Attorney in Northwestern lawsuit says 'dozens' of former players have reached out about hazing incidents

Things continue to look worse and worse for Northwestern in regard to several alleged incidents of hazing in the football program. On Monday, ESPN’s Adam Rittenburg reported that eight players have hired a civil rights attorney from Chicago-based firm Levin & Perconti for a lawsuit against the university for “physical, sexual and emotional abuse.”

Now the number of players in the lawsuit is expected to grow substantially as more people have come forward.

“Spoke with Steve Levin, one of the players’ attorneys,” Rittenburg tweeted in a second update Monday. “Told me firm has received “dozens” of calls from former players and they expect the group to grow from original 8. Players go back about 15 years at Northwestern. Levin would not say if whistleblower is part of the group.”

Northwestern fired coach Pat Fitzgerald on July 11 in wake of the reports of hazing among football players. Fitzgerald had been the coach for the past 17 seasons, so was with the program throughout the entirety of the time the alleged incidents occurred. He hired attorney Dan Webb shortly after his firing and claims he had no knowledge of any hazing activities.

Despite this, Levin clarified that the lawsuit it “not a case about Fitzgerald,” but rather “about Northwestern as an institution.” He also said there is “remarkable consistency” in the reports from both current and former players that has been “corroborated” by the report the university conducted.

“Northwestern itself based on an investigation that they commissioned, apparently felt that certain administrators at the university should have known about what happened,” Levin said. “We also know that if something has occurred this long over this period of time, involving this many students, it seems reasonable to assume that someone either knew or should have known. It’s distracting from the institution to try to pin this on one individual. It’s a systemic problem at the university.”

According to Levin & Perconti managing partner Margaret Battersby Black, multiple former players told the firm the “abusive culture” began when they were recruits aged 16 and 17.

The allegations first sprouted from “The Daily Northwestern,” the student newspaper at Northwestern University. The newspaper quoted multiple former players, claiming Fitzgerald fostered a hazing culture that included racism.

Specifically, the hazing involved a practice referred to as “running,” which targeted players, typically freshmen, who made a mistake on the field. When a player was designated as a running target, they would be held down by a group of 8-10 upperclassmen wearing masks and “dry-humped.”

ESPN also reported that the player who initially informed Northwestern of the hazing sent a screenshot of a whiteboard to support his claims. The board listed potential hazing activities called “naked slingshot,” “naked bear crawls” and “naked quarterback-center exchange.”

A lawsuit has not yet been filed as the firm continues to gather evidence to make its case. Levin added that he expects the full report from Northwestern to come out “eventually,” but did not provide a timetable.

“We’re going to continue our investigation; we’re going to eventually file a lawsuit; and we hope that maybe Northwestern will come to the table and say, ‘You know what, let’s see what we can do here,'” he said.