New developments in an ongoing rape case involving a Washington Huskies football player emerged this week. Those developments helped paint a clearer picture of the timeline of accusations against Tybo Rogers.
Rogers, a Husky running back, became entrenched in a world of trouble late in the 2023 college football season after being accused of rape. The new developments, which came out of a Freedom of Information Act request by local NBC affiliate KING 5 Seattle, also highlight a question that arose out of an ESPN Radio interview. That interview appears to have been with former Washington player Jordan Reffett, and those details are troubling.
The accuser filed a Title IX report in late November ahead of the Huskies’ appearance in the Pac-12 Championship Game. According to KING 5, Rogers was reportedly removed from the travel roster, but UW provided no explanation.
But a major detail from the KING 5 News report appears to reveal a murky situation involving an ESPN Radio segment. The Seattle news channel obtained text messages that further illustrate this story. Washington director of player performance Cameron Elisara sent a text message to then-head coach Kalen DeBoer, which appeared to be forwarded from Reffett, but asked a concerning question.
UW football coaches' text messages shed light on Tybo Rogers rape case https://t.co/I0SRKV0X0X
— KING 5 News (@KING5Seattle) April 23, 2024
KING 5’s Allison Sundell wrote “Just a week after the Title IX report was filed, on Dec. 9, UW Director of Football Player Development Cameron Elisara texted then-head coach Kalen DeBoer, forwarding a message he received about Rogers: ‘WTF did Tybo do? I got people blowing me up about it. I won’t say anything if you don’t want me to, obviously, but I was just on ESPN radio, and somebody brought it up.'”
KING 5 also included a snapshot of the text message, which included the following: “Just got this message from Reffett.” DeBoer appeared to respond to that message with a FaceTime call, but according to KING 5, there’s no record that exists to tell us about the FT call.
Reffett addressed this on Twitter/X Tuesday:
I didn't lie about anything. I asked someone a question for why a player didn't play in the P12 Championship game because I didn't know. I never got an answer. So there is no "gotcha". You just sound stupid.
— Jordan Reffett (@JordanReffett) April 23, 2024
As noted there, Washington barred Rogers from playing in the Pac-12 Championship game. But the team then allowed him to return in December. He went on to participate in both of the Huskies’ College Football Playoff games. And recent Title IX changes suggest that if they had been in place, Rogers wouldn’t have even faced a suspension, temporary or otherwise.
But in terms of this incident? Playing the game of “I won’t talk about it if you don’t want me to” for sexual assault is not good. And that’s putting it mildly. It’s clear that based on this information, people in power with the Washington football program knew about these accusations.
While Rogers received a recent indefinite suspension, you may wonder why his initial absence from the team was lifted at all. Especially since he initially appeared to be removed entirely.
As this situation continues to unravel, it might bring even more down with it.
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022