Massillon Tigers Football Hazing Incident

A hazing incident involving the Massillon Tigers has put the Stark County high school football team in the headlines and left many people with questions. In an attempt to combat some misinformation, we’ve compiled what’s being reported and what we know about the Massillon Tigers football hazing incident.

Multiple news organizations have confirmed that Massillon Police have been investigating a report of hazing since June 27th. Police were notified about the incident by school administers and the event was reported to have happened the previous day, June 26th. The incident happened during unsupervised time at a training session at an indoor facility, located at 1 Paul Brown Drive which is on school property. Reports claim that multiple players were tackling other players and stripping their clothes off until they could wrestle free. In one of these incidents, a player was stripped naked from the waist down and was filmed. The film was shared via Snapchat, but who received it is unclear.

Once the school was aware that something happened, security footage was reviewed and 6 victims and 15 suspects were identified. The school claims that multiple students have been disciplined due to events from the day in question. Complicating matters is the fact that some of the victims were also suspects. The victim that is involved in the initial incident told police it wasn’t a big deal. His mother agreed, being quoted ” I wish it was still 1980 when we didn’t have to scrutinize youthful stupidity like this”. Both the victim and his family have requested that charges not be pressed against suspects.

The incident has lead to the suspension of Head Coach of the Tigers and Athletic Director, Nate Moore. Moore has been suspended since July 13th, according to The Massillon Independent. Moore recently completed his 8th year leading the team, during which he passed the legendary Paul Brown as Massillon’s winningest coach. Massillon had a deep run into the playoffs in 2022 and expectations are high again. The Tigers start their season at home against Valdosta, Georgia, another storied high school football program with a checkered past.

The fact that the upcoming season is so close and Moore has been so revered in Massillon has some people speculating that the issue will be resolved before kick off of week one. It’s also been noted that Canton McKinley is currently dealing with a lawsuit that stemmed from firing a coach for a hazing incident and Massillon may be slow to follow suit. Others feel that the fact that the school started the investigation is a sign that Moore might be shown the exit. It’s worth noting that this is not Moore’s first scandal in Massillon, as the team was sanctioned in 2016 for recruiting violations.

“Our office is aware of an incident that took place concerning the Massillon Washington High School football team. We are reviewing the information we have received and will decide if charges are warranted once our review is complete.” was what Stark County Prosecutor Kyle Stone told Channel 3.