Northwestern AD Reacts to Coaches' T-Shirts Supporting Fitzgerald

Paul Steinbach Headshot
Joshua Sukoff T Ju N Qo6kgis Unsplash
Joshua Sukoff, Unsplash

Northwestern University football coaches wore T-shirts reading "Cats Against the World: 51" during Wednesday's practice in support of former head coach Pat Fitzgerald, who was fired July 10 amid a hazing scandal.

Fitzgerald, a two-time national defensive player of the year as an NU linebacker in the 1990s, wore number 51.

As reported by ESPN, Northwestern athletic director Derrick Gragg attended Wednesday's practice, witnessed the T-shirts being worn first hand, and in a statement called them "inappropriate, insensitive and tone deaf." Gragg added that neither he nor the university had been aware the shirts would be worn Wednesday, the first preseason practice open to the media.

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