Locker room ‘hazing’ sends Dr. Phillips player to hospital

A Dr. Phillips High School freshman football player was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center Tuesday after an altercation inside the varsity locker room.

The player’s mother is alleging hazing, but some football players News 13 spoke with said it was just a fight.

On Tuesday afternoon, the 15-year-old called his mother and told her his football teammates beat him up.

The police report said the teen told her he was punched, choked and his wallet with $30 is now lost.

Orlando police said the angered mother drove onto the practice field to confront the coaches.

Some of his teammates, who News 13 is not identifying, said the teen was somewhere he shouldn’t have been.

"That's what they tell you when you get on the team,” a player said. “They say don't go into the varsity locker room or bad things will happen."

The teammates said the injured player wound up with a concussion for walking into the varsity locker room, which is a forbidden place for freshman players.

“Varsity -- they work for that locker room for like four years and coach said that if you go in there, they gonna beat you up and they're allowed to. Coach give them permission for that," a player said.
 
Neither Dr. Phillips’ coaches or staff are commenting about the incident.

The district said it's looking into the case and some may be disciplined. However, they will wait until Orlando police have finished their investigation.