1 00:00:08,080 --> 00:00:11,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Playing Dirty Sports Scandals with me, Jay Harris. 2 00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:14,960 Speaker 1: You're a discerning yet bold guide through some of the murkiest, 3 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:19,240 Speaker 1: juiciest sports scandals in history. Yes, indeed, there is a 4 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:21,560 Speaker 1: lot of messiness that goes on behind the scenes of 5 00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:24,360 Speaker 1: your favorite games, and plenty of the athletes you look 6 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:27,480 Speaker 1: up to have turned out to have downright questionable tastes 7 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:38,920 Speaker 1: when it comes to choices outside the spotlight. Over the 8 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:41,600 Speaker 1: past twenty years of my career as a journalists in sportscaster, 9 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:45,120 Speaker 1: I've hosted a variety of ESPN shows from SportsCenter to 10 00:00:45,159 --> 00:00:48,120 Speaker 1: Outside the Lines. But on Playing Dirty, my job is 11 00:00:48,159 --> 00:00:51,160 Speaker 1: to roll up my sleeves and spill the juice about 12 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:55,240 Speaker 1: the less palatable side of sports. Today's tail on tap 13 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:58,760 Speaker 1: is anything but smooth, so cleanse your palatee why you can. 14 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:04,400 Speaker 1: Here we go again, delving into the darkness to explore 15 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:07,720 Speaker 1: an insidious practice that many athletes endure as a rite 16 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:11,760 Speaker 1: of passage, hazing. There's a lot to unpack about hazing, 17 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:15,440 Speaker 1: so let's start with some basic history. What is hazing, 18 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:18,760 Speaker 1: When did it start? And why do people put up 19 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:22,039 Speaker 1: with it? Hazing has been around since at least three 20 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:26,000 Speaker 1: eighty seven BC, when the Greek philosopher Plato founded his school, 21 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:31,080 Speaker 1: which was unoriginally called Plato's Academy, he recorded seeing boys 22 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:34,440 Speaker 1: playing practical jokes and was not at all happy about it. 23 00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:38,560 Speaker 1: In fact, Plato criticized the student behavior he witnessed as 24 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:42,560 Speaker 1: practical jokes played by unruly young men that injured the 25 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:45,840 Speaker 1: haes and citizens who got in the way. Back in 26 00:01:45,880 --> 00:01:48,920 Speaker 1: Plato's time, the word hazing was not widely used yet, 27 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:52,880 Speaker 1: and so everyone dubbed this practice penalism, meaning a system 28 00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:56,600 Speaker 1: of mild depression and torment practiced upon first year students. 29 00:01:57,120 --> 00:02:01,520 Speaker 1: Panalism continued throughout the years, eventually evolving into hazing as 30 00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:05,040 Speaker 1: we know it today. So what exactly does modern day 31 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:08,960 Speaker 1: hazing consist of and why is it so prevalent in sports? 32 00:02:10,120 --> 00:02:13,640 Speaker 1: Hazing in sports, a practice often shrouded in secrecy but 33 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:16,720 Speaker 1: still considered a tradition in many locker rooms across the 34 00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:20,000 Speaker 1: United States and world at large, has been a contentious 35 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:23,960 Speaker 1: issue for decades. From high schools to professional sports teams, 36 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:27,560 Speaker 1: the initiation practice of hazing, often seen as a rite 37 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:31,320 Speaker 1: of passage for athletes, has ranged from uncomfortable pranks to 38 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:36,080 Speaker 1: downright illegal activities. While the underlying theory behind hazing is 39 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:39,880 Speaker 1: that it increases solidarity among a group's inductees and forges 40 00:02:39,960 --> 00:02:44,840 Speaker 1: stronger team bonds. The reality is frequently the opposite. Hazing 41 00:02:44,919 --> 00:02:49,639 Speaker 1: often leaves lasting physical and psychological scars. Plus A two 42 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:52,359 Speaker 1: thousand and seven survey of student athletes conducted by a 43 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:56,560 Speaker 1: researcher Van Ralty found that hazing was actually associated with 44 00:02:56,800 --> 00:03:01,480 Speaker 1: lower task cohesion and had no apparent relation to social cohesion. 45 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:06,120 Speaker 1: Due to its lack of confirmed benefits and extremely clear drawbacks, 46 00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:10,160 Speaker 1: most institutions have now increased scrutiny around hazing and have 47 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:14,040 Speaker 1: zero tolerance policies for the harmful actions once brushed off 48 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:19,320 Speaker 1: routinely as team building traditions. The National Collegiate Athletic Association 49 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:24,160 Speaker 1: or NCAA is one such institution which has defined hazing 50 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:27,800 Speaker 1: as any act committed against someone joining or becoming a 51 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:33,640 Speaker 1: member or maintaining membership in any organization that is humiliating, intimidating, 52 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:37,360 Speaker 1: or demeaning, or endangers the health and safety of the person. 53 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:41,920 Speaker 1: Given how sizable the NCAA is as an organization spanning 54 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:46,480 Speaker 1: eleven hundred schools nationwide, it is astonishing that hazing continues 55 00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:50,520 Speaker 1: to remain prevalent amongst athletes on college campuses, despite this 56 00:03:50,720 --> 00:03:56,560 Speaker 1: organization's clear anti hazing stance, but prevalent it is. According 57 00:03:56,600 --> 00:03:58,800 Speaker 1: to a national survey, more than a quarter of a 58 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:01,880 Speaker 1: million students in some form of hazing to join a 59 00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:05,160 Speaker 1: college athletic team. One in five of these students was 60 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:10,120 Speaker 1: subjected to unacceptable or illegal hazing, such as being kidnapped, beaten, 61 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:13,720 Speaker 1: or tied up and abandoned. Half were required to participate 62 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:17,520 Speaker 1: in drinking contests, and two thirds were subjected to humiliation 63 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:21,279 Speaker 1: such as being stripped, naked, or forced to deprive themselves 64 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:26,120 Speaker 1: of sleep, food, or personal hygiene. Hank Newer, a leading 65 00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:29,120 Speaker 1: hazing research or an author, has said that hazing is 66 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:33,400 Speaker 1: an extraordinary activity that, when it occurs often enough, becomes 67 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:37,440 Speaker 1: perversely ordinary, as those who engage in it grow desensitized 68 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:42,760 Speaker 1: to its inhumanity. That in and of itself is terrifying, 69 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:46,960 Speaker 1: and the outcomes of this level of desensitization are tragic. 