--- title: New Jersey High School Football Season Canceled: Hazing, Bullying description: ANew Jersey school's football season is getting cut short amid a hazing and bullying investigation. canonical: https://time.com/3478268/football-hazing/ author: Laura Stampler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-07T15:15:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:56:07.762Z og:title: New Jersey High School Cancels Football Season Amid Hazing and Bullying Investigation og:description: The superintendent told media, "This is a very sad day in Sayreville." og:url: https://time.com/3478268/football-hazing/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt772e8f0ff5a22d70/69875f2055a8591233a83102/160197981.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5000 og:image:height: 2813 og:image:alt: 160197981 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: New Jersey High School Cancels Football Season Amid Hazing and Bullying Investigation twitter:description: The superintendent told media, "This is a very sad day in Sayreville." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt772e8f0ff5a22d70/69875f2055a8591233a83102/160197981.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # High School's Football Season Cancelled Amid Hazing Investigation > Sponsored content. 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It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-worth-2026q3/newsletters?i=c3d7155d-5c2a-4b1b-aa52-a6c8aec7df9d&cr=time-nl-worth-2026q3-v1) by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Oct 7, 2014 3:15 PM UTC  Empty football field Empty football field Getty Images by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Oct 7, 2014 3:15 PM UTC Sayreville War Memorial High School’s football team may have [won three of its last four state championships](http://www.nj.com/middlesex/index.ssf/2014/10/post%5F51.html), but the New Jersey school’s football season is getting cut short amid a hazing and bullying investigation. “There was enough evidence to substantiate there were incidents of harassment, intimidation and bullying that took place on a pervasive level, on a wide-scale level, and at a level in which the players knew, tolerated and in general accepted,” superintendent Richard Labbe told press about the decision Monday night. “This is a very sad day in Sayreville.” Local police and the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the goings-on, and while precise details aren’t yet known, [sources told NJ.com](http://www.nj.com/middlesex/index.ssf/2014/10/sayreville%5Ffootball%5Fcancelation%5Fhazing%5Fis%5Fat%5Fthe%5Fcenter%5Fof%5Fcontroversy%5Fsource%5Fsays.html) the investigations are related to a hazing ritual that “went too far.” The team is also facing fallout from the [arrest of its assistant coach last week for steroid possession](http://www.nj.com/middlesex/index.ssf/2014/10/sayreville%5Ffootball%5Fcoach%5Fsays%5Fsteroid%5Farrest%5Fhad%5Fnothing%5Fto%5Fdo%5Fwith%5Fthe%5Fkids.html#incart%5Fstory%5Fpackage), which allegedly has nothing to do with the situation surrounding the high school football players. \[[_NJ.com_](http://www.nj.com/middlesex/index.ssf/2014/10/post%5F51.html)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3478268/football-hazing/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3478268/football-hazing/"},"headline":"High School's Football Season Cancelled Amid Hazing Investigation","datePublished":"2014-10-07T15:15:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:56:07.762Z","description":"The superintendent told media that \"this is a very sad day in Sayreville.\"","url":"https://time.com/3478268/football-hazing/","keywords":["Living","Sports topic","Football","Bullying"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt772e8f0ff5a22d70/69875f2055a8591233a83102/160197981.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laura Stampler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt772e8f0ff5a22d70/69875f2055a8591233a83102/160197981.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"160197981","caption":"160197981","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3478268/football-hazing/","name":"High School's Football Season Cancelled Amid Hazing Investigation"}}]}] ```