The remainder of the football season at Sayreville War Memorial High School in Sayreville, NJ was effectively cancelled this week after details of the football team’s shocking locker room hazing rituals were reported to police by an anonymous tipster.
The Star-Ledger confirmed details of the rituals, which a parent says “happened almost every day”:
It would start with a howling noise from a senior football player…and then the locker room lights were abruptly shut off.
In the darkness, a freshman football player would be pinned to the locker room floor, his arms and feet held down by multiple upperclassmen. Then, the victim would be lifted to his feet while a finger was forced into his rectum. Sometimes, the same finger was then shoved into the freshman player’s mouth.
The allegations have since been confirmed by the parents of a freshman child who was subjected to the ritual, and has sparked a criminal investigation with Sayreville police.
Though police have only questioned suspected aggressors and victims, Superintendent of Schools Richard Labbe announced the police had collected enough “credible and substantial evidence” to suggest the allegations were true, which was enough to cancel the remainder of the season.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
He described the rituals as “incidences of harassment, intimidation and bullying as constituted by the definition within the anti-bullying statute that took place on a pervasive level, on a wide-scale level, and at a level in which the players knew, tolerated, and in general accepted.”
The behavior of athletes in the locker room and further off field has come under scrutiny lately, thanks to TMZ’s efforts to crack down on jock privilege and the unnecessarily sexual coverage of Michael Sam‘s drafting into the NFL.
In February, the NFL launched an independent investigation that exposed homophobia and harassment in the Miami Dolphins locker room, which lead to mandated sensitivity training. In July, an Ohio State University marching band director was fired after similar homophobic hazing rituals were found to be commonplace among band members.
But surprisingly, this community seems more outraged by the cancellation of the football season and have protested the decision with the board of education.
One parent of a teen interviewed by police accused coaches of failing to address the situation. He told the board of education he could not “understand how none of the coaches were aware of it. As a coach, you know what’s going on it your clubhouse. You know what’s going on in the locker room.”
Watch Dr. Richard Labbe’s confirmation statement below:
DonW
And this story belongs on a queer news site why? Because it involves a finger up someone’s butt?
Yeah, I know the stock reply: “If you don’t like it, why did you click on the story and comment on it?” I just don’t understand why “our” media outlets need to reinforce the idea that asshat behavior is relevant to our community just because both the perpetrators and the victims are male.
enlightenone
@DonW: Appreciate your thoughtful comment! I’m shocked that this is shocking. Doesn’t surprise me in the least. I’m shocked they cancelled the rest of the season! This appears to be progress!
Wooly
He stuck his finger into my rectum.
Bob LaBlah
Times sure have changed since I was a kid. The furthest we went in junior and senior high was popping each other once across the ass with a wet towel and trying not to get hard while we showered. If we did get hard we talked about girls so no one would know it was his ass that made it stand at attention.
My lord have times changed. Police investigation, news camera, press conference, a damn psychiatrist, the D.A.’s office…………….
enlightenone
@Bob LaBlah: Rape! All the right players.
Dakotahgeo
Things ARE changing… for the better! As a retired teacher of 50 years (private mentoring, private music, and K-12 Music teacher), I am aware of some hard and fast facts: 1) Most rural areas are too ignorant and uneducated to handle anything but spectator sports and alcohol in their life; 2) A fearsome minority of teachers who can’t teach, become coaches; Those who can’t coach, kiss ass and enter the M.S. Ed. Admin. program to become dunderhead Elementary/Secondary Supts. and Principals; this Superintendent obviously had both brains and morals to do what he did; 3) The legal aspects of hazing and harassment are finally kicking in and student victims are raking in rather huge sums of money in the millions from lawsuits, as they should be! Regarding 2) above, read, and reread this step over and over, and see if you can’t smell something rotten in Denmark as to why our education system has gone done the toilet for the last 40 years, and what our chances are to resurrect said educational pursuits into life-learning experiences that prepare our students for life? It’s worth your time!
samwise343
@DonW: So just like the parents are more shocked that the football season was cancelled than they are that someone was sodomized with a finger, you’re more shocked that the story appears on a gay website?
Excuse me… a young man was sodomized, which, golly gee, used to be quite commonly done on young gay men.
davenbill
This moronic community is more concerned about a freekin’ football game than the rape of freshman boys which evidently has been going on and tolerated for quite a while.
vive
Pretty much the entire thread disappeared!?