Auburn Tigers Football: Do the Tigers Need to Worry About HBO Special?
So far, very little is known about what the Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel special on corruption at Auburn and other football programs will bring.
This evening, Sports By Brooks released some of the script from a pre-screened copy of the special that is set to release this Wednesday night. This special has been getting a lot of play on the message boards around the college football landscape, but not a lot of big-market news has been made of the allegations or television special.
With the content that is in the report, implications about improper recruiting practices are tossed in the direction of Ohio State, Michigan State and Auburn, according to the script. What truth can be found in the special is unknown, but one thing is for sure: The perception from this can not be a good one for an Auburn football program whose image is already hurting.
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The script blatantly states that these institutions had known boosters were passing cash bags and cash handoffs to players. It also states that sexual favors and parties were all a part of the recruiting process.
Once they got to school, good performances led to payment. Stanley McClover, a former Auburn defensive end, states he received $4,000 for four sacks in one Iron Bowl.
The one saving grace that Auburn may have is that the allegations did not occur during the Gene Chizik years at Auburn, and none of the current staff were a part of the allegations either.
That does not, however, ease the pain that the very real possibility remains that allegations pressed from former players like Raven Gray and Chaz Ramsey could lead down a nasty road. Ramsey and Gray were both on the team in 2007, which is still inside the NCAA statute of limitations.
As it stands, one can just simply sit, wait and see what the Real Sports special will bring. If in fact there are allegations that are charged in the special against the program that occur within the statute of limitations, one can only assume that the NCAA will look at a pursuit of justice. They have been dropping the hammer lately.
If anything else comes of this, the article will be updated. If not, stay tuned and hold on for Thursday evening.
***New Update Article***
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
