Dozens of former Ohio State football players have joined a federal lawsuit against their alma mater. The lawsuit focuses on allegations of sexual abuse of student-athletes by a team doctor.
In all, 30 former players, including some who went on to have NFL careers, came out eight years after the first lawsuit was filed because they said they needed to overcome the shame of being sexually abused by another man as well as taking on the university, The Associated Press reported.
Lawyer Rocky Ratliff said the players are “tearful and living with it,” adding, “But as this case progresses on, they see how Ohio State’s treating athletes from the university and I think they want people to know it’s OK, even if it is male to male (sexual abuse), to come forward.”
Ratliff was a wrestler at OSU and is a survivor of Strauss’ abuse, NBC News reported.
Former student athletes have sued Ohio State in federal court since 2018, claiming the institution did nothing to stop abuse by Dr. Richard Strauss. In all, hundreds of people said he abused them during his tenure from 1978 until 1998, the AP reported.
Strauss died by suicide in 2005, NBC News reported. According to Sports Illustrated, Strauss never answered his accusers.
The football players have signed letters of agreement to join the lawsuit filed by other alleged victims.
It will be a class-action lawsuit, according to Ratliff and NBC News.
Of the 30, three have allowed their identities to be released: Al Washington, Ray Ellis and Keith Ferguson, who played for the 1980 Rose Bowl team under Woody Hayes.
Washington said it was difficult keeping the secret that Strauss performed “unlawful” physicals on him when he was only 18 or 19. He and others tried to make light of the situation and joke about it at the time, but the 67-year-old said: “It was really uncomfortable.”
“When you play football, you encounter obstacles, and when I was a Buckeye, I decided not to let what happened to me defeat me, so I kept quiet,” Washington told NBC News. “But I’ve been living with this a long time, and it’s time to settle this once and for all.”
He said the 2025 documentary, " Surviving Ohio State," brought the memories back.
“As a matter of fact, I couldn’t make it through that movie,” he said. “The pain and anguish that I saw, I just couldn’t take it.”
Other former players have already settled their suits, keeping their identities a secret.
Ohio State has released a statement, saying, “sincerely and persistently tried to reconcile with survivors, including former football student-athletes, through monetary and non-monetary means, including settlements, counseling services and other medical treatment.”
As of last month, Ohio State has settled with 317 people for more than $61 million, the AP reported.
Sports Illustrated said about 500 former athletes have come forward.
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