New lawsuits contend that Northwestern football hazing included black freshmen being forced to participate in “watermelon-eating contests.” (Photo by Eric Fredericks)

Two new lawsuits have been filed against Northwestern University football, including a new allegation of race-based hazing.

Former players allege in lawsuits filed Thursday, Aug. 3 that Northwestern football hazing included a “watermelon-eating contest” for black players.

The lawsuits also name a new defendant, former Northwestern Athletic Director Mark Murphy, who is now president and CEO of the Green Bay Packers.

Neither player making the allegations is identified in the lawsuits. They are each only identified as “John Doe.” Both “John Does” played for Northwestern from 2004-08.

Their lawyers said that neither former player would provide interviews and that disclosing their identities would contribute to the “severe and profound psychological damage caused by repeated sexual abuse” during hazing.

However, a press release announcing the lawsuits did quote one of the “John Does.”

“I always think about the hair-cutting situation we went through as freshmen,” he said. “I wore a mini ‘fro all throughout high school – four years straight! I had it cut by an upperclassman in Kenosha

against my will. It’s either have it cut or be hazed further for the entire camp. This psychologically haunts me until this day. I was depressed and treated unfairly.”

At least one other similar lawsuit is expected to be filed in the next few days, according to attorneys for the plaintiffs.

The complaints include new details of alleged race-based hazing and discrimination not included in lawsuits already filed on behalf of other former players, including black players being forced to

participate in a “watermelon-eating contest.”

Lawyers for the former players note that at the time of the alleged incident, Pat Fitzgerald was a

recruiting coordinator and linebackers coach for Northwestern and about six years out from his own experience as a player at the university. The attorneys contend that is evidence that Fitzgerald should have known of the abuse not only through his time as a player, but also as a coach and recruiter of

players.

Fitzgerald was fired three days after the initial allegations surfaced in early July. In 2021, Fitzgerald signed a 10-year, $57 million contract extension.

Plaintiffs contend that football hazing at Northwestern included sexual abuse.

One such alleged sexual ritual included freshman student-athletes being forced to engage in what is referred to within the football team as “running” – which has been graphically described as being

forcibly restrained by a group of eight to 10 upperclassmen dressed in various “purge-like” masks who would then “dry-hump” the freshman victim in a dark locker room.

Team members and coaches, including Fitzgerald, identified players for “running” by clapping their

hands above their heads around that player during a practice – which was referred to within the football team as “the Shrek clap,” plaintiffs contend.

Upon information and belief, Fitzgerald commonly gave the “Shrek clap” signal during practices, when players, specifically freshmen, made a mistake, according to the plaintiffs.

Freshmen were also allegedly forced to engage in what was known within the football team as the “car wash” – graphically described as where a group of upperclassmen would line up naked and create a

gauntlet for underclassmen to crawl under their legs while being violently and sexually abused by the upperclassmen.