Ex-NU players: Lack of due process for Fitzgerald
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Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior Writer
A group of former Northwestern athletes has sent an open letter criticizing university administrators for a lack of due process before the firing of football coach Pat Fitzgerald, saying it “left a welcome mat out for the weaponization of sexual harassment, hazing, and racism allegations” at the school.
The letter, obtained by ESPN, is signed by 86 ex-Northwestern athletes, including several of Fitzgerald’s former football teammates. The group focuses on university president Michael Schill and athletic director Derrick Gragg, saying both displayed “a clear failure of unbiased and principled leadership.” Schill and Gragg should be fired, the former athletes contend, if they don’t “positively support our athletic programs with due process” and release the findings of an investigation Northwestern commissioned into hazing allegations from a former player under Fitzgerald.
Schill fired Fitzgerald on July 10. But, three days earlier, he had issued a two-week suspension for the head football coach after the university-commissioned investigation found evidence that largely supported the player’s allegations but insufficient evidence that Fitzgerald or other coaches were aware of any hazing incidents. Schill, on July 8, said he would reconsider penalties for Fitzgerald hours after The Daily Northwestern reported details of the player’s hazing allegations against Fitzgerald and the program.
Monday’s letter contends Schill was influenced by social media reaction and “abandoned foundational legal ethics” in firing Fitzgerald.
“By willfully ignoring due process, Northwestern University’s administration has left a welcome mat out for the weaponization of sexual harassment, hazing, and racism accusations to run rampant at Northwestern University,” the letter reads. “Any allegation, true or not, will be allowed to cancel anyone’s career and destroy their reputation depending upon popular opinion, while simultaneously allowing the censorship of free speech. The collective gains of Northwestern’s Athletic Department over the last three decades, along with Pat Fitzgerald’s legacy and character, have almost been wiped out without any proof of guilt or, much less, even a thorough and proper investigation.”
The former athletes wrote that Gragg “fosters an environment of uncertainty, distrust, and censorship” in the athletic department. They cited Gragg’s quick repudiation of a T-shirt Northwestern players made following Fitzgerald’s firing, which reads “Cats Against The World” followed by “51,” the number Fitzgerald wore as a two-time national defensive player of the year at Northwestern. Several staff members wore the shirt at an Aug. 9 practice that was open to the media, leading Gragg, who said he didn’t know about the shirt previously, to call it “inappropriate, offensive and tone deaf.”
Sources told ESPN that players and coaches started wearing the shirt around Northwestern’s football building in mid-July.
“His comments worked to incite public opinion against his own program,” the letter reads. “Gragg made no effort to explain the team’s true intent before renouncing and shaming the players’ speech.”
Northwestern’s administration declined to comment about Monday’s letter.
The university has released only an executive summary of the original hazing investigation, led by attorney Maggie Hickey from the Chicago-based ArentFox Schiff law firm. Attorneys for former Northwestern football players, who have sued the university over hazing and mistreatment, also have called for the release of the complete report, as has Dan Webb, Fitzgerald’s attorney.
“We share Northwestern University administration’s deep concern over the possibility that any student-athlete has been harmed by sexual harassment, hazing, or racism while at Northwestern University,” the letter reads. “We trust that these allegations will be fully investigated. However, until these allegations are properly investigated, and the lawsuits filed resolved, no judgment of guilt should be assumed, accepted, or touted by Northwestern University’s administration.”
Last week, a different group of around 1,000 former Northwestern athletes issued an open letter that defended the athletic culture, saying it isn’t defined by allegations of hazing or mistreatment. That letter did not criticize Schill nor Gragg and supported the school’s efforts to investigate hazing claims.
In announcing Fitzgerald’s firing, Schill described a partially “broken” team culture, and he and Gragg have vowed to eliminate hazing within the school’s athletic programs. Schill on Aug. 1 announced that former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch would lead a wider investigation into Northwestern’s athletic culture.
Monday’s letter from the former athletes opposes Lynch leading the probe, noting “political controversies surrounding her history and reputation.”
Former athletes who signed the letter include several players from the 1995 Northwestern football team, which won the Big Ten championship and reached the Rose Bowl, including captain Rob Johnson, Keith Lozowski, Ryan Padgett, Tucker Morrison and Graham Gnos.
Mitch Marner was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights — with an eight-year extension in place, sources told ESPN on Monday. Forward Nicolas Roy will go to the Toronto Maple Leafs in return.
Marner’s new deal has a $12 million average annual value, according to sources. Marner, 28, was the biggest name entering Tuesday’s NHL free agency, and multiple teams were hoping to make pitches. Marner was the NHL’s fifth-leading scorer last season with 102 points — 36 more than the next-closest free agent. The winger was drafted by his hometown Maple Leafs with the No. 4 pick in 2015.
The Maple Leafs knew that Marner was looking to test free agency at the end of the season. Over the past few days, Toronto worked with Vegas, which was Marner’s preferred destination, on a trade. The Maple Leafs held Marner’s rights until just before midnight Tuesday.
Had Marner become an unrestricted free agent, he couldn’t have signed a deal for more than seven years.
