Arian Foster: I Got Paid So I Could Eat While at Tennessee

((ht: si.com))

An interesting story is developing involving Houston Texans RB Arian Foster and what he says he did while at the University of Tennessee.

And mind you, we agree with him, but he's setting off a bit of a debate.

Foster, in an interview for a documentary called "Schooled: The Price of College Sports", admits that he and several of his teammates took food money (an NCAA violation), while on a football scholarship.

He says he did it, because after a game and the celebration after a win, he went home only to realize he had no food late at night and no money to go get any.

Read more from Sports Illustrated RIGHT HERE

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Our suspicion is, nothing will happen, though the Twitter debate amongst sports writers has been interesting.

Foster spoke out and the documentary producers used him and others to illustrate a fact of life in today's college football.

Everybody is making gazillions of dollars in the game.

Except the players.

Yeah, sure, the old argument that they get a "free-ride" scholarship is true. Though thousands of kids get into school on academic scholarships. And if they take a free meal or a couple bucks from a teacher, the school doesn't run the risk of getting in trouble with the NCAA.

The athletes, most of whom come from poor backgrounds, don't have the pocket money that other college students do. They don't have discretionary money to spend and their scholarships only get them the meals served at the training table. Which isn't necessarily 3 meals a day 7 days a week. Or in their case 11 or 12 p.m after a game.

The NCAA is under a tremendous amount of pressure to allow athletes to have some "spending" money, but nobody can figure out a good way to do it.

We really don't think this should get Tennessee in trouble, but the possibility does exist. Part of the bizarre NCAA rules system tends to punish schools for things that happen, well after the fact. The people involved who may or may not have been involved have long left town and the current players are the one's left to suffer the penalties.

Really, it isn't fair and we, like many, hope it soon will change.

Here's your video of Foster talking about his case:

49ers Star LB Arrested Again

Safe to say, it hasn't been the best week to be a San Francisco 49er.

The week begins with a crushing loss to the Seattle Seahawks and now as you are deep in preparation for a game with the Indianapolis Colts when you find out your arguably best defensive player was arrested early Friday morning.

Aldon Smith was apparently involved in a crash around 7 a.m on Friday. San Jose Police were called out to a report of a single vehicle crash about that time. Smith was involved, given a breathalyzer test and charged with DUI.

And it's not Smith's 1st brush with the law.

He was arrested in January of 2012 in Miami and charged with suspicion of drunken driving. And recently, his name has surfaced in a lawsuit filed by someone claiming to have been shot at a party at Smith's home.

Read more about Smith's troubles from ESPN.com RIGHT HERE

No word on what the 49ers plan to do with Smith leading into Sunday's game. Our suspicion is, at least for this week, probably nothing.

But there seems to be a theme developing here. We aren't coming out and saying that the teams best Linebacker might have some issues. But this may be the point where an outside party might need to step in with some discipline....

Just our 2-cents...

Concussion Settlement May Not Have Enough Money, Older Players Excluded...???

((HT: ESPN/Fainaru-Fainaru Wada))

Now, if this don't beat all... and it's not a shock if it turns out to be true...

But the Shield is buckling down in the settlement where:

1) Some of the earliest diagnoses would be disqualified and those families would not get any of the $765-million pot. Names like Mike Webster and Justin Strelczyk would fall into this category...

2) Some lawyers representing players are getting paid directly from the player's settlement money. This flies in the face of the initial notion that the fund would not be used for legal fees. This lends itself to the idea that some lawyers would get multiple paydays.

3)Is there, simply, enough money to go around if individual awards would be capped at $5 million for players suffering from ALS, Parkinson's or Alzheimer's disease, $4-million for deaths from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, and $3 million for players suffering from dementia.

And we're talking hundreds of plaintiffs...

Some lawyers interviewed by Fainaru and Fainaru-Wada say yes. Some say no.

Steve Fainaru discusses...


The whole article is a must read and no one should be surprised...

Nashville DA: Franklin/Carta-Samuels Not Involved In Rape Cover-Up

((HT: Newschannel5/WTVF))

Davidson County (TN) District Attorney Torry Johnson held a press conference yesterday to clear the air yesterday regarding the Vanderbilt University rape case. And the larger issue that was picked up dealt with texts sent by Chris Boyd after the rape took place.

A Boyd text mentioned the quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels as one of two people who helped Boyd move the victim out of a hallway.

Johnson cleared that up saying that the text was from Boyd but misidentified Carta-Samuels. Johnson also addressed rumors of involvement by Vandy head coach James Franklin. He said those rumors were also untrue.

Here's the presser...
NewsChannel5.com | Nashville News, Weather

Boyd's plea deal involves the notion that he is going to help out prosecutors who are trying to convict four former Vandy football players for the alleged rape of an unconscious co-ed on campus. Appearances of the defendants start next month in court...

#3 Clemson Keeps Rolling, Defeats NC State 26-14

"Pulling a Clemson" wasn't going to happen in Raleigh Thursday night.

If you look in Websters dictionary pulling a Clemson meant losing a game no one can explain why.  The Tigers have a history of doing such a thing.

Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd continued to build his Heisman Trophy resume going 24-37 passing for 244 yards and three touchdowns in the Tigers 26-14 win over NC State.

Here's Boyd's second touchdown in the third quarter to Martavis Bryant.



Before Boyd's touchdown pass to Bryant NC State's Bryan Underwood appeared to have an 83 yards touchdown run.  Underwood tight-roped down the sidelines and the ACC officiating crew determined he stepped out of bounds.

The video evidence tells another story.





“That was right in front of me." NC head coach Dave Doeren said. "He (Underwood)  wasn’t out of bounds. Unfortunately, they blew it dead so we couldn’t review it. It cost us some points, but you have to move on from that.”

“To be honest, my eyes were straight on the end zone, I wasn’t looking at the ground,” Underwood said.

Clemson will have 12 days to prepare for Wake Forest next Saturday.

Isaiah Battle Goes Rock Em Sock Em Robots On National TV

((HT: ESPN))

It was a cheap shot and it got an ejection for this shot to NC State DB Jarvis Byrd


It just reminds the HQ of this...


Carry on...
Just an observation...

Church Takes 8 Figures To Move For New Falcons Stadium

((HT: 11Alive.com))

It took $14.5-million and a 116-16 vote by the congregation, but it appears that the Mt. Vernon Baptist Church is taking the money and allowing the Falcons to move onto their space...

Here's the explanation:
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed let this statement out and was positive towards Mt. Vernon Reverend Rodney Turner "I am pleased that the congregation of Mt. Vernon Baptist Church was able to vote on this important matter. The decision tonight ensures that the Atlanta Falcons can continue pursuing their goal of building a best-in-class sports facility that will also expand economic development not only in the city, but also in the surrounding neighborhoods. This step forward also will allow this historic church to relocate and continue to serve its congregation and our community."
Mt. Vernon and Friendship Baptist are the two churches in the southern end of the territory that is requested to build the new Falcons facility. The city of Atlanta and the Falcons have been the two groups putting money in the kitty. Mayor Reed has said that no taxpayer dollars are going to help pay for the new facility.

So, then, where does the city money come from if not from taxpayers in one way or another...???