Pony Excess: Tipping Point in The Demise of The SWC

Great read. Thanks for posting this.

I’ve heard many of the stories before, but this was a fantastic synopsis, which is why I’m still reading at almost 4:00AM. Well done, srr.

srr,

Great read and oh how I remember those days. Know some very key people in the TCU saga and have a funny story about Dickerson.

I lost any belief in the NCAA with the way the TCU scandal was handled. Jim Wacker might have been goofy, but he was truly one of the best men I have ever known and he did all he could to clean up the problems at TCU. Dick Lowe, Morris Bailey, and Chris Farcas were the three boosters who were involved in the payments and the position with the players were the continued payments were just a fulfillment of a verbal contract.

Worst part was FA Dry who was the head coach when the cheating was really taking place ended up on St. Grant’s staff at Baylor. Looking back at it for all the lying sacks of shit that coached in the conference at that time Grant bothers me the most to this day for his hypocrisy.

If they refuse to ever use the death penalty, how will the corruption ever get cleaned up? Probation and loss of scholarships doesn’t work. The reason Lowder can run Auburn with unfathomable mafia type tactics is because he knows there’s no real consequences. People say the death penalty devastated programs. I say: who gives a shit.

Ralph or Sherwood Bount? Ralph was a TE for SMU during that time period.

Thanks for this, srr. It’s funny how these things go in cycles. The 1920s saw flagrant cheating as well, satirized when Groucho goes player-shopping in Horse Feathers. Chico and Harpo aren’t my idea of five-star players, but perhaps they could have helped out an OC who loves animal crackers:

Frank (Zeppo Marx): Dad, two of the greatest football players in the country hang out in a speakeasy downtown.

Professor Wagstaff (Groucho Marx): Are you suggesting that I, the president of Huxley College, go into a speakeasy without even giving me the address?

The recent wildly inconsistent enforcement actions taken by the NCAA—Dez Bryant vs Cam Newton—USC vs Auburn—coupled with the gutting of supposed core principles by the “plausible deniability” ruling in Newton’s case may well have opened the floodgates of corruption. Not that NCAA football wasn’t corrupt already—see SEC—but now it will be blatantly so.
It seems that every time the NCAA comes down hard, they then go into “Did I do that?” mode and shoot themselves in the balls.
Can the good guys survive in the new climate, or are we headed back into an 80s-style no man’s land where only the corrupt make ESPN’s highlights show and rankings?

IMO, the NCAA could have salvaged some respect from this shameful period in sports if they had dished out similar penalties to two programs—OU and A&M—who were just as bad, if not worse, than SMU.

Longcat, Cricket —thanks

Davey: Jim Wacker is one of the most unique individuals I have ever known, and yes, one of the best as well.

Jack: The NCAA cares about perception, not about control

’Wulf: Sherwood, no doubt about it

Parlin: Love that movie

Lurker: There is a part of me that looks at the street agents and thinks “The more things change, the more they stay the same”

My dad was the best man for then head FB coach at Kerville in 1978. Living in Dallas, we went to that year’s Texas HS All-Star game at Amon Carter which was held in conjuction with the coaches convention. What an eye opener. I can see how the bright lights and big-time events for the special athletes fed their egos. The 70’s were a rough time for most families and if billionaire businessmen wanted to throw their money around to play football “god” and get over on their good ‘ol boy competitors then put the morals in the drawer. I’m not endorsing their actions but the money was too good to pass up (see Sealy circa 1976).

An interesting question about the NC2A action. I wonder how much competing league commissioners influenced the top NCAA members to hand down a strong punishment to free up recruiting efforts into the Texas HS pipeline? It could be argued that the stain on the SWC would make it much easier for SEC, PAC-10 and Big 8 schools to poach the talent. Did this help expedite the NCAA’s abiility to leverage more and more lucrative TV deals by spreading the talent wealth? Now that would be an intriguing story to chase.

Dickerjames was bought and paid for during the SMU cheating decade. They were the only two players on that team not getting paid? That’s what they want you to believe. The only thing more unbelievable than that statement is the ethically-challenged James’ accusation that Leach locked James’ kid in a shed.

Wacker was a terrific and honorable coach. His kid was an was a terrific basketball player.

Alabama should have received the death penalty following SMU. A&M’s potential for the death penalty came later. In both instances, the NCAA said they did not want a program to suffer like SMU. Of course, why would the NCAA want to destroy two marquee and money programs. SMU is and was an insignificant program. Who cares if you cancel the season?

The A&M penalties that brought down Sherrill were the result of an FBI investigation as I recall. A booster provided phantom construction jobs in Dallas.

I saw James and Dickerson on College Football Live yesterday. Eric Kuselias had them on to talk about the upcoming 30 for 30 special. I almost spit my drink out as Craig James tried to say that all the stuff that SMU got busted for happened after he and Dickerson left. I have grown to loathe that jackass more and more over the years.

I heard a story about the recruiting trail of that period. When coaches would visit high schools they would pin their business cards to a board to leave their contact info. The SMU coaches would pin a $100 bill.

As SRR said, they were not embarrassed to let everybody know that cash was there for the taking. I remember the Texas coaching staff was stunned by how open the SMU recruiters were with their monetary inducements.

Look at how far the NCAA has come in its understanding of things:

1985 – Adult male not employed by school pays kids? TCU gets hammered.

