Ex-Northwestern football player Yates files suit against school - ESPN

CHICAGO — Former Northwestern football player Lloyd Yates filed a lawsuit Monday against the university, outlining a «brainwashing culture» of hazing and abuse that became «normalized.»

Yates, a former quarterback and wide receiver who played at Northwestern from 2015 to 2017, became the first plaintiff to identify himself in a lawsuit against the school.

Three unnamed former players last week filed complaints with a different set of attorneys, which name former football coach Pat Fitzgerald, current university president Michael Schill and others as individual defendants (Yates' lawsuit only names the university). Noted civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is working with Yates, said at a news conference Monday that he expects to file more than 30 lawsuits from former Northwestern athletes (football and other sports) in the coming weeks and months.

«This will be acknowledged as college sports' #MeToo movement,» Crump said. «We hope we will provide awareness around the issue and support to victims and the eradication of physical, psychological and sexual hazing.»

Yates' complaint detailed several alleged organized hazing rituals at Northwestern that had been previously highlighted — namely «running,» where a group of players restrained a teammate and engaged in dry-humping and other sexualized acts — as well as new incidents. The complaint alleges that defensive backs coach and associate head coach Matt MacPherson, a Northwestern assistant since 2006, witnessed several alleged hazing incidents, including naked pull-ups during preseason training. MacPherson is also accused by a former player, identified in the lawsuit as John Doe 2, of showing a social media profile of John Doe 2's girlfriend on a screen in a position