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Police suggest UW athletics staff knew about, discussed Tybo Rogers’ rape allegation

DerekJohnsonDerekJohnson Administrator, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 63,339 Founders Club

By Catalina Gaitán and Caitlyn Freeman

Seattle police suggested that members of University of Washington’s athletic department staff knew about and discussed a rape allegation against Tylin “Tybo” Rogers before allowing the sophomore running back to continue playing in the fall, according to a document detailing the agency’s investigation into Rogers. 

The document, released Monday through a public disclosure request, points to emails sent within UW’s athletic department Nov. 30, two days after one of Rogers’ alleged victims posted on social media about the attack and filed a Title IX report against him at the university. 

“The timeline of social media posts as well as [Rogers’] suspension led me to believe there is a connection between his suspension and her disclosure of the assault, especially after the comments made by the coaching staff,” Seattle police Detective Emily Akiyama wrote in the report. 

The emails confirmed Rogers was removed from the travel roster for the Pac-12 Championship Game on Dec. 1 but did not explain why, according to the document. Rogers, who has been suspended from the team, has pleaded not guilty to charges of second- and third-degree rape, and his attorney has said he is innocent. 

Two women, a 19-year-old Seattle Central College student and a 22-year-old UW student, have accused Rogers of raping them in October and November. He and another Husky football player have also been recently charged in an unrelated attack on a bicyclist.

The 19-year-old contacted Seattle police Oct. 28 after Rogers allegedly raped her inside her apartment. She reported him to the university’s Title IX office and posted on social media about the alleged attack one month later.

Investigators also pointed to text messages involving UW athletics staff referencing Rogers that were sent within two weeks of the woman’s Nov. 28 social media post and Title IX report. The messages were followed up with a phone call, so the responses weren’t documented.

One screenshot shows a text message sent Dec. 6 to an unidentified UW football coach asking the coach to share contact information for a defense attorney with Rogers.

Another screenshot showed Cameron Elisara, director of football player development, messaged then-UW head coach Kalen DeBoer the same day.

“WTF did Tybo do?” Elisara wrote. “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.”

In the screenshot, DeBoer didn’t message back. Instead he FaceTimed Elisara.

At the time, Ryan Grubb, then UW’s football offensive coordinator, told Inside the Huskies, a Sports Illustrated FanNation website, that they were working on “some challenges [Rogers] had off the field” but declined to say more about why Rogers was taken off the field.

Less than three weeks after the woman reported Rogers to the university’s Title IX office, which investigates complaints of sexual misconduct by university students and staff, he returned to practice Dec. 15. He played in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1 and the College Football Playoff Championship Game on Jan. 8. 

It’s unclear how much the university’s athletic department knew about the allegation against Rogers last fall, and three men best positioned to answer questions have since resigned for other jobs. 

Grubb and DeBoer left Jan. 12 to take the same positions at Alabama. Grubb has since returned to Seattle to work as the Seahawks’ offensive coordinator. And Troy Dannen, then UW’s athletic director, abruptly left March 20 after less than six months on the job to take the same position at the University of Nebraska. 

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