70 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:53,320 Speaker 1: Sometimes it's even fatal. Newer's research into hazing deaths from schools, clubs, 71 00:04:53,320 --> 00:04:56,080 Speaker 1: and organizations in the US stretched back as far as 72 00:04:56,240 --> 00:05:00,479 Speaker 1: eighteen thirty eight, with at least one fatality reported each year. 73 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:07,239 Speaker 1: From nineteen fifty nine to twenty nineteen. That's horrible. Hazing 74 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:10,080 Speaker 1: is a scourge on society, and it's taking a serious 75 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:14,800 Speaker 1: toll on athletes. Digesting the gravity of the hazing situation 76 00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:19,560 Speaker 1: requires small SIPs, So let's consider a few different examples together. 77 00:05:22,279 --> 00:05:24,640 Speaker 1: Just in the past few years alone, there have been 78 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:28,360 Speaker 1: a few stand out hazing scandals that demonstrate the devastation 79 00:05:28,520 --> 00:05:32,719 Speaker 1: hazing reeks on people's lives. First, there's the hazing incident 80 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:35,920 Speaker 1: that took place in March twenty sixteen at Wheaton College, 81 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:41,440 Speaker 1: a private evangelical Christian university in suburban Chicago. Charles Nagy, 82 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:44,560 Speaker 1: a freshman, says he was kidnapped and beaten by his 83 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:49,440 Speaker 1: former football teammates. According to Nagy's complaint, his then teammates 84 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:52,719 Speaker 1: Duck taped his arms and legs, put a pillowcase over 85 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:56,320 Speaker 1: his head, and carried him into a car. They pulled 86 00:05:56,360 --> 00:05:59,320 Speaker 1: down his shorts and tried to insert an object into 87 00:05:59,360 --> 00:06:02,840 Speaker 1: his rectum, punching Naggie when he yelled for them to stop. 88 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:06,240 Speaker 1: Neggi claims they then left him half naked on a 89 00:06:06,240 --> 00:06:10,520 Speaker 1: baseball diamond and took his cell phone. Naggi suffered shoulder 90 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:14,760 Speaker 1: injuries and was left emotionally and physically traumatized. According to 91 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:18,479 Speaker 1: the lawsuit, he withdrew from the college shortly after the attack. 92 00:06:19,279 --> 00:06:22,640 Speaker 1: Neggi has accused Wheaton College officials and coaches of turning 93 00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:26,440 Speaker 1: a blind eye to this horrific campus tradition of violently 94 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:30,000 Speaker 1: hazing freshman football players and doing nothing to prevent the 95 00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:33,520 Speaker 1: alleged violence, and what Neggi claimed must have borne some 96 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:37,479 Speaker 1: weight because Wheaton College did settle with him, seeming to 97 00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:42,120 Speaker 1: acknowledge his genuine suffering. But despite Wheaton College's acknowledgment of 98 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:45,839 Speaker 1: the gravity of Naggi's allocations, the five players named of 99 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:49,400 Speaker 1: the complaint all ended up pleading guilty to just misdemeanors 100 00:06:49,400 --> 00:06:53,920 Speaker 1: with a penalty of conditional discharge and public service. What 101 00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:58,279 Speaker 1: if you were kidnapped, tied up, and sexually assaulted, the 102 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:00,760 Speaker 1: expectation would be that your attack it will be facing 103 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:04,640 Speaker 1: a far more serious legal outcome. Right. I don't know 104 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:06,960 Speaker 1: about you, but it seems like the justice system let 105 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:09,359 Speaker 1: these dirty players walk with a slap on the wrist, 106 00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:13,000 Speaker 1: and given Naggy's harrowing account of what went down, the 107 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:16,520 Speaker 1: lenient sentencing, at least for me, is hard to swallow. 108 00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:21,200 Speaker 1: If Nagy's experience at Wheaton College makes you spitting mad, 109 00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:26,720 Speaker 1: embrace yourself with what happened at New Mexico State University. 110 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:31,160 Speaker 1: According to the Office of New Mexico Attorney General Raoulu Torres, 111 00:07:31,720 --> 00:07:36,960 Speaker 1: three basketball players DeSandre Washington, Doctor Bradley, and Kim Aiken 112 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:41,040 Speaker 1: Junior were accused of holding younger players and student staff 113 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:45,560 Speaker 1: against their will while they violated them, including by violently 114 00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:50,280 Speaker 1: grabbing victim's genital areas. The three former players are each 115 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:53,760 Speaker 1: charged with rape, along with four counts of false imprisonment, 116 00:07:54,120 --> 00:07:57,560 Speaker 1: four counts of criminal sexual contact, and one count of 117 00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:01,160 Speaker 1: conspiracy to commit criminal sexual c cost contact and one 118 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:04,760 Speaker 1: count of conspiracy to commit false imprisonment. These are all 119 00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:08,400 Speaker 1: fourth degree felonies, and the Associated Press has reported that 120 00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:12,320 Speaker 1: Dechendre Washington, and doctor Bradley could face twenty seven years 121 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:15,640 Speaker 1: in prison if convicted on thirteen charges a piece Kim 122 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:19,240 Speaker 1: Acin Junior could face twenty four years on eleven charges. 123 00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:23,200 Speaker 1: New Mexico State University has already settled with some of 124 00:08:23,200 --> 00:08:26,920 Speaker 1: the victims, paying out eight million dollars to date. The 125 00:08:26,960 --> 00:08:30,040 Speaker 1: coach of the basketball team, Greg Hayer, has been fired 126 00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:33,200 Speaker 1: and NMSU players are back on the court with new 127 00:08:33,280 --> 00:08:37,800 Speaker 1: leadership and stricter policies. Hazing has no place on our campus, 128 00:08:37,880 --> 00:08:41,600 Speaker 1: and those found responsible will be held accountable for their actions, 129 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:45,200 Speaker 1: Chancellor Dan E. R. Vizu said in an open letter 130 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:49,760 Speaker 1: to the NMSU community. But the problem is that hazing 131 00:08:49,920 --> 00:08:53,520 Speaker 1: is an epidemic. No matter how many letters administrators have 132 00:08:53,559 --> 00:08:57,240 Speaker 1: written over centuries of bad behavior, it keeps on happening. 