Northwestern football’s three player representatives for Big Ten Media Days – Bryce Gallagher, Rod Heard II and Bryce Kirtz – announced in a Twitter statement Tuesday that they will no longer be attending. 

The trio was set to speak to the media about the upcoming season tomorrow, July 26. 

“Given the recent events involving the Northwestern football program, we did not want our participation to be dominated by the hazing issue and steal the focus away from football and the upcoming season,” they wrote in their joint Twitter post on the football team’s account. 

The football program has been under immense scrutiny since a July 8 report in The Daily detailed hazing in the program, including coerced sexual acts. Former Head Coach Pat Fitzgerald has since been fired, and three lawsuits have been filed against the University by former football players. 

Gallagher, Heard II and Kirtz said in their statement that they came to their decision after speaking with parents, teammates and Interim Head Coach David Braun. 

“The decision from our players to forego Big Ten Media Day was entirely theirs, and they approached it with a great deal of maturity and thoughtfulness,” Braun wrote in a separate statement, also on the football team’s account. “I’m fully supportive of both their reasoning and the decision itself, and I look forward to attending the event.”

Braun, who was elevated from defensive coordinator to his current position after Fitzgerald’s firing, is still set to speak at Big Ten Media Days tomorrow.