Steelers' Ramon Foster Shares His "Hazing" Experiences Amidst Recent Horrifying Northwestern Allegations

Pittsburgh Steelers former offensive guard, Ramon Foster, attended and played football at the University of Tennessee. Foster spent time as a Volunteer during the early 2000s before being signed by the Steelers in 2009. He said during his time at Tennessee and as a rookie with the Steelers, he saw some "light hazing." However, not anything nearly like what has recently been reported out of Northwestern University.

Recently, stories have emerged that football players at Northwestern have been engaged in systematic hazing for years. Back in January of 2023, an anonymous report was made and an independent investigator was hired to look into the claims. Then in July, Head Coach Pat Fitzgerald was suspended for two weeks as the investigation continued. He has since been fired. 

The horrifying tales coming from those student-athletes are shocking. They include "running" where the player, who was allegedly being hazed, was held down and sexually assaulted in a dark locker room by other players wearing "Purge" masks. According to the players, Fitzgerald not only knew about it, but encouraged it by using a special hand signal to let those in charge know which player should be hazed. 

"It's just a really abrasive and barbaric culture that has permeated throughout that program for years on end now," said a former player.

Steelers' Ramon Foster Says The Alleged Hazing At Northwestern Is Just Dumb

Not much is worse than dated expressions like "boys will be boys" when it comes to incidents like the ones that are being reported at Northwestern. Foster, who now co-hosts a podcast called The Ramon Foster Show with reporter Dejan Kovacevic, says that some level of mild hazing is normal. On the show, which airs on DK Pittsburgh Sports, Foster was asked about what happened at Northwestern and what his own experiences with hazing were. 

"No room for it [hazing], not for what they were doing. I had to experience it, nothing like that. I had two essential experiences, my freshman year in college, we had to do the water dunk and it was voluntary. You walk yourself into the cold tub, dunk yourself in and you get out. If you don't want to, you don't have to."

One of the concerns that has come up multiple times about the situation at Northwestern is that the players felt their cooperation was mandatory. The players who came forward said if they spoke up against anything that was happening, then they were punished even more, there was no choice. Foster makes it clear that while he was at Tennessee, this was some good-natured goofing on the freshman, it was not bullying and it was not forced. 

"In the NFL, that comes down to you spending a couple of dollars on the vets, 'Hey after conditioning test, go to Burger King and bring us back food.' 'OK, give us your order.' Those were the things, like the rookie dinner."

The Steelers, and most other NFL teams, have a tradition of the rookies taking the vets on the team out for a lavish meal. They typically go to one of the best restaurants in the city and are known to order the most expensive entrees, wine, and alcohol that is offered. There have been reports of these meals costing upwards of $25,000.   

Foster is not surprised that these men are still suffering from the effects of what happened to them while in college. Particularly as male athletes, they are raised to consider themselves "tough" and it goes against everything in their being to set those feelings aside and submit to be degraded. 

"It shouldn't be personal hazing, putting people in a circle or beating on anybody. Because at the end of the day, I'm a man and that's just super unfortunate, no that's super dumb, for such a smart institution like Northwestern."  

Kovacevic brings up that this can become a part of the school's culture and then it is just a systemic problem with people looking the other way. He mentions that he feels the head coach has responsibility, regardless of whether he technically "knew" or not. 

"The head coach, that's the part of this whole debate that gets me. They say, 'Well he didn't know about it.' But then he's equally guilty," says Kovacevic. 

Foster agrees with him, but adds that he doesn't believe he didn't actually know. He said during his time in football, the coach always knew about everything. He may not have witnessed it or had the specific details, but he had enough information from players that he could have stepped in. 

How do you feel about hazing? Do you think that some "light hazing" like Foster experienced is ok? Click to comment below! 

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