133 00:08:57,880 --> 00:09:00,800 Speaker 1: Which brings us to Boston College, where the swimming and 134 00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:04,520 Speaker 1: diving team was suspended in September twenty twenty three after 135 00:09:04,559 --> 00:09:07,800 Speaker 1: administrators found out that upperclassmen on the swimming and diving 136 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:11,560 Speaker 1: team told freshmen to binge drink and wear bags around 137 00:09:11,559 --> 00:09:15,040 Speaker 1: their necks for catching vomit. According to a dean's letter, 138 00:09:15,480 --> 00:09:18,120 Speaker 1: some of the freshmen were even forced by upperclassmen to 139 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:22,480 Speaker 1: consume their own vomit. Boston College has parted ways with 140 00:09:22,559 --> 00:09:24,920 Speaker 1: all four coaches of its swimming and diving team as 141 00:09:24,960 --> 00:09:28,320 Speaker 1: a result of their internal investigation, and have extended the 142 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:33,200 Speaker 1: program's suspension through August twenty twenty four. In addition, every 143 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:36,000 Speaker 1: swimmer and diver on the sixty seven member of Boston 144 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:39,480 Speaker 1: College team is now required to participate in a hazing 145 00:09:39,640 --> 00:09:44,560 Speaker 1: education program. Boston College's athletics director Blake James wrote in 146 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:47,440 Speaker 1: a letter to team members, my hope is that the 147 00:09:47,480 --> 00:09:50,880 Speaker 1: program will learn from this experience and commit itself to 148 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:56,560 Speaker 1: ensuring appropriate behavior, meeting university expectations, and creating a positive 149 00:09:56,600 --> 00:10:00,120 Speaker 1: team culture that will position the program for success in 150 00:10:00,160 --> 00:10:04,560 Speaker 1: the future. It's an ambitious, and some might argue, naive 151 00:10:04,679 --> 00:10:08,760 Speaker 1: hope that Blake James has articulated, and yet another administrative letter. 152 00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:12,120 Speaker 1: It's a warning message that has now been shared again 153 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:15,760 Speaker 1: and again over centuries, ever since Plato first scribbled his 154 00:10:15,880 --> 00:10:21,560 Speaker 1: concerns back in ancient Greece. Okay, now that you know 155 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:24,160 Speaker 1: some history and have a better idea of the scale 156 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:27,440 Speaker 1: of the hazing problem in sports, you're ready to tackle 157 00:10:27,520 --> 00:10:32,480 Speaker 1: two truly shocking hazing scandals with me, the notorious Minnesota 158 00:10:32,559 --> 00:10:35,320 Speaker 1: Vikings boat party of two thousand and five and the 159 00:10:35,400 --> 00:10:40,640 Speaker 1: Northwestern University unraveling of twenty twenty three. Let's start with 160 00:10:40,679 --> 00:10:44,359 Speaker 1: the Vikings, shall we. The Minnesota Vikings are a professional 161 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:47,600 Speaker 1: American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the 162 00:10:47,679 --> 00:10:50,880 Speaker 1: NFL and have the highest regular season and combined winning 163 00:10:50,920 --> 00:10:54,400 Speaker 1: percentage among NFL franchises that have not yet won a 164 00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:57,640 Speaker 1: Super Bowl. While the team was founded in nineteen sixty 165 00:10:57,679 --> 00:11:01,360 Speaker 1: with the Viking's name to reflect the prominent Scandinavian American 166 00:11:01,440 --> 00:11:04,760 Speaker 1: culture of Minnesota, what no one saw coming was just 167 00:11:04,840 --> 00:11:07,960 Speaker 1: how closely some members of the modern day team would 168 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:13,520 Speaker 1: embody the Viking's fearsome medieval behaviors, ravaging young women and 169 00:11:13,559 --> 00:11:18,400 Speaker 1: breaking laws. The shockwaves started on Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota, on 170 00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:21,880 Speaker 1: October six, two thousand and five. Lake Minnetonka is the 171 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:25,520 Speaker 1: largest lake in the Twin Cities metro area, spanning fourteen 172 00:11:25,640 --> 00:11:30,640 Speaker 1: thousand acres of water. It's flanked by big, beautiful historic homes, 173 00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:33,560 Speaker 1: plenty of which are bona fide mansions with more than 174 00:11:33,600 --> 00:11:38,760 Speaker 1: ten thousand square feet. Life seems idyllic over on Lake Minnetonka. No, 175 00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:42,440 Speaker 1: it's hard to imagine anything sorted happening on the lake. 176 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:45,480 Speaker 1: Described as a perfect spot for a family outing right, 177 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:50,440 Speaker 1: all contrare, as the French might say, because apparently even 178 00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:57,640 Speaker 1: modern day Vikings are drawn to the water. Minnesota Vikings 179 00:11:57,640 --> 00:12:01,000 Speaker 1: players Fred Smoot and Lance Johnstone were allegedly the ring 180 00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:03,880 Speaker 1: leaders of what has since come to be referred as 181 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:06,959 Speaker 1: the Love Boat scandal. According to Merrick Guy and a 182 00:12:07,040 --> 00:12:11,400 Speaker 1: dock employee, Smoot Johnstone and an unidentified player chartered two 183 00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:14,240 Speaker 1: boats for the event at a cost of eighty thousand dollars. 184 00:12:14,880 --> 00:12:18,320 Speaker 1: It was supposed to be an extravagant rookie initiation, but 185 00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:22,520 Speaker 1: what unfolded was far from a typical, appropriate team building event. 186 00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:26,080 Speaker 1: In fact, it ended up being a lot like you 187 00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:31,559 Speaker 1: guessed it, hazing of rookie NFL players by veteran NFL players. 188 00:12:31,880 --> 00:12:33,959 Speaker 1: There was a real participate if you want to fit 189 00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:39,080 Speaker 1: in mentality. Apparently, seventeen Minnesota Vikings players, joined by nearly 190 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:42,640 Speaker 1: one hundred female prostitutes flowing in from Atlanta and Florida, 191 00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:48,200 Speaker 1: transformed the two houseboats into floating dens of debauchery. The 192 00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:51,480 Speaker 1: shocking night kicked off with twenty seven limos rolling up 193 00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:55,000 Speaker 1: to the dock, disgorging their passengers onto the waiting boats. 194 00:12:55,600 --> 00:12:59,440 Speaker 1: Boat Company al and Alma's supper club and Charter Cruise's attorney, 195 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:02,280 Speaker 1: Stephen Doryle, would later describe the events that went down 196 00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:08,120 Speaker 1: in lurid detail. Masturbation, oral sex, anal sex, women on man, 197 00:13:08,280 --> 00:13:13,200 Speaker 1: women on women, toys, double penetration, middle of the floor, 198 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:17,880 Speaker 1: middle of the couches middle of the room, so not 199 00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:21,120 Speaker 1: one of the classy, corporate or wedding gigs that Al 200 00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:24,240 Speaker 1: and Almah's Supper Club and Charter Cruises were used to 201 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:27,719 Speaker 1: hosting with their tagline the perfect way to take in 202 00:13:27,800 --> 00:13:32,360 Speaker 1: the incredible sights in history of beautiful Lake Minnetonka. What 203 00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:35,400 Speaker 1: had been presented by Fred Smoot, Lance Johnstone and other 204 00:13:35,559 --> 00:13:38,360 Speaker 1: established NFL players as an invitation to a night of 205 00:13:38,440 --> 00:13:41,640 Speaker 1: team building on the lake had taken a sordid turn. 206 00:13:42,360 --> 00:13:46,440 Speaker 1: The outing had all the ingredients of horrible hazing, explicit acts, 207 00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:50,400 Speaker 1: money flowing, and young athletes indulging in excess under the 208 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:54,400 Speaker 1: pressure of more veteran players. It's crazy to think that 209 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:59,040 Speaker 1: these professional players with multimillion dollar contracts felt compelled to 210 00:13:59,080 --> 00:14:01,720 Speaker 1: behave like college students and the other scandals I shared 211 00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:05,280 Speaker 1: with you, But there you have it. Hazing is insidious. 