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Cash for sacks? Sex for stud recruits? Big-money handshakes from strangers?
It's all a part of college football's pay-for-play system, according to several former Auburn players who are dishing the dirt on HBO's "Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel" (Wed., 10 p.m. ET).
Stanley McClover, Troy Reddick, Chaz Ramsey and Raven Gray tell Andrea Kremer of being paid by both boosters and coaches, according to reports of the transcripts (for detailed transcripts, click here).
McClover said the payments started during the recruiting process, and even included sexual favors, which he received during a visit to Ohio State. "We went to a party and they asked me to pick any girl I wanted," he says.
•On what caused McClover to sign with Auburn over Ohio State:
Kremer voiceover: “McClover says what he asked for was money. A lot of it. And that he got it. Delivered in a bookbag, exact amount unknown.”
Kremer to McClover: “You opened it up, what are you thinking?”
McClover: “I almost passed out. I literally almost passed out I couldn’t believe it was true. I felt like I owed them.”
Kremer to McClover: “You felt obligated to them (Auburn)?”
McClover: “I felt totally obligated.”
Kremer to McClover: “Because of the money?”
McClover: “Yeah.”
•Reddick on why he was unhappy at Auburn — and the remedy for that unhappiness:
Kremer voiceover: “Reddick was growing increasingly unhappy because he says the (Auburn) coaches wanted him to change his major. Why? Because his class schedule got in the way of football practice.”
Reddick: “I changed my major, so my classes didn’t interfere no more, but I didn’t bother to go because I knew I was only there to play football.”
Kremer: “So what did you do?”
Reddick: “I started complaining and insinuating that I was ready to leave any day. They had to do something about that.”
Kremer voiceover: “The enticement to stay, Reddick says, became clear to him, when one of the coaches approached him after a team meeting.”
Reddick: “He (Auburn coach) said I got some mail for you up in my office.”
Kremer to Reddick: “Some mail for you?”
Reddick: “And I followed him up to his office and he gave me an envelope. I didn’t open there, I walked out to my truck, took off. … It was about $500.”
Kremer: “$500 dollars in the envelope?”
Reddick: (nods yes)
Kremer: “How often did you get the money in the envelope?”
Reddick: “Over that season it happened like two or three more times. And it happened about six or seven times my senior year.”
•On McClover being paid $4,000 for his performance in the Iron Bowl:
Kremer voiceover: “Stanley McClover says he was also paid while at school (Auburn). Paid by boosters. Like the time he had his eye on this 1973 Chevy Impala.”
McClover: “Private owner wanted seven thousand in cash so I went to my booster who I knew and he gave me the money the next day in a bookbag.”
Kremer voiceover: “McClover says eventually he didn’t have to ask for money, as long as he played well, he’d get paid.”
Kremer to McClover: “How much was a sack worth?”
McClover: “Anywhere between 300 and 400 dollars. For one.”
Kremer to McClover: “I think in one game you had four sacks, what did you earn in that game?”
McClover: “Four thousand. Against Alabama.”
Kremer: “Seriously?”
McClover: “Alabama, a rivalry game.”
Kremer: “More money because it’s Alabama?”
McClover: “Definitely. No other game matters.”
At the end of the segment Kremer read a statement from Auburn in which it declined to comment on "alleged claims apparently made by a few former football players."
Auburn came under scrutiny this past season after allegations that the father of Heisman-winning quarterback Cam Newton had demanded large sums of money during the recruiting process. The NCAA found enough evidence to rule Newton ineligible, but reinstated him because it said there was no evidence that Newton had any knowledge of his father's actions.
