Northwestern football has been under fire for recent allegations of abuse and hazing in the program. It resulted in coach Pat Fitzgerald getting fired by the school after an investigation.
Now, Lloyd Yates, a former quarterback and wide receiver for Northwestern from 2015 to 2017, became the first plaintiff to identify himself in a lawsuit against the school.
He came out and accused the program of a brainwashing culture" of hazing and abuse that became "normalized."
In Yates' complaint, he revealed that a group of players restrained a teammate and engaged in dry-humping and other sexualized acts. He claims that defensive backs coach and associate head coach Matt MacPherson, a Northwestern assistant since 2006, saw the hazing happen numerous times.
Some of the hazing MacPherson saw included naked pull-ups during pre-season training, according to Yates' complaint. The biggest allegation from Lloyd Yates' complaint is when he revealed that waterboarding happened.
The former QB claims that after practice, makeshift ice baths were placed in trash cans and a player was carried into the show naked and was dunked upside down with his head in the water.
According to the lawsuit, Yates claims that the player struggled to breathe once the other players stopped dunking him. After the incident, the players who did the act instilled fear into Yates and other players that if they spoke out, it would happen to them.
Lloyd Yates speaks out on waterboarding at Northwestern
After the news became public, Lloyd Yates said that he was overcome with disappointment, frustration and shame that he didn't do anything sooner about the incident.
"No young teenager should have to bear what we did as freshmen students," Yates said. "We were conditioned to believe that this behavior was normal, which was sickening and unacceptable."
After Yates' complaint, former head coach Pat Fitzgerald's attorney Dan Webb released a statement showing that the hazing did not involve Fitzgerald, as he was not named as a defendant.
"The complaint alleges that Northwestern negligently permitted the existence of a decades-long pattern, practice and culture of football players engaging in the hazing of fellow athletes that involved physical, sexual and emotional abuse. The complaint brings counts of negligence, gross negligence and violations of the Illinois Gender Violence Act," Webb wrote.
He continued:
"With regard to our client, coach Pat Fitzgerald, it is important to note that this complaint (and, we assume, the 30 others that plaintiffs' lawyers say they will file) does not name our client as a defendant."
After the latest news from Lloyd Yates, it's clear that there's more from the Northwestern hazing that has yet to come to light.
Who's NEXT on the HOT SEAT? Check out the 7 teams that desperately need a coaching change