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| MLive.com |
USA Today via MLive.com is reporting claims that after the young man refused to sing in front of the team, he was surrounded by his teammates as two of them rubbed their naked body parts on him.
MLive.com obtained a 25-page report with interviews from the victim and 14 other witnesses through the Michigan Freedom of Information Act. The report, which had three interviews with the victim, detailed an investigation into his claim that after he refused to engage in a team tradition (singing in front of the team), he was surrounded by teammates, and two naked players rubbed their private parts up against him.
The 17-year-old player with the claims has not been named.
All names in the report are redacted, but SVSU coach Jim Collins suspended offensive lineman Tevon Conrad, Kaleb Forr, Jack Raymond and Jesse Somsel and defensive end Nate Snyder from the team’s season-opening game for a violation of team rules. It later was reported that those individuals were under a criminal investigation that has been characterized as a fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct.
“They broke team rules, and we have a high standard on our team,” Collins told the Midland Daily News. “When you violate a team rule, there’s going to be consequences. That’s where we stand on it.”
The incident has not been described as hazing, but the victim’s mother, according to the report, referred to the incident as “rape” when talking to Collins over the phone after the player alerted his mother following the incident.
The report shows that the victim’s story was inconsistent in the three different interviews, while all of the suspects have denied physical contact and witnesses were unsure if there was physical contact.
According to the report, the victim told Detective Jamie Teddy that “20 or more naked men cornered me” and that one of the players “rubbed his penis on his right hip area for approximately 10 seconds” while another player “slid down (the teen’s) right shoulder with his buttocks.”
Being a former college football player myself, I understand team traditions and different acts of hazing. This is beyond hazing and I really have no answers for it.
Glenn Erby is a NFL writer for FootBasket. He also owns the NFL blog, Tha Cover 2. You can read more about him over there. Follow him on Twitter @thacover2.
