SNITCHES "The Ultimate Betrayers"

"Keep that under the table"

 Four former Auburn football players who told HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" they received thousands of dollars while being recruited by or playing for the Tigers. Stanley McClover, Troy Reddick, Chaz Ramsey and Raven Gray told HBO for an episode that aired Wednesday night that they received cash payments -- in book bags, envelopes and even handshakes. Ramsey played at Auburn most recently, in the 2007 season.
Coach Gene Chizik dismissed the report as "pure garbage."

Let's say that all of this is true, which we all know is, because it happens all over the country. Not just at the best programs but the mediocre ones too. Why are these guys on TV talking about it? One thing is constant here, all of these guys have their hands out. They had their hands out when they were both in high school and college and as adults they still think that they're the big time recruit.

I heard one the guys say that he was coming out with the truth because he was trying to keep others from going through what he went through. What was that, being taken care of on a college campus by boosters? I'm not justifying the practice of "hundred dollar handshakes" but I'm telling you that it happens and it happens everywhere.

McClover said he later received $7,000 from an unidentified Auburn booster for a 1973 Chevrolet Impala and would get sacks of money, typically $300 or $400, after games. He said he got four bags totaling $4,000 after logging four sacks against rival Alabama in 2004, when he was a first-team All-SEC player.

Now don't start jumping up and down screaming that Auburn is full of crap and the most recent national title should be taken away because this only proves that Cam Newton was dirty. Be careful when you throw that stone because your school is dirty too. If your school isn't dirty, they're irrelevant. In order to get the big time players there's always a price that somebody is willing to pay. I've been around college sports nearly my entire life and you can't stop boosters and alumni from walking up to kids after the game and giving them money. There's no way around it.

There's something sick about a grown man or women that wants to see their school win so bad that they would pay kids, knowing that it's against the rules. It's sick but money is the root of all evil, right? So if  billions of dollars are being made off of the sport. Then you can understand why these sick individuals prey on broke college students.

"Count the # of jersey's sold in the bookstore"

There's no way that a kid is going to turn it down because he doesn't have any money in the first place. You can talk about the rules all day long but if a kid is broke, he's vulneralable. We're typically talking about black kids from the inner cities from all across this country. Many of these guys are coming from impoverished homes where their family thinks that the school is providing for them completely so they don't worry about them once they leave home.

   Well...that's simply not the case. A scholarship pays for room/board and tuition that's it. It doesn't buy toiletries, clothes, pizza on the weekends, a plan ticket home etc. So many kids need clothes because the strength and conditioning department is responsible for putting weight on them. Therefore, the clothes the player comes in with are now too small. The scholarship doesn't pay for replacements.

 It's against NCAA rules for a student-athlete to have a job and be on scholarship. The non-athlete can get a job while they're in school to cover the incidentals or call mom and dad for the money. The kids in question don't have that option but the school just made $10 million during the home game that he just played. Also the bookstore sold 500 units of his jersey while the campus was packed with fans today.

So I'm not upset with the booster that gave a kid $400 so that he could buy shoes/clothes, a plane ticket home for the break or a pizza after the game(players are given a box lunch from the school after the game). I'm just upset with the snitch that took advantage of the system and decided to blow up the joint now that he's used it all up.

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Follow me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport
Information from the Associated Press was used in this article.