212 00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:10,319 Speaker 1: The boat crew, many of whom were young and likely 213 00:14:10,360 --> 00:14:13,840 Speaker 1: still in college themselves, witnessed a sex act by Fred 214 00:14:13,880 --> 00:14:17,800 Speaker 1: Smooth that was so graphic cut the party short, forcing 215 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:20,640 Speaker 1: the boats back to shore after about forty minutes instead 216 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:22,240 Speaker 1: of the three and a half hours that they'd been 217 00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:26,520 Speaker 1: charted for. The cleaning crew later specified their collective horror 218 00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:31,640 Speaker 1: at finding used condoms, kyd jelly, handy wipes, and rappers 219 00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:35,440 Speaker 1: for sex toys. They said, it was just incredible how 220 00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:38,360 Speaker 1: the boats were left. Never in the history of this 221 00:14:38,440 --> 00:14:41,400 Speaker 1: group of people had they ever had anything like this. 222 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:46,160 Speaker 1: Once the party boats evicted their inappropriate guests early, the 223 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:49,200 Speaker 1: athletes piled back into their limousines and took off into 224 00:14:49,280 --> 00:14:52,400 Speaker 1: the town At around nine to twenty pm. Some of 225 00:14:52,440 --> 00:14:55,280 Speaker 1: the players needed a pit stop, and out of all 226 00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:59,239 Speaker 1: their outrageous choices on this particular night, it was ironically 227 00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:03,320 Speaker 1: their rude but relatively mundane decision to relieve themselves in 228 00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:07,160 Speaker 1: public that turned out to be their undoing. A woman 229 00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:10,600 Speaker 1: called the police, and Playing thirty has reviewed the transcript 230 00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:14,280 Speaker 1: of the conversation. The caller said, there was a big 231 00:15:14,320 --> 00:15:17,240 Speaker 1: shuttle bust limousine that pulled up alongside of my house 232 00:15:17,800 --> 00:15:19,840 Speaker 1: and it was like seven black men who got out 233 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:23,080 Speaker 1: and stopped and peed all over my yard. The dispatcher 234 00:15:23,120 --> 00:15:26,520 Speaker 1: asked how many there was, like six or seven. The 235 00:15:26,560 --> 00:15:29,600 Speaker 1: caller says, there was a whole busload of them. But 236 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:32,720 Speaker 1: the bus driver stopped right alongside my house and there 237 00:15:32,800 --> 00:15:35,200 Speaker 1: was six or seven black men that got out probably 238 00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:40,480 Speaker 1: I'd say maybe nineteen eighteen, nineteen, maybe even twenty. Now 239 00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:44,200 Speaker 1: as a gentleman, my stomach is already a bit turned, 240 00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:47,080 Speaker 1: and it turns out at the police took the ladies 241 00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:51,680 Speaker 1: call pretty darn seriously too. An investigation was swiftly opened, 242 00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:55,160 Speaker 1: and the full scope of the night scandalous events soon 243 00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:59,800 Speaker 1: came pouring out. Hennepin County Sheriff Pat McGowan had a 244 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:05,400 Speaker 1: haunting task identifying the exact players responsible amidst allegations of 245 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:09,800 Speaker 1: public sexual activity and nudity. There was just so much 246 00:16:10,040 --> 00:16:13,520 Speaker 1: playing dirty going on that poor McGowan had his hands full. 247 00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:18,080 Speaker 1: In a laughable understatement, McGowan told the press that the 248 00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:21,400 Speaker 1: night of the incident, there was no shortage of inappropriate 249 00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:25,320 Speaker 1: behavior on both boats. In Minnesota, as in most of 250 00:16:25,360 --> 00:16:29,000 Speaker 1: the United States, engaging in sexual activity in public isn't 251 00:16:29,080 --> 00:16:33,400 Speaker 1: just frowned upon, its outright illegal, and the eyewitness accounts 252 00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:36,680 Speaker 1: from the love boats were shocking. They also involved some 253 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:40,720 Speaker 1: very high profile players who until October six, two thousand 254 00:16:40,720 --> 00:16:45,640 Speaker 1: and five, actually had clean reputations. Take quarterback Dante Culpepper, 255 00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:49,760 Speaker 1: for example. Culpeper had been known for his clean cut image, 256 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:53,320 Speaker 1: but after the Love Boat incident, it was widely reported 257 00:16:53,360 --> 00:16:56,480 Speaker 1: that he and running back Moe Williams allegedly received lap 258 00:16:56,600 --> 00:17:00,880 Speaker 1: dances from naked women and engaged in public fondly. Though 259 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:04,479 Speaker 1: Dante Culpepper was ultimately not charged, his image went from 260 00:17:04,560 --> 00:17:08,760 Speaker 1: squeaky clean to downright dirty overnight, and it took years 261 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:13,040 Speaker 1: for many to forgive and forget. Meanwhile, offensive lineman Bryan 262 00:17:13,160 --> 00:17:16,920 Speaker 1: McKinney was accused of giving and receiving oral sex, while 263 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:20,320 Speaker 1: Fred Smoot, believed to have charted the boat, was charged 264 00:17:20,359 --> 00:17:23,760 Speaker 1: with using a sex toy on two women. These acts 265 00:17:23,760 --> 00:17:26,280 Speaker 1: were reported to have happened in full view of other 266 00:17:26,320 --> 00:17:31,520 Speaker 1: passengers and a stunned crew. Not all the Minnesota Vikings 267 00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:35,159 Speaker 1: engaged in such shocking behavior, but everyone who the police 268 00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:39,000 Speaker 1: could confirm had been in attendance was investigated, and very 269 00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:42,760 Speaker 1: few Minnesota Vikings players had not been in attendance because, 270 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:46,400 Speaker 1: in the words of actress Chabon Fallen Hogan, it's hard 271 00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:49,639 Speaker 1: to say no and develop your moral fiber. She is 272 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:52,960 Speaker 1: so right. No matter how old and successful we become, 273 00:17:53,359 --> 00:17:57,160 Speaker 1: human beings seem on the whole to crave fitting in. 274 00:17:57,920 --> 00:18:02,480 Speaker 1: That's why hazing functions so terrible. Effectively on a psychological level. 