Former Northwestern LB Simba Short Sues School over Alleged Football Hazing | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors
Mia Horton Former Northwestern linebacker Simba Short filed a lawsuit against the school Thursday for alleged hazing he underwent as a member of the football team, according to The Athletic's Chris Vannini.
Short is the fifth Northwestern football player to file a lawsuit against the university over alleged hazing. He follows former quarterback Lloyd Yates as the second to file publicly and under his name.
Short joined the Northwestern roster in 2015 but did not play in a game before medically retiring in 2016.
Vannini reported that Short's lawsuit seeks damages of over $50,000. According to the court filing, Short was hospitalized in spring 2016 due to a self-harm attempt stemming from "trauma and fear due to hazing incidents that occurred during his time at Northwestern."
The filing went on to describe alleged hazing incidents, including forced contact of a sexual nature and forced drinking.
Northwestern fired head football coach Pat Fitzgerald on July 10, three days after the school announced he would be suspended for two weeks following an investigation regarding former football players' complaints of hazing.
Later, university president Michael Schill said he "may have erred" in deciding on the original suspension sanction for Fitzgerald.
Since Fitzgerald's firing, three unnamed members on the team from 2018 to 2022 and Yates, who was on the roster from 2015 to 2017, have filed lawsuits against the football program, according to Kalyn Kahler of The Athletic.
Yates said that Northwestern staff members were aware of some of the alleged hazing, per Kahler. Short's lawsuit describes alleged hazing that took place on a bus with staff members present, according to Vannini.
A former Northwestern volleyball player announced plans to sue the school over allegations of hazing in the volleyball program earlier this week, per The Athletic.