The Northwestern football program announced Tuesday that it will not attend Big Ten Media Day amid the hazing scandal that resulted in the firing of head coach Pat Fitzgerald.
"Given the recent events involving the Northwestern football program, we did not want our participation to be dominated by the hazing issue and steal the focus away from football and the upcoming season," the players said in a statement.
Northwestern Football @NUFBFamilyA statement from our student-athlete representatives regarding Big Ten Media Day: <a href="https://t.co/er6vCO3iRH">pic.twitter.com/er6vCO3iRH</a>
Interim head football coach David Braun added: "The decision from our players to forgo Big Ten Media Day was entirely theirs, and they approached it with a great deal of maturity and thoughtfulness.