As the Northwestern football hazing scandal rages on, recently fired head coach Pat Fitzgerald and his legal team are going on the offensive. The former coach is now a target of players seeking legal action for the alleged hazing that went on within the football program. In response, his attorney Dan Webb released a lengthy statement on Wednesday defending Fitzgerald.
A former Northwestern football player has officially taken legal action against the school and several members of the administration, including Fitzgerald.
“John Doe,” as he is referenced in the filing, played from 2018 to 2022 and is suing for over $50,000 in damages because the school and administration allegedly “failed to prevent hazing traditions,” “failed to intervene in hazing traditions,” and “failed to protect Northwestern’s students from acts that were assaultive, illegal and often sexual in nature,” per The Athletic.
After the filing, Webb released a statement, shared by ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg on Twitter, defending Pat Fitzgerald. In it, Webb calls the allegations, “broad-based [and] imprecise.”
“As regards our client, Coach Pat Fitzgerald, no arguments were made that would present any substantive, detailed, factual allegations, let alone evidence, about Coach Fitzgerald's conduct,” Webb's statement continued. “The statements made by the lawyers and former student athletes, and those contained in the complaint filed by the one unnamed plaintiff, still fail to cite any specific facts or evidence beyond the broad-based statements published in the July 8 article.”
Webb also repeatedly emphasized that an outside investigation of the Northwestern football hazing scandal led by attorney Maggie Hickey concluded that Fitzgerald had no knowledge of the hazing.
In the end, the lawyer summed up his defense of the former football coach by saying, “We look forward to defending Coach Fitzgerald and taking all steps necessary to protect his legal right, name, and reputation.”
Follow Us
Subscribe
