On Monday, national news picked up a story about a vicious sexual assault that allegedly took place in the locker room of my high school alma mater. The New York Times published the disturbing details: a freshman assaulted by older football players with a broomstick. According to the district attorney prosecuting the case, the assault took place on a day football players called "No Gay Thursdays."

The Times listed the alleged assault at Pennsylvania's Conestoga High School as the latest in a litany of other alleged abuses from high school sports teams. Basketball players raping a teammate with a pool cue. Wrestlers raping a 12-year-old after a tournament. A basketball hazing ritual that may have involved using a stick to rape younger teammates.

Conestoga, or "Stoga," is a big high school in an affluent, mostly white suburb just west of Philadelphia proper. It's located in an area called the Main Line, a strip of towns historically known for old money and racist or anti-Semitic housing covenants. When I attended Stoga, kids were largely divided by race and class. Conestoga was recently listed as one of the top public schools in the country. But in addition to Conestoga's stellar academics and much lauded football program, when I attended, the school was also known for its drug use. I remember meth trading hands in a McDonald's parking lot, people snorting lines before class. Like many suburbs that strive for a veneer of perfection, the Main Line maintains layers of longstanding social problems that sit just below its respectable surface.

So when I first read about the alleged assault, I was horrified, but not surprised. I knew a little something about bullying in the school district. Girls who went to my middle school called me a "dyke" before I knew what the word meant. Kids were more brutal towards some of my friends—the brilliant, weird girls who did theater and wrote fan fiction about the worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien. Many of our fellow Conestoga grads went on to attend Penn State, another school with a football-centric culture and recent sexual abuse scandal.

I was surprised, however, when, after the story broke, a former Conestoga varsity football player reached out to me. We talked a little bit about the alleged assault, the Chester County District Attorney's decision to take the story so public, and the masculinity-worshipping culture that may have enabled the alleged abuse. The former football player, who wished to remain anonymous, shared his own stories about concussions, witnessing violent bareknuckle boxing among other members of the football team, and assistant coaches who allegedly looked the other way.

He also remembered a rule about how the coach let football players police themselves without adult supervision in locker rooms. He remembers it being part of a coach’s lesson about manhood. “I took a lot of pride in that, the fact that we deserve enough respect that we could handle it ourselves,” the football player told me. “And we didn't abuse that as far as I saw.”

But that same football player also revealed that he dealt with emotional abuse while on the football team. He reached out to me because he wanted to publish something for others who may have had similar experiences.

“I think sports teams in general preach aggressive behavior, and a lot of times reward the most aggressive people, and then it branches out,” he told me.

The former football player also said that he never witnessed anything like “No Gay Thursdays” or the assault described by the DA during his time at Stoga. His first reaction was shock, as well as “some disappointment for the town we grew up in, that bred this in some ways.” The football player continued: “It could happen anywhere, and there are plenty of things that were good about where we grew up.”

I’m publishing the open letter the former football player wrote below. It’s addressed to his former teammates, as well as anyone else who may have experienced abuse on a high school football team. He's asked that it be shared widely.

To all my former Conestoga football teammates, please take this post for what it is: a very personal reaction to a very personal subject. I think this event is a good chance to talk about what happens behind the scenes of a high school football team. Some of what happens is good, but plenty isn't.

It's a shame that the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District is in the news, again, for a criminal act, but it's in no way surprising. The culture around high school sports is a disaster. From my experience playing football, many of the players, and even leaders, of the team are extremely aggressive on and off the field. Often times they're brutal to newer, more vulnerable members of the team, such as the alleged victim in this case. This brutality can resort to violent acts, which extend beyond ordinary bullying or hazing.

The Conestoga football team is unique, or at least was in my time there, in that it doesn't cut any players. This means that the size of the team can, at times, exceed 100 players. This creates a hectic and unwieldy environment, that can often take on a culture resembling Lord of the Flies.

I want to be clear, not all football players are bad people. I learned many lessons about honor, respect, teamwork, duty, and commitment from my time playing high school football. I met a lot of great people, many of whom have grown into strong adults. It's the few vicious players that threaten the community at large.

I believe these allegations will change the course of Conestoga's football program for years to come. Already, head coach John Vogan, who I respected and admired, has been suspended. At the start of each season, Coach Vogan would gather his players and deliver a speech, which began, "We don't haze." The message was clear: If anyone was hazed, he was going to hold the hazers accountable.

Unfortunately, this likely won't change the culture of football programs across the country. Football, as well as many other sports teams, are insular environments. They establish a fear-based culture, in which anyone who participates fails to speak up in the face of disturbing behavior.

I hope this post starts a chain-reaction, so that anyone subjected to abuse during their time on a high school football team has a chance to stand up and call for an end to these kinds of abuses.

I wish all the best to my former coaches and players as they deal with this mess. I hope it serves as a wake-up call to everyone involved in the football program.