For the first time publicly, former Notre Dame linebacker Prince Shembo confirmed he was the Irish football player involved in the Lizzy Seeberg sexual assault investigation in 2010. In the fall of 2010, Shembo’s first semester on campus, Seeberg, a Saint Mary’s student, accused a Notre Dame football player of sexually assaulting her in her dorm room. In the coming days, Seeberg reportedly received text messages from a friend of the football player that said, “Messing with Notre Dame football is a bad idea.” Seeberg committed suicide 10 days after the alleged assault and charges were never filed. Shembo’s name popped up online in relation to the investigation but was never officially connected to the alleged sexual assault. After playing four years with the Irish, Shembo is now prepping for a potential career in the NFL and said teams have asked him about the situation. “I just tell [NFL team executives] the truth, I have nothing to hide,” Shembo said to Blue and Gold Illustrated while at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. “No one’s heard from me one time. Do you go off of one person’s story?” Shembo said he was not surprised about the questions because the allegations were a simple search away. “Everyone that does the background check can type my name in and you’ll see all the stuff that people have said about me and have never heard from my mouth,” he said. Shembo said Irish coach Brian Kelly told him he was not allowed to talk on the matter publically, despite his desire to. “My name was going to flames and it just made my name look bad and I can’t even speak,” Shembo said. Notre Dame declined to comment Sunday.
