Former kicker Stefan Demos paints different picture of hazing in NU program
There's a phrase that states there are two sides to every story. In the aftermath of Northwestern's hazing scandal, there are more. Many more.
Former Northwestern kicker Stefan Demos thinks that his former teammate, Ramon Diaz, and other former Wildcat players have told their side in the media. Now, he wants to tell his.
Player testimonials alleging and denying that hazing took place at Northwestern during their playing days have flooded in since the investigation concluded and head coach Pat Fitzgerald was initially suspended on July 7. They continued after Fitzgerald was fired on July 10. Multiple lawsuits have now been filed, revealing even more.
Diaz, a Wildcat offensive lineman from 2005-08, claimed in a story by the Daily Northwestern that racism was prevalent in the program and that hazing took place. He went on to allege in a USA Today story on Thursday that Northwestern associate head coach Matt MacPherson witnessed hazing incidents at Northwestern's old traditional fall camp in Kenosha, Wis.
Demos has now come forward to tell WildcatReport about his time in the program. His account disagrees with Diaz's that MacPherson was witness to hazing during their time on the team.
Demos played at Northwestern from 2006-10, including one redshirt year in 2006. He was teammates with Diaz for all three years that Diaz overlapped with MacPherson, who was hired as an assistant coach in 2006.
Diaz said that MacPherson witnessed players doing naked pullups. The article also stated that a "person in contact with several former players" alleged that MacPherson witnessed the hazing ritual of “running”, when other players held down and dry-humped a targeted player.
Demos, however, says that the running of players was “100% not a thing” when he was at Northwestern, and that he never saw MacPherson in the locker room in Kenosha, let alone witnessing any acts of hazing taking place there.
Demos can’t speak for Diaz’s experience, or anyone else's, but he wants his voice to be heard too.
"I was never hazed in five years there," said Demos. "I can only speak to what I saw and what happened to me, which was quite different than many of the stories."
Further, his story is corroborated by two other teammates who overlapped careers with Demos and Diaz. They told WildcatReport last week under the request of anonymity that they didn’t experience or witness any hazing when they were on campus, either.
"'Running' was 100% not a thing when I was there so I don’t know what that is," said Demos. "...I also don’t recall ever seeing Coach Mac in the locker room at Kenosha and I was there the entire time that Coach Mac and Ramon overlapped. The coaches typically rode their bicycles from the meeting rooms to the field during my five Camp Kenoshas."
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Demos, who was named second-team All-Big Ten in 2009 and left Northwestern ranked fifth all-time in made field goals, says that it's important for all players' stories to be heard. That's why he's attaching his name to his claims.
As for the naked pullups, Demos says that he never did a naked pullup, nor did he ever see anyone forced to do one in the locker room.
"The problem now," said Demos, "is that a lot is becoming 'he said, she said'. Ramon says he saw [MacPherson, in the locker room]. I never saw him."
Demos emphasizes that he can't speak at all about anything that happened after he left Northwestern in 2010. Many other former Wildcat players feel differently about whether or not they were hazed.
President Michael Schill said in the statement firing Fitzgerald that 11 players corroborated the allegations of hazing in the investigation report. Attorney Ben Crump said that he is representing at least 15 players across several sports in their soon-to-be-filed suit against the university. Other unnamed former players have also filed similar suits against Northwestern.
Diaz and other players also made claims of racism within the Northwestern program in a Daily Northwestern article. Demos never saw anything of the kind, in Evanston or Kenosha.
"I can’t say with 100% certainty that no one at Northwestern ever felt they were hazed or felt discriminated against racially because I wasn’t in every meeting room at all times or in every private conversation," he said. "I do know that we had tremendous leadership during my years there, including minorities. I think of our leaders like Reggie McPherson, Corey Wootton, Corbin Bryant, Sherrick McManis. I don’t honestly believe any of them, or anyone in our locker room, would have stayed quiet if someone came forward and felt racially discriminated against.
"What I can say is that I never witnessed it and I never felt that the locker rooms or coaching staffs that I had would have allowed it if it was known. We had a very tight locker room with great leadership from 2006-2010 and I know [head coach Pat Fitzgerald] would never allow anyone to feel disrespected or less than if he was aware."
Demos does not like the way Fitzgerald, who led the program for 17 years and is Northwestern's all-time winningest coach, was treated by the school's administration since the scandal broke. He spoke with WildcatReport anonymously before, but felt compelled this time to use his name.
He's not sure if his statements will bring any clarity as lawsuits pile on and more accounts on both sides pour in. He just wants to make sure all players' voices are represented.
"That was my experience and those are my opinions," Demos said.
One thing is becoming very clear: even with Fitzgerald fired, three statements from the university's president and two press conferences put on by attorneys, the shockwaves of Northwestern's hazing scandal are far from over.