275 00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:07,760 Speaker 1: The investigation into the love Boat scandal was a particularly 276 00:18:07,840 --> 00:18:11,840 Speaker 1: challenging one from a legal standpoint, putting cases together hinged 277 00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:16,600 Speaker 1: on eyewitness testimonies, as physical evidence was elusive. There are 278 00:18:16,600 --> 00:18:21,040 Speaker 1: no pictures, no physical evidence. Sheriff McGowan stated. Possibility of 279 00:18:21,119 --> 00:18:25,119 Speaker 1: federal charges did loom briefly given allegations that the women 280 00:18:25,160 --> 00:18:27,520 Speaker 1: on the love boats were prostitutes flown in from out 281 00:18:27,560 --> 00:18:32,760 Speaker 1: of state, but US Attorney Tom Heffelfinger eventually cited insufficient 282 00:18:32,800 --> 00:18:37,040 Speaker 1: evidence to proceed with those charges against the players. Now, 283 00:18:37,320 --> 00:18:40,720 Speaker 1: do not get confused by this twist. Paying for women 284 00:18:40,760 --> 00:18:43,919 Speaker 1: to travel across state lines to engage in prostitution is 285 00:18:44,119 --> 00:18:47,480 Speaker 1: one hundred percent of federal crime. It's something called the 286 00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:50,560 Speaker 1: Man Act, which was passed into law on June twenty fifth, 287 00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:54,480 Speaker 1: nineteen ten. The Man Act specifically dictates that it is 288 00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:58,280 Speaker 1: a felony to engage in interstate or foreign commerce transport 289 00:18:58,320 --> 00:19:01,880 Speaker 1: of any woman or girl for the purpose of prostitution 290 00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:06,480 Speaker 1: or debauchery, or for any other immoral purpose, which is 291 00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:09,400 Speaker 1: exactly what the Minnesota Vikings involved in the love Boat 292 00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:12,560 Speaker 1: scandal or alleged to have done. Wouldn't you say so 293 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:15,720 Speaker 1: it's extremely curious that the US attorney, who is the 294 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:19,320 Speaker 1: head federal prosecutor in the state, said there was insufficient 295 00:19:19,359 --> 00:19:22,359 Speaker 1: evidence to charge the players under the manac. I mean, 296 00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:25,080 Speaker 1: there were an awful lot of witnesses between the boat's 297 00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:27,560 Speaker 1: crew members and the players who had attended but not 298 00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:33,760 Speaker 1: misbehaved to an illegal degree. So what happened? Woof abracadabra 299 00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:38,320 Speaker 1: hocus pocus? The original Vikings were Norse Pagans who believed 300 00:19:38,320 --> 00:19:40,840 Speaker 1: in magic, and it turns out that the football team 301 00:19:40,960 --> 00:19:44,160 Speaker 1: named after them centuries later could still pull a trick 302 00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:48,240 Speaker 1: when necessary. And what was the Minnesota Vikings magic trick? 303 00:19:48,440 --> 00:19:50,560 Speaker 1: What did they pull out of their hat to make 304 00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:55,120 Speaker 1: federal prosecution under the Manac go away? You ask nothing? 305 00:19:56,040 --> 00:20:01,000 Speaker 1: After all, if nobody talked and nobody had physical evidendents, well, 306 00:20:01,040 --> 00:20:07,080 Speaker 1: then what exactly could the Feds come after them for? Again, abracadabra, 307 00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:12,080 Speaker 1: you get insufficient evidence? The Minnesota Vikings were buttoned up, 308 00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:15,960 Speaker 1: surrounded by legal counsel, and shielded by their collective wall 309 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:19,160 Speaker 1: of silence. Of course, the players who were accused had 310 00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:22,800 Speaker 1: an absolute right not to incriminate themselves, But what about 311 00:20:22,800 --> 00:20:25,959 Speaker 1: the other players on the boats? If they weren't implicated. 312 00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:29,280 Speaker 1: Surely they were victims who had gotten into a situation 313 00:20:29,640 --> 00:20:33,040 Speaker 1: they didn't anticipate on the boats, and surely they were 314 00:20:33,080 --> 00:20:37,639 Speaker 1: witnesses with a responsibility to talk, but they didn't cooperate. 315 00:20:38,320 --> 00:20:42,439 Speaker 1: This is the hazing mentality and action people. According to 316 00:20:42,520 --> 00:20:47,680 Speaker 1: research conducted by doctor Aaron Sloane Jeckel, doctor Elizabeth Ann Copenhaveer, 317 00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:51,879 Speaker 1: and doctor Alex Benjamin Diamond, sixty to ninety five percent 318 00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:55,160 Speaker 1: of athletes who were the victims of hazing explicitly stated 319 00:20:55,560 --> 00:20:59,119 Speaker 1: that they would not report the hazing event. Reasons for 320 00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:04,320 Speaker 1: not reporting married, but common themes included allegiance to fellow teammates, 321 00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:08,959 Speaker 1: unclear which authority figured to trust with disclosure, normalization of 322 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:13,240 Speaker 1: hazing behavior, and perception that participants choose to be involved 323 00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:17,159 Speaker 1: with hazing activities. Each of the players who were implicated 324 00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:19,440 Speaker 1: in the illegal acts both on and off the love 325 00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:22,000 Speaker 1: boats on the night of October six, two thousand and five, 326 00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:26,200 Speaker 1: faced charges carrying a maximum penalty of one thousand dollars 327 00:21:26,480 --> 00:21:29,960 Speaker 1: or ninety days in jail. As prosecutor Steve Tallon put it, 328 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:33,120 Speaker 1: the likelihood of jail time on a first defense misdemeanor 329 00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:35,320 Speaker 1: was low for the players, but not out of the 330 00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:39,159 Speaker 1: question given the level of public outrage. And of course 331 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:42,640 Speaker 1: it wasn't just the law throwing the book at these players. 332 00:21:43,240 --> 00:21:47,600 Speaker 1: The Minnesota Vikings team owner Ziggi Wilf was livid his 333 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:50,720 Speaker 1: team was now the laughing stock of the NFL, the 334 00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:54,200 Speaker 1: butt of jokes, you could say. The cracks even came 335 00:21:54,240 --> 00:21:58,040 Speaker 1: on the gridiron, with Carolina Panthers receiver Steve Smith famously 336 00:21:58,080 --> 00:22:00,960 Speaker 1: catching a pass against Fred Smoot and then pretending to 337 00:22:01,040 --> 00:22:03,439 Speaker 1: paddle on a boat just a few games after the 338 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:08,119 Speaker 1: story broke Yikes, The Vikings morale was shot and the 339 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:11,320 Speaker 1: team's record was a losing one at one in three. 340 00:22:11,520 --> 00:22:14,639 Speaker 1: Ziggiwolf issued a seventy seventh page code of conduct to 341 00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:20,040 Speaker 1: the players, coaches, and other team personnel. Police and prosecutors 342 00:22:20,080 --> 00:22:23,639 Speaker 1: also moved forward on the heels of Ziggiwolf's internal crackdown, 343 00:22:24,119 --> 00:22:27,879 Speaker 1: filing formal legal charges against Fred Smoot, Mo Williams, and 344 00:22:27,960 --> 00:22:31,960 Speaker 1: Bryant McKinney. The charges were just misdemeanors, but they reflected 345 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:34,800 Speaker 1: poorly on the players and the team as a whole. 346 00:22:35,760 --> 00:22:40,160 Speaker 1: Moe Williams was specifically charged with indecent conduct, disorderly conduct, 347 00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:43,239 Speaker 1: and lude or lascivious conduct. He was sentenced to a 348 00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:46,600 Speaker 1: three hundred dollars fine and thirty hours of community service. 