I've been debating all week if I should address this issue. When I look at the news I don't see as many "haters" as there were back in the season. Mostly, it's gone unnoticed or laughed away as being a joke. I'm kinda leaning to the latter.
So earlier this week four former Auburn players came out of the woodwork to claim Auburn paid them "bags full of money" to play for them. Well... let's look down the list shall we?
Stanley McClover (2003-2005) Claims he was offered cash money at functions and meetings at Auburn. Unfortunantly for him his high school coach was with him the entire time and says he never saw any of that happen:
"Nothing like that ever happened, I was at every meeting and I'm not sure why he would throw Dillard (the high school) under the bus like that. I was always in the football office when a coach came to the school to recruit and talk to players. They were never there speaking with a player without me being present. How Stanley said it puts doubts in my mind what he is saying is true, No one from our school can confirm what he is saying.I thought the interview would talk about Stanley as a role model, I'm disappointed with how it turned out."
As the late Paul harvey once said, "And now, the rest of the story..."
McClover left Auburn a year early for the NFL and was a wash out. He also claimed he took money from boosters when he was at LSU as well. Let's see, who was the coach back then....AH Nick Saban!!!
Saban denies McClover's claims and I tend to believe ole Nick over an NFL washout.
Troy Reddick (2002-2005) Claims to have been given money as well. Which surprises a few of his teammates. Former teammate Jeremy Ingle is a little shocked. Having known him for 7 years now he's curious as to why Troy never said anything about it until now. Could it have been the $20,000 HBO allegedly gave him for the interview? Hmmm...oh and by the way, Reddick was turned down for the GA assistants program at Auburn last year. but I'm sure there isn't any sour grapes over that right??
Chaz Ramsey. This one you're going to love. Teammate Lee Ziemba was his ROOMMATE all through college and had this to say:
“We were both scratching around for enough money to buy a $5 footlong at Subway, If he were getting thousands of dollars, you’re not going to keep that quiet. I would have heard about it, and he would have been spending so out of control that I would have noticed something.”
Being more heavily recruited by Auburn he found it odd he'd never been offered cash too. That goes the same for BETTER atheletes at Auburn who claimed no money was given to them either, names like Carnel Williams, Ronnie Brown and Jason Campbell to name a few.
Oh and when they and several other former Auburn players heard about the HBO upcoming special, they asked to be interviewed too. But when HBO found their claims would be that they never recieved payment, HBO decided not to interview them for the segment. (sniff, sniff, what's that smell??)
And then there is Raven Gray. Lee Ziemba had another great insight on Raven. Did you know this guy tried to sue Auburn over a back injury and lost?! Not able to get any money from the lawsuit he decided to make some from HBO instead I guess.
Are these four player stars? Nope. Were they in college? Another no. Did ANY of the former players provide names? No. Even HBO admits they have no proof of the statements made on their show.
Do college football players get paid? Yes, it happens at every school including Auburn I'm sure. But these bozo's?! I've got to wonder. It's like someone telling me USC boosters gave money to the back-up punter. Um, who cares.
Thankfully, most reporters out there know a stinker when they see it and the reports I've read go "light" on whether the accusations are true.
And so haters, once again we have to look through the fog of make believe and see the big picture.
Have a good weekend folks!
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