SpaceRaider
All American
Posts: 3,721
Joined: May 2002
Reputation: 157
I Root For: MiddleTennessee
Location: God's Country
|
How to buy college football players, in the words of a man who delivers the money
long long article, just keep scrolling...
SBNation article:
Quote:...The Bag Man excuses himself to make a call outside, on his "other phone," to arrange delivery of $500 in cash to a visiting recruit. The player is rated No. 1 at his position nationally and on his way into town. We're sitting in a popular restaurant near campus almost a week before National Signing Day, talking about how to arrange cash payments for amateur athletes.
"Nah, there's no way we're landing him, but you still have to do it," he says. "It looks good. It's good for down the road. Same reason my wife reads Yelp. These kids talk to each other. It's a waste of money, but they're doing the same thing to our guys right now in [rival school's town]. Cost of business."
Technically, this conversation never happened, because I won't reveal this man's name or the player's, or even the town I visited. Accordingly, all the other conversations I had with different bag men representing different SEC programs over a two-month span surrounding National Signing Day didn't happen either.
Even when I asked for and received proof -- in this case a phone call I watched him make to a number I independently verified, then a meeting in which I witnessed cash handed to an active SEC football player -- it's just cash changing hands. When things are done correctly, there's no proof more substantial than one man's word over another. That allows for plausible deniability, which is good enough for the coaches, administrators, conference officials, and network executives. And the man I officially didn't speak with was emphatic that no one really understands how often and how well it almost always works......
(This post was last modified: 04-12-2014 02:56 PM by SpaceRaider.)
|
|
04-12-2014 02:45 PM |
|
AndreWhere
Banned
Posts: 6,189
Joined: Dec 2009
I Root For: Southern Miss
Location: DunwoodY
|
RE: How to buy college football players, in the words of a man who delivers the money
"I don't view what I do as a crime, and I don't give a **** if someone else does, honestly."
OK... that sounds like something nastybunch would say. The dude is such a loose cannon.
|
|
04-12-2014 03:43 PM |
|
Smaug
Happnin' Dude
Posts: 61,211
Joined: Mar 2005
Reputation: 842
I Root For: Dragons
Location: The Lonely Mountain
|
RE: How to buy college football players, in the words of a man who delivers the money
Quoth Large Charles, "This is the $EC. If you ain't cheatin' you ain't tryin'. "
|
|
04-12-2014 08:20 PM |
|