349 00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:50,280 Speaker 1: Both Fred Smoot and Bryant McKinney pleaded guilty to disorderly 350 00:22:50,320 --> 00:22:53,239 Speaker 1: conduct and being a public nuisance on a watercraft in 351 00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:56,359 Speaker 1: connection with the love boat scandal. They both agreed to 352 00:22:56,359 --> 00:22:59,320 Speaker 1: pay a one thousand and seven dollars fine and perform 353 00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:03,480 Speaker 1: forty eight hours of community service. The National Football League 354 00:23:03,560 --> 00:23:06,520 Speaker 1: came down on the players with a light response, too, 355 00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:09,920 Speaker 1: imposing a fine equal to one game salary against Fred 356 00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:12,480 Speaker 1: Smoot and Bryant McKinny for their roles in the love 357 00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:16,399 Speaker 1: boat scandal. That made Fred Smoot's fine eighty two thousand, 358 00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:19,760 Speaker 1: three hundred and fifty two dollars and Bryant McKinney's fine 359 00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:24,480 Speaker 1: approximately forty one thousand dollars. In the context of their contracts, 360 00:23:24,520 --> 00:23:28,200 Speaker 1: these fines were incredibly small, like there's a rumor Brian 361 00:23:28,280 --> 00:23:30,800 Speaker 1: McKinney once spent one hundred thousand dollars at a bar 362 00:23:30,880 --> 00:23:33,760 Speaker 1: on a single night, so his fine was possibly less 363 00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:37,719 Speaker 1: than half of a single bar tap for him. And yet, shockingly, 364 00:23:38,359 --> 00:23:41,080 Speaker 1: just one day after the already puny fines were levied 365 00:23:41,119 --> 00:23:45,560 Speaker 1: by the NFL. The Minnesota Vikings raised Bryant mckinny's compensation 366 00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:49,199 Speaker 1: and extended his contract for seven years, amounting to a 367 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:53,560 Speaker 1: total package worth forty eight million dollars. So the Minnesota 368 00:23:53,640 --> 00:23:58,359 Speaker 1: Vikings bounced back from their smutty scandal relatively unscathed. They 369 00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:00,639 Speaker 1: won eight of their next eleven games and finished the 370 00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:03,879 Speaker 1: season with nine wins and seven losses. And because of 371 00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:08,520 Speaker 1: the lackadaisical way society treated their harmful hazing behaviors, guess what, 372 00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:12,560 Speaker 1: these dirty players didn't learn a darn thing. In fact, 373 00:24:12,600 --> 00:24:17,080 Speaker 1: sixteen years after the scandal, several former Minnesota Vikings players, 374 00:24:17,119 --> 00:24:20,399 Speaker 1: including Bryant McKinney, announced that they were selling tickets for 375 00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:23,560 Speaker 1: the opportunity to hang out on a Lake Minnetaka cruise 376 00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:27,640 Speaker 1: with them again. The tongue in Cheek event kicked off 377 00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:31,480 Speaker 1: on June eighteenth, twenty twenty one, and demonstrated how these 378 00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:35,480 Speaker 1: athletes actually found their bad behavior funny, how their salacious 379 00:24:35,520 --> 00:24:38,520 Speaker 1: acts largely slipped through our justice system, and how our 380 00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:42,840 Speaker 1: society too often responds to hazing in a grossly insufficient way. 381 00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:46,360 Speaker 1: But arguably the biggest problem with the way the Minnesota 382 00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:49,640 Speaker 1: Vikings love boat scandal shook out was that it perpetrated 383 00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:54,320 Speaker 1: the idea that hazing was unavoidable for college athletes. After all, 384 00:24:54,720 --> 00:24:58,080 Speaker 1: if it was even happening and tolerated within the ranks 385 00:24:58,119 --> 00:25:02,240 Speaker 1: of professional organizations like the NA, then surely hazing was 386 00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:05,840 Speaker 1: to be expected and endured by those aspiring to big 387 00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:13,440 Speaker 1: league careers. Ah And so here we are fast forwarding 388 00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:16,320 Speaker 1: all the way to twenty twenty three, where a very 389 00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:21,080 Speaker 1: troubling hazing scandal is currently unraveling at Northwestern University, one 390 00:25:21,119 --> 00:25:24,880 Speaker 1: of the United States leading private research and teaching universities. 391 00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:29,160 Speaker 1: Tons of hugely successful people have attended Northwestern, from Emmy 392 00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:33,119 Speaker 1: Award winning comedian Stephen Colbert and legendary actors Julia Louis 393 00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:36,879 Speaker 1: Dreyfus to Groupon's founder and CEO Andrew Mason and the 394 00:25:36,920 --> 00:25:41,240 Speaker 1: creator of entertainment weekly Jeff Jarvis. Yet even in this place, 395 00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:45,840 Speaker 1: which is nationally, if not world, renowned for excellence, horrible 396 00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:52,200 Speaker 1: allegations of unthinkably inappropriate hazing practices have emerged. The Daily Northwestern, 397 00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:55,879 Speaker 1: the student newspaper at Northwestern University, reported on July eight, 398 00:25:55,960 --> 00:25:59,720 Speaker 1: twenty twenty three, that a former Northwestern Wildcats football player 399 00:25:59,720 --> 00:26:02,240 Speaker 1: had stepped up as an anonymous source to blow the 400 00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:06,520 Speaker 1: whistle on unfathomable hazing practices. I've seen it with my 401 00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:10,399 Speaker 1: own eyes, and it's just absolutely egregious and vile and 402 00:26:10,520 --> 00:26:14,080 Speaker 1: inhumane behavior, the former player said. He alleged that much 403 00:26:14,160 --> 00:26:17,879 Speaker 1: of the Northwestern Wildcats hazing centered around a practice called running, 404 00:26:18,359 --> 00:26:21,560 Speaker 1: which was used to punish team members and especially freshmen, 405 00:26:21,840 --> 00:26:26,159 Speaker 1: when they made mistakes. According to Northwestern's whistleblower, if a 406 00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:29,560 Speaker 1: player was chosen for running, it meant that they wouldn't 407 00:26:29,560 --> 00:26:31,960 Speaker 1: be restrained by a group of eight to ten upper 408 00:26:32,040 --> 00:26:36,160 Speaker 1: classmen dressed in various purge like masks, who would then 409 00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:39,520 Speaker 1: begin dry humping the victim in a dark locker room. 410 00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:43,639 Speaker 1: The former player said, it's a shocking experience as a 411 00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:47,639 Speaker 1: freshman to see your fellow freshman teammates get ran, but 412 00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:50,480 Speaker 1: then you see everybody by standing in the locker room. 413 00:26:50,840 --> 00:26:54,760 Speaker 1: It's just a really abrasive and barbaric culture that is 414 00:26:54,800 --> 00:26:58,760 Speaker 1: permeated throughout the program for years on end. Now, the 415 00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:01,679 Speaker 1: Daily Northwestern would now reveal who the former player was, 416 00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:05,600 Speaker 1: but before publishing the story, they did corroborate the information 417 00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:09,600 Speaker 1: with another player. The student publication also obtained images of 418 00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:13,520 Speaker 1: whiteboards labeled runs Giving and Shrek's List, which had a 419 00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:16,639 Speaker 1: list of names scribbled on them, indicating players the upper 420 00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:20,480 