st. paul

Two nights before the first home game, Jacob Bond heard the national anthem and refused to take off his helmet.

The next day, the college lineman was told to hang up that football helmet, never to play again.

What started as a protest against the war in Iraq has become a three-year struggle between a Macalester College graduate who said his rights were infringed, and a school that stands by its decisions.

Bond filed suit in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis this week, claiming the St. Paul college harassed him for exercising free speech and neglected its duty to deal with his Asperger's syndrome, a variation of autism that makes it difficult for him to interact socially. He's seeking more than $50,000 for each claim. The college said it acted appropriately and Bond's claims of harassment are inflated.

Bond started his sophomore football season in 2006 hoping to be a starting offensive lineman, the next step in his seven-year football career.

While the team was scrimmaging, the national anthem played for a high school soccer match at an adjacent field, and Bond's teammates stopped playing and removed their helmets in respect.

Bond left his helmet on and faced away from the flag, to show silent opposition to the war in Iraq. According to his lawsuit, assistant coach Patrick Babcock yelled at Bond to remove his helmet, but he stood his ground. The next day Macalester head coach Glenn Caruso, who is now the head coach of the University of St. Thomas football program, asked him to leave the team, according to the suit.

Caruso denies he forced Bond from the team.

Bond filed a complaint with the school. After reviewing Bond's relationship with the team, an internal investigation concluded there was no wrongdoing.

"It seemed clear you felt harassed in part because of your political beliefs," the college's report says. "We did not find evidence to suggest this to be the case."

The report said Bond and Babcock had been butting heads for months. They had an angry exchange when Bond was late for a team breakfast and once when he was late for practice. The internal investigation concluded that "[Bond] was not specifically dismissed," because Bond said he was unsure about remaining on the team when Caruso said they should "part ways."

A review by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights sided with Macalester. Now Bond is seeking a third opinion.

In addition to the helmet incident, Bond's lawyer Judy Schermer said that Babcock and Caruso failed to make accommodations for Bond's disability. "All they had to do is what every other coach had done on every other team he played on," she said.

The lawsuit says that the college investigation incorrectly stated that neither coach knew of Bond's diagnosis at the time.

The suit also says that by denying a football player free speech, and by mistreating a disabled student, the school broke the implied contract in its student handbook.

"We are disappointed the complaint has been filed," Laurie Hamre, dean of students, said. "Macalester College has never taken away the rights of a student to belong to an organization or participate because of apparel and garb in the national anthem."

Even though his playing days are over, Bond said it's still important to point out how the college treated a player who bucked the system.

"I want people to see what actually happens," Bond said. "I want people to know what they did so that they can't cover it up."

Alex Ebert • 612-673-4264