CHICAGO – A former Northwestern University football player is speaking out as a legal complaint is filed on his behalf Wednesday, accusing the team and former coach Patrick Fitzgerald of hazing.
Ramon Diaz played for the team between 2005 and 2008, and said at a news conference Wednesday hazing started before that, when he was seventeen. He says he was subjected to sexual abuse, physical abuse, and racial discrimination during his time on the team. He claims former offensive line coach Bret Ingalls insulted his family culture multiple times, and teammates of shaving “Cinco De Mayo” into his head at the age of 17.
According to FOX-TV station WFLD, all those things and more negatively impacted his self-worth.
“There’s never been a day that’s gone by since I graduated in 2008 where I’ve not forgotten those words (Ingalls allegedly used),” said Diaz. “I haven’t seen a football game in over ten years because of what happened to me, and the treatment that I suffered under Bret Ingalls, and the teammates that surrounded him.”
Diaz explains what his life has been like since he graduated in 2008.
“As a result of the bigotry and racism and emotional abuse I suffered, I attempted to commit suicide by using painkillers in 2007,” said Diaz. “Statements that repeatedly violated my human dignity led to a great deal of psychological suffering. It’s really hard to explain in words what my family has seen me go through in the last ten years.
Diaz is one of a number of athletes who have come forward with hazing allegations. Fitzgerald was fired recently by the university, and the school has hired former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch to conduct an investigation.