Speaker 1: classmen had marked as targets. The whistleblower said the hazing 421 00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:24,800 Speaker 1: was especially terrible during training camp and around Thanksgiving and Christmas, 422 00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:29,080 Speaker 1: which he said the Wildcats called runs giving and runs miss. 423 00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:32,159 Speaker 1: It's done under this smoke and mirror of Oh, this 424 00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:35,159 Speaker 1: is team bonding, but no, this is sexual abuse, the 425 00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:39,119 Speaker 1: player said. According to the former player, team members allegedly 426 00:27:39,119 --> 00:27:42,680 Speaker 1: identified players for running by clapping their hands above their 427 00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:46,480 Speaker 1: heads around that player. The practice, the whistleblower told The 428 00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:50,600 Speaker 1: Daily Northwestern, was known within the team as the Shrek clap. 429 00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:56,040 Speaker 1: Especially disturbing was the former player's claim of Northwestern University's 430 00:27:56,080 --> 00:27:59,560 Speaker 1: head coach Pat Fitzgerald, who allegedly made the Shrek clap 431 00:27:59,600 --> 00:28:04,400 Speaker 1: signal himself during practices when players, and specifically freshman players, 432 00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:09,040 Speaker 1: made a mistake. The former player explained that Northwestern Wildcats 433 00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:14,240 Speaker 1: team members interpreted Fitzgerald making the signals as knowingly encouraging 434 00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:18,199 Speaker 1: the horrific hazing practice to continue. Everyone would just be 435 00:28:18,280 --> 00:28:21,280 Speaker 1: looking at each other and be like bro fitz knows 436 00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:24,240 Speaker 1: about this because you wouldn't take that action otherwise, the 437 00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:28,120 Speaker 1: player said, everyone joins in because he's the head coach 438 00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:32,280 Speaker 1: from Shrek Collapse and running to the naked human car 439 00:28:32,480 --> 00:28:34,960 Speaker 1: wash where players were made to rub against the line 440 00:28:34,960 --> 00:28:38,320 Speaker 1: of naked men to access the showers, and the Gatorade 441 00:28:38,400 --> 00:28:42,719 Speaker 1: shake challenge, which forced freshmen to drink excessive amounts of gatorade, 442 00:28:43,280 --> 00:28:46,840 Speaker 1: it was clear that Northwestern had a systemic, dangerous, and 443 00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:51,240 Speaker 1: downright cruel hazing problem. While the first whistleblower of the 444 00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:54,880 Speaker 1: Northwestern scandal has remained anonymous, stating that he fears his 445 00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:58,080 Speaker 1: career might be derailed if he reveals himself, he stated 446 00:28:58,080 --> 00:29:00,800 Speaker 1: his dates of attendance as twenty eighteen to twenty twenty 447 00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:05,080 Speaker 1: two and filed a formal lawsuit. It was Northwestern University's 448 00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:08,920 Speaker 1: duty to oversee the football program, protect student athletes, and 449 00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:12,760 Speaker 1: make sure its own anti hazing policy was enforced. The 450 00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:17,920 Speaker 1: university failed miserably, said the former student's attorney, Stephen M. Leven, 451 00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:21,440 Speaker 1: a founding partner of the Chicago based firm Levin at Bracanti. 452 00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:25,040 Speaker 1: Levin went on to add, Northwestern has a lot to 453 00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:29,280 Speaker 1: answer for with this lawsuit, we are holding the University accountable, 454 00:29:29,560 --> 00:29:34,480 Speaker 1: so this heinous and abusive hazing never happens again. According 455 00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:36,800 Speaker 1: to the complaint submitted by Levin, on behalf of the 456 00:29:36,840 --> 00:29:41,160 Speaker 1: former student, coach Pat Fitzgerald had ample opportunity to observe 457 00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:45,120 Speaker 1: and be aware of the hazing. Further, Coach Fitzgerald was 458 00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:49,040 Speaker 1: on record as understanding full well that hazing was dangerous, wrong, 459 00:29:49,480 --> 00:29:55,320 Speaker 1: and totally unacceptable at Northwestern University. Unbelievably, the complaints submitted 460 00:29:55,360 --> 00:29:58,800 Speaker 1: by attorney Stephen M. Levin actually quotes an anti hazing 461 00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:02,480 Speaker 1: public service announcement featuring coach Fitzgerald in which he said, 462 00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:07,000 Speaker 1: at Northwestern, number one is there's a zero tolerance for hazing. 463 00:30:07,480 --> 00:30:10,640 Speaker 1: There's no reason to ever have it. Imagine filming a 464 00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:17,000 Speaker 1: zero tolerance hazing video, but allegedly tolerating and even encouraging hazing. Shocking. 465 00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:20,280 Speaker 1: But this initial case wasn't the end of the allegations 466 00:30:20,280 --> 00:30:25,600 Speaker 1: against Northwestern and coach Pat Fitzgerald, not by a long shot. 467 00:30:26,040 --> 00:30:28,760 Speaker 1: Our team at Playing Dirty has a source who shared 468 00:30:28,800 --> 00:30:33,000 Speaker 1: that another former Northwestern football player claimed coach Fitzgerald would 469 00:30:33,040 --> 00:30:36,160 Speaker 1: regularly ask black players to cut off their dreadlocks to 470 00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:40,040 Speaker 1: fit in with the Wildcat way. According to this player. 471 00:30:40,400 --> 00:30:43,000 Speaker 1: White players with long hair were not asked to cut 472 00:30:43,040 --> 00:30:47,120 Speaker 1: their hair. One former player, Ramon Diaz Junior, a Latino 473 00:30:47,200 --> 00:30:49,840 Speaker 1: offensive lineman who played at Northwestern from two thousand and 474 00:30:49,920 --> 00:30:52,600 Speaker 1: five to two thousand and eight, said he had to 475 00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:55,080 Speaker 1: act white to fit in and felt he had to 476 00:30:55,160 --> 00:30:58,120 Speaker 1: laugh at his own people. Hazing with a shot of 477 00:30:58,200 --> 00:31:01,920 Speaker 1: racism is one messed up cock tale requiring serious action. 478 00:31:02,800 --> 00:31:06,800 Speaker 1: So what exactly has been done? First and foremost, Pat 479 00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:09,560 Speaker 1: Fitzgerald has been fired from his cushy five point two 480 00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:13,080 Speaker 1: million dollar annual salary job at Northwestern as the coach 481 00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:16,680 Speaker 1: of the Northwestern Wildcats. While Fitzgerald, who led Northwestern for 482 00:31:16,760 --> 00:31:19,800 Speaker 1: seventeen seasons and was a star linebacker himself for the 483 00:31:19,840 --> 00:31:22,920 Speaker 1: Northwestern Wildcats from nineteen ninety three to nineteen ninety six, 484 00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:26,120 Speaker 1: has maintained that he had no knowledge of hazing, the 485 00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:30,000 Speaker 1: countless student accounts make his denial difficult to believe. After 486 00:31:30,040 --> 00:31:32,760 Speaker 1: being fired, a fuming Fitzgerald said he was working with 487 00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:35,880 Speaker 1: attorneys to protect his rights in accordance with the law. 488 00:31:36,880 --> 00:31:41,040 Speaker 1: Northwestern's president, Michael Schill, has also acknowledged the university's failure 489 00:31:41,120 --> 00:31:45,240 Speaker 1: to prevent significant systemic hazing in its football program. In 490 00:31:45,280 --> 00:31:49,360 Speaker 1: a leadership note to the Northwestern community, he wrote, Northwestern 491 00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:53,720 Speaker 1: University is an extraordinary university with an exceptional athletics program. 