Ex-QB Lloyd Yates, others seek damages in Northwestern hazing - ESPN

CHICAGO — Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said his law firm and other attorneys have received reports of hazing within Northwestern University's baseball and softball programs, in addition to growing complaints of hazing within the Wildcats' football program.

At a Wednesday news conference, Crump and Chicago attorney Steven Levin said they have not yet filed a lawsuit on behalf of any athletes but represent 15 people and have been in touch with dozens of former athletes. Crump said the majority of those are football players.

Warren Miles Long, a running back on Northwestern's football team starting in 2013, said players were put into a culture where sexual violence and hazing was «rampant.» He said new recruits had no sense of whether it was normal or limited to Northwestern.

Former quarterback Lloyd Yates, linebacker Simba Short and tight end Tom Carnifax are among more than 15 men and women who have retained Crump and the Chicago-based Levin & Perconti law firm to seek damages against the school due to its hazing scandal.

«The abusive culture was especially devastating for many players of color,» Yates, who is Black, said Wednesday at a news conference.

Northwestern has been added to a long list of American universities to face a scandal in athletics and might eventually join the trend of making large payouts following allegations of sexual abuse.

«This is a civil rights issue for me,» said Crump, who said 50 former Northwestern athletes — male and female — have spoken to the law firm. «Because I think these players have the right to be respected and valued and not hazed, intimidated and retaliated.»

A former Wildcats football player filed the first lawsuit against Pat Fitzgerald and members of the school's leadership