Marner finished a six-year deal that paid him $10.9 million annually. Marner, who played for Team Canada at Four Nations and likely will make their Olympic team, has 221 goals and 741 points in nine NHL seasons.
Toronto general manager Brad Treliving has stayed busy this week, re-signing John Tavares and Matthew Knies while trading for Utah forward Matias Maccelli earlier Monday.
Roy, 28, is a center who is entering Year 4 of a five-year deal that pays him $3 million annually.
Ahead of the Marner trade, the Golden Knights created cap space by sending defenseman Nicolas Hague to the Nashville Predators on Monday.
The deal makes Marner the highest-paid player on Vegas, however, center Jack Eichel ($10 million AAV) is entering the final year of his contract and is eligible to sign an extension this summer. The Golden Knights might not be done this offseason. According to sources, defenseman Alex Pietrangelo is expected to go on long-term injured reserve, which could create more flexibility.
Sign-and-trades ahead of free agency are becoming a trend for NHL teams that know they will not sign their coveted player; last season, the Carolina Hurricanes dealt Jake Guentzel‘s rights to the Tampa Bay Lightning before he signed a seven-year deal.
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Ryan S. Clark
Hours after re-signing Aaron Ekblad, the Florida Panthers kept another integral piece of their Stanley Cup team by re-signing Brad Marchand to a six-year contract extension, sources told ESPN’s Emily Kaplan.
Marchand’s deal has an average annual value of $5.25 million, sources told Kaplan.
Coming to terms with Ekblad on an eight-year extension worth $6.1 million annually left the Panthers with what PuckPedia projected to be $4.9 million in salary cap space.
There was the possibility that Marchand, 37, could have left the Panthers for a more lucrative offer elsewhere considering there were teams that had more than enough cap space to sign him.
Instead? Marchand, who arrived ahead of the NHL trade deadline from the Boston Bruins, appears as if he will remain in South Florida for the rest of his career.
Acquiring defenseman Seth Jones from the Chicago Blackhawks and then adding Marchand were two decisions made by Panthers general manager Bill Zito with the intent of seeing the Panthers win a second consecutive Stanley Cup as part of a run that now has included three straight Cup Final appearances.
Marchand, who was a pending UFA entering the final day before free agency begins Tuesday, used the 2025 postseason to further cement why the Panthers and other teams throughout the NHL would still seek his services. He scored 10 goals and finished with 20 points in 23 playoff games.
For all the contributions he made, his greatest came during the Cup Final series against the Edmonton Oilers.
Marchand, who previously won a Cup with the Bruins back in 2011, opened the series with a goal in the first three games. That includes the two goals he scored in the Panthers’ 5-4 double-overtime win to tie the series with his second being the game-winning salvo.
He scored two more goals in a 5-2 win in Game 5 that allowed the Panthers to take a 3-1 series lead before returning to Sunrise, Florida, where they closed out the series with an emphatic 5-1 win.
Capturing a consecutive title created questions about whether the Panthers can win a third in a row. But there was the understanding that it might be difficult given there was only so much salary cap space to re-sign Conn Smythe winner Sam Bennett, Ekblad and Marchand.
Knowing there was a chance they could lose one, or more, of them, Zito laid the foundation to retain the trio. He began by signing Bennett to an eight-year contract worth $8 million annually on June 27 before using Monday to sign Ekblad and Marchand.
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Ryan S. Clark
Ivan Provorov decided to forgo free agency, with the veteran defenseman finalizing a seven-year extension Monday worth $8.5 million annually to remain with the Columbus Blue Jackets, sources told ESPN, confirming earlier reports.
With free agency slated to start Tuesday, the 28-year-old was one of the most notable defenseman who had a chance to hit the open market.
Provorov’s decision to stay with the Blue Jackets comes shortly after it was reported that Aaron Ekblad also avoided free agency by agreeing to an eight-year extension to remain with the Florida Panthers. That now leaves players such as Vladislav Gavrikov, Ryan Lindgren, and Dmitry Orlov among the more prominent pending UFAs who could be available should they fail to strike a deal with their current teams.
Retaining Provorov comes months after a season that witnessed the Blue Jackets shed the title of being a rebuilding franchise to one that could challenge for the playoffs in 2025-26.
Four consecutive seasons without the playoffs created the idea that the 2024-25 campaign could be another challenging one. But a six-game winning streak in January saw Columbus post a 22-17-6 record to create the belief that a turnaround could be in order.
The Jackets closed the season with another six-game winning streak but fell short of the final Eastern Conference wild-card playoff spot, which went to the Montreal Canadiens by two points.
Provorov would finish with seven goals and 33 points in 82 games while his 23 minutes, 21 seconds in average ice time was second behind Norris Trophy finalist Zach Werenski.
Re-signing Provorov comes in an offseason that saw the Blue Jackets also strengthen their bottom-six forward corps by adding Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood in a trade with the Colorado Avalanche.
PuckPedia projects that the Blue Jackets now have $20.957 million in cap space ahead of free agency.
TSN was first to report news of Provorov’s decision.
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