pat Fitzgerald is fired as Northwestern football coach in the wake of a hazing scandal: ‘The culture. ![]() And then ultimately, I went to SIU and it was better and the culture was better, and there was no hazing outside of things like making the freshmen carry your pads during training camp,” Jones said. “When I went to Northwestern, I thought it was awful, I hated it and I wanted to quit. Now an orthopedic surgeon based in Cortez, Colorado, Jones said it’s disappointing to see the kind of abuse he and his teammates faced more than two decades ago is still prevalent. Jones left Northwestern in 2004 and transferred to Southern Illinois University before playing a full NFL season with the Minnesota Vikings. Just some of the physical punishments that we endured were pretty barbaric and really counterproductive to being an effective football player.” “A lot of drinking … the mental anxiety that I had and other players had regarding what was about to happen was pretty overwhelming to the point that I couldn’t eat, I felt sick to my stomach. ![]() “I do not like thinking about my experience at Northwestern. He said he’s always correlated his fallout and troubled past to his time as a student-athlete at Northwestern. In 2004, Jones, then 21, was arrested after an altercation at a football game. “At the end of the day, it’s harmful, it’s negative, and it has a lasting impact on people.”Ī flag outside Ryan Field, home to Northwestern University football, on July 10, 2023, in Evanston. “The culture there is similar to the one we see in fraternities - it was hazing where it’s under the guise of team building or camaraderie,” he said. For instance, he detailed a hazing custom known 20 years ago as “the loofah line.” Jones said during preseason training camp in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the offensive linemen used to stand naked with soap all over, facing each other while the freshmen students were forced to walk through them. Jones said while some people are quick to call whistleblowers “liars,” those who have seen up-close the culture of hazing believe there is truth to the allegations. “I don’t blame Coach Fitzgerald for that - he wasn’t the head coach at the time but was supportive of me.” “I had a terrible experience there,” he said. Column: Pat Fitzgerald’s coaching legacy is tarnished after a hazing scandal he refused to publicly acknowledge ]īraden Jones, who played football at Northwestern in 20, said news of the allegations was triggering.
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