492 00:31:54,200 --> 00:31:57,280 Speaker 1: I am committed to ensuring that the misconduct that occurred 493 00:31:57,320 --> 00:32:01,000 Speaker 1: in our football program never happens again anywhere in our 494 00:32:01,120 --> 00:32:05,160 Speaker 1: university community. But as Charlie Chaplin said, words are cheap, 495 00:32:05,560 --> 00:32:08,040 Speaker 1: and the lawsuit levied by the former student, as well 496 00:32:08,040 --> 00:32:10,480 Speaker 1: as fresh stories of horrific trauma coming out of the 497 00:32:10,480 --> 00:32:14,920 Speaker 1: Northwestern's athletics department, requires more, much more to be done. 498 00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:19,920 Speaker 1: Dag Former Northwestern quarterback Lord Yates. For example, he stepped 499 00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:21,960 Speaker 1: up in full view of the press to call the 500 00:32:22,040 --> 00:32:25,840 Speaker 1: university to task. The university and the football program has 501 00:32:25,920 --> 00:32:29,280 Speaker 1: led us down. Yates said, upon arrival to campus, we 502 00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:33,000 Speaker 1: were thrown into a culture where physical, emotional, and sexual 503 00:32:33,040 --> 00:32:37,280 Speaker 1: abuse was normalized. No teammate I knew liked haasing. We 504 00:32:37,280 --> 00:32:39,600 Speaker 1: were all victims, no matter what our role was at 505 00:32:39,600 --> 00:32:42,280 Speaker 1: the time. But the culture was so strong that we 506 00:32:42,360 --> 00:32:44,840 Speaker 1: felt we had to go with it to survive, to 507 00:32:44,880 --> 00:32:48,600 Speaker 1: be respected, and to earn the trust within the football program. 508 00:32:49,160 --> 00:32:52,920 Speaker 1: Yates representative civil rights attorney Ben Crump has made clear 509 00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:55,680 Speaker 1: that what he's filed to date is the first in 510 00:32:55,760 --> 00:32:59,240 Speaker 1: a series of lawsuits. Prump plans on filing more than 511 00:32:59,320 --> 00:33:02,720 Speaker 1: thirty cases is in total. It's a real big deal 512 00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:04,880 Speaker 1: when these young people have the courage to take a 513 00:33:04,920 --> 00:33:08,280 Speaker 1: stand and refuse to be victims anymore, refuse to have 514 00:33:08,360 --> 00:33:12,480 Speaker 1: their voices silenced, Crump said. Crump has dubbed the Northwestern 515 00:33:12,560 --> 00:33:18,120 Speaker 1: University scandal college sports Me Too movement. The students spearheading 516 00:33:18,160 --> 00:33:20,440 Speaker 1: this movement aren't just trying to get justice for the 517 00:33:20,520 --> 00:33:26,800 Speaker 1: past wrongs committed. They are demanding accountability and change. Northwestern University, 518 00:33:26,920 --> 00:33:30,680 Speaker 1: known as a prestigious institution of academic and athletic excellent 519 00:33:30,760 --> 00:33:34,640 Speaker 1: since eighteen fifty one, now faces serious questions about its 520 00:33:34,680 --> 00:33:38,560 Speaker 1: commitment to student welfare. And to be clear, it's not 521 00:33:38,680 --> 00:33:42,840 Speaker 1: just questions about its football team. The Northwestern athletic scandal 522 00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:46,000 Speaker 1: has widened to include a volleyball player who recently became 523 00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:49,920 Speaker 1: the first female athlete to sue the university over allegations 524 00:33:49,920 --> 00:33:54,400 Speaker 1: she was retaliated against for reporting mistreatment. This shows that 525 00:33:54,520 --> 00:33:57,880 Speaker 1: it isn't just men, said Parker Stennar, one of the 526 00:33:57,920 --> 00:34:03,000 Speaker 1: women's attorneys. It isn't just players. According to the lawsuit, 527 00:34:03,040 --> 00:34:06,400 Speaker 1: filed by the former Northwestern University volleyball player who has 528 00:34:06,480 --> 00:34:10,600 Speaker 1: chosen to remain anonymous. She contracted COVID despite following the 529 00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:14,440 Speaker 1: team's COVID protocols, but she says in the lawsuit that 530 00:34:14,560 --> 00:34:18,680 Speaker 1: Northwestern's volleyball coach Shane Davis and an assistant coach informed 531 00:34:18,719 --> 00:34:22,560 Speaker 1: her she would need to undergo a punishment for violating 532 00:34:22,560 --> 00:34:26,399 Speaker 1: the guidelines. A day later, from March second, twenty twenty one, 533 00:34:26,840 --> 00:34:30,440 Speaker 1: the coaches permitted the volleyball team's captains to pick the punishment. 534 00:34:31,040 --> 00:34:33,680 Speaker 1: She was forced to run suicides in the gym while 535 00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:36,160 Speaker 1: diving to the floor each time she reached the line 536 00:34:36,200 --> 00:34:40,040 Speaker 1: on the court. As she did this, she alleges volleyball 537 00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:44,839 Speaker 1: coaching staff, team members, and trainers watched This was at 538 00:34:44,880 --> 00:34:48,719 Speaker 1: its core and exercise in humiliation, and as we know, 539 00:34:49,040 --> 00:34:54,000 Speaker 1: humiliation is a key ingredient in hazing. Despite the lawsuit, 540 00:34:54,080 --> 00:34:57,200 Speaker 1: Northwestern announced in December twenty twenty one that it has 541 00:34:57,320 --> 00:35:00,120 Speaker 1: signed volleyball coach Davis to a multi year high con 542 00:35:00,239 --> 00:35:04,120 Speaker 1: tract extension. This move is highly reminiscent of the Minnesota 543 00:35:04,200 --> 00:35:08,479 Speaker 1: Vikings extending and raising Bryant McKinney's contract one day after 544 00:35:08,520 --> 00:35:11,640 Speaker 1: he was fined for participation in the love boat scandal, 545 00:35:11,760 --> 00:35:15,520 Speaker 1: don't you think? And the deluge of debauchery continues to 546 00:35:15,600 --> 00:35:19,440 Speaker 1: rain down on Northwestern University as even more hazing allegations 547 00:35:19,480 --> 00:35:23,200 Speaker 1: come to the forefront. Athletes in their baseball and softball 548 00:35:23,239 --> 00:35:26,600 Speaker 1: programs have started to speak up now, and the university 549 00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:31,000 Speaker 1: faces so many lawsuits that Northwestern may eventually be obligated 550 00:35:31,040 --> 00:35:34,840 Speaker 1: to pay out extremely large settlements. That's a lesson for 551 00:35:34,960 --> 00:35:38,239 Speaker 1: other institutions. At least, if you're playing dirty, you should 552 00:35:38,320 --> 00:35:42,440 Speaker 1: know that's the path to losing doe. As the Northwestern 553 00:35:42,520 --> 00:35:46,400 Speaker 1: University sports scandal continues to unfold, we're left to ponder 554 00:35:46,440 --> 00:35:50,600 Speaker 1: the broader implications. How deep does the problem of hazing 555 00:35:50,680 --> 00:35:54,080 Speaker 1: run in collegiate and professional sports? And what will it 556 00:35:54,120 --> 00:35:57,760 Speaker 1: take for our universities and national leagues to finally, after 557 00:35:57,960 --> 00:36:02,719 Speaker 1: centuries of persistent abuse, eradicate hazing once and for all. 558 00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:05,719 Speaker 1: Can it even be done? Or am I just a 559 00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:09,280 Speaker 1: dreamer sipping on a glass of overly optimistic orange juice? 560 00:36:10,000 --> 00:36:12,840 Speaker 1: You be the judge As we delve deeper into scandals 561 00:36:12,840 --> 00:36:18,160 Speaker 1: including Jameis Winston, Deshaun Watson, Ben Roethlisberger, and the infamous 562 00:36:18,280 --> 00:36:22,360 Speaker 1: Robert Kraft case. In upcoming episodes, I'm Your Host, Jay Harris, 563 00:36:22,520 --> 00:36:27,480 Speaker 1: and this fellow scandal Swillers is Playing Dirty Sports Scandals. 564 00:36:35,800 --> 00:36:40,200 Speaker 1: Playing Dirty Sports Scandals is a production of Dan Patrick Productions, 565 00:36:40,239 --> 00:36:44,800 Speaker 1: never Ever Productions and Workhouse Media from executive producers Dan Patrick, 566 00:36:45,080 --> 00:36:49,880 Speaker 1: Paul Anderson, Nick Panela, Maya Glickman, and Jennifer Clary. Hosted 567 00:36:49,920 --> 00:36:54,200 Speaker 1: by Jay Harris, Written and produced by Jen Brown, Francie Haiggs, 568 00:36:54,320 --> 00:36:56,240 Speaker 1: Maya Glickman, and Jennifer Clarey.