When a program suspends a player or coach for what seems like a "strange" amount of time, it feels like they're just trying to cover something up and hopefully nobody notices. Northwestern suspended Pat Fitzgerald for hazing within his team for two weeks in the summer, where he won't miss any camps or practices. They basically gave him an unpaid vacation. Someone refresh my memory, wasn't Cam Newton suspended for an afternoon after Auburn looked into the amount of money his father received for Cam transferring to Auburn?
The Northwestern Football program has been struggling lately, they went 1-11 last season and the joke was, they didn't have a win in the United States as Northwestern beat Scott Frost and Nebraska overseas to start the season in August. That was after a 3-9 campaign in 2021. The Wildcats did perform well during the 2020 COVID year and went 7-2 and won a Citrus Bowl. 2019 was 3-9 as well.
Not too many coaches survive a 1-11 and 3-9 years back-to-back, but Fitz is considered a Northwestern legend. He played at Northwestern and turned a lowly football program into something much better. He had been rumored twice to be a candidate for Michigan openings and even the Chicago Bears at one point. Northwestern has plans to open a new football stadium and probably wanted Pat to be around to open that new facility and see if the program can rebound.
Now the hazing allegations are made known and of course the reports are much worse than the original Northwestern report alleges. A former player alleges there was some type of sexual hazing for underclassmen that made mistakes on the field and he even shared a Shrek's list of punishments that was written on a white board in the locker room. Everyone from the local student paper to ESPN is covering this story and now Northwestern is forced to re-review the situation and punishment given to Pat Fitzgerald.
The Northwestern Football team players are supporting their head coach and said, these things didn't happen. "These fabrications have been made with the intention of harming our program and tarnish the reputation of our dedicated players and coaching staff," they stated, in part. "We firmly deny the validity of these accusations and stand united in our assertion that they do not reflect the true character of the team."
Pat Fitzgerald also released a statement after he was suspended: “I was very disappointed when I heard about the allegations of hazing on our football team,” Fitzgerald said in a statement. “Although I was not aware of the alleged incidents, I have spoken to university officials, and they informed me of a two-week suspension, effective immediately. Northwestern football prides itself on producing not just athletes, but fine young men with character befitting the program and our university. We hold our student-athletes and our program to the highest standards; we will continue to work to exceed those standards moving forward.”
What does Northwestern do? You now have a coach who has won 4 games in the last 2 years and has a serious hazing allegation levied against his program. To me, the "I didn't know" defense is troubling either way. He is responsible for everything that happens in that locker room and on the field. It's his job to know and with all the staff and coaches that's around a major college program, someone who gets a paid check and reports to Pat, knew what was going on.
The other factor in this decision is we are basically 6 weeks away from the start of the season and plans are in place for a new stadium. What does Northwestern do?
1 comment:
Guess I never understood the sexual stuff as a form of hazing/punishment. Look I see nothing wrong with making a guy tote a football around campus if he's got the dropsies. Or making him run the stairs if he's dogging it in practice. Whether it be sports teams or the military, units disciplining their own ranks is what keeps cohesion! You do have to draw the line when it comes to anything life threating or threat of physical injury.
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