Denver Public Schools officials are investigating allegations of hazing during and end-of-season football practice at John F. Kennedy High School.
A football player’s father filed a hazing complaint with the district after witnessing and videotaping “Senior Hit Day” on Nov. 2.
The video shows individual players in full gear facing each other. One then tackles the other, often lifting him off his feet and slamming him into the ground. Parts of the video were aired on KUSA-TV in Denver.
“This is very degrading,” the father, Gary Pacheco Sr., told the Rocky Mountain News in Thursday’s editions. “I want them to do something about it.”
Kennedy principal Jeannie Peppel referred questions to school district officials. The district released a statement saying it would conduct a “fair and thorough” investigation.
Pacheco’s son, Gary Jr., said coaches allow seniors to hit younger players as hard as they want on Senior Hit Day.
“There are guys, their backs are hurt, their necks are hurt and they’re still hurting even three weeks later from this,” the son told KUSA-TV in Denver.
Another Kennedy player, senior Dan Ramirez, said he has never seen anyone hurt at Senior Hit Day. He said no player is forced to take a hit.