2010 – Adult male not employed by school sells kid? Auburn plays for MNC and kid may win Heisman.

Progress, baby, progress!

Brings back to memory the WFAA report with Henry Lee Parker being asked point blank " Is this your handwriting on these envelopes?", as he stared at them for what probably seemed like hours to him with a dazed and confused look on camera.

Didn’t Eric Dickerson drive a car A&M gave him to SMU. I always liked that. Or is that apocryphal?

t1climb,

Technically James is right in that their teams and their head coach were not the ones that resulted int the second probation that triggered the second probation and the death penatly for SMU.

Ron Meyer was off to New England, Bobby Collins was the head coach, and the SMU backfield was the Pony Express II featuring Reggie Dupard from New Orleans and Jeff Atkins for FW Eastern Hills. I can still recall the picture in the FW Star-Telegram of Atkins walking on the Eastern Hills practice field while talking with NCAA investigators.

There was no doubt though that the Dickerson – James team’s were one of the best team’s money could buy at the time. SMU had started to turn the program around under David Smith before they got nailed for cheating, was terrible, and then all of a sudden bring onto their campus players like James, Dickerson, Charles Waggoner, Eric Ferguson, Micheal Carter,and two impact national recruits in Terrance Mann from Detroit and Russell Carter from Philadelphia.

Two favorites stories from those days involve Dickerson getting the Ags to buy him a call prior to signing date and then switching to SMU as the dumbasses gave him the title to the car prior to getting his signature on the LOI.

Second was the recruitment of Dallas SOC national recruits Egypt Allen and Gerald Taylor. SMU and TCU had been in bidding wars for 3-4 years for players in South Dallas and these two were prize jewels making the Parade All-American list (The source for the creme de la creme of high school recruits in those days.). Just prior to signing day Allen and Taylor disapper as they are being hid by SMU in a hotel in Dallas. One of the two place a call to an equipment manager at TCU named Tyrone Wilson who was the bag man for much of the money directed to the players TCU bought in Dallas and oddly enough the cousin of TCU wide receiver and former SOC quarterback Stanley Washington. Two TCU assistants are dispatched to Dallas, they arrive at the hotel room, and fight backs out between one of the TCU assistants and the SMU coach babysitting the two, and next August Taylor and Allen show up in Ft. Worth driving 300 Z’s. Taylor started most of his career and Allen never did much, but both were among the players Wacker suspended after KD confided with Tom Perry the money did not stop as Wacker had asked the bosters.

A guy I know that played on that team told me a James story.

Ron meyer quits for the USFL, Bobby Collins comes in gathers the team in the weight room and proceeds to give a rah rah speech about discipline, hard work and how things are going to be different under his regime. The speech ends, the whole room gets quiet, and James, who had been dicking around the entire speech while sitting on a piece of workout equipment, loudly says “Fuuuuuuuck You”.

If there was any doubt before that that the inmates were running the asylum, that incident took care of it.

I went to high school in Oak Cliff and the same Kenneth Davis that is mentioned in this article , that continued to take money at tcu, was the athletic director there. I’ve got to tell you that he was the dumbest mother fucker I’ve ever met. He seriously couldn’t argue with me when I was 14 years old. I was told by a family friend who was involved at the school that the principal had to edit his emails before he sent them out. Guess he didn’t learn much either while at tcu.

I also have a buddy whose dad played at smu during late 60’s & early 70’s. He told me that after he moved into his apartment near campus he received a brand new mustang. Also, he said he would get weekly knocks at the door at the same time, and whenever he’d answer the door all that was sitting there was a brown paper bag with cash stashed inside. This is before they were even any good.

just some interesting stuff I thought I’d throw out there.

Fantastic read – thanks.

t1climb,

Technically James is right in that their teams and their head coach were not the ones that resulted int the second probation that triggered the second probation and the death penatly for SMU.

Davey, I fail to see your point. Yes, they were gone when the NCAA came back a second time to find it was still a cesspool, so what? My point earlier was that in the CFL segment with Kuselias, the inference was that James (and he even included his teammates too) were not doing any of the stuff that brought the program down, and that all those shenanigans started after they left. We all know that’s BS. I think he’s an ass and have over the years lost all respect for him and he’s actually a relative of mine.

The recruitment of Kenneth Davis started way back before college. Mudcat as he was known in Bartlett and his family moved from Bartlett after a mysterious house fire with the family re-locating several miles west in Temple where he starred for Bob McQueen.

He showed up in Ft Worth out of shape, with a bad attitude, and ready to tell every upper classman just how much better he was than them. Shortly later in a pre-season scrimmage one of those upper classmen hit him in the knee just as he went out of bounds and there went his first year in college. KD returned in better shape,, better attitude, and had two great seasons.

Ironic how doing the right thing he set in motion the downfall for Wacker’s program by going to his position coach and spilling the beans after his conscious got to him. The coach, Tom Perry, has said that if he had to do it over he would never have told Wacker and instead told Kenneth to bury the knowledge.

Frank Windegger was the AD who hired Dry and yet somehow survived the scandal even though Chris Farcas was a regular visitor to his offices. His staying on the job was a freaking disgrace.

In the interest of fairness, what were UT’s transgressions & how did the NCAA respond?

I read somewhere that 7 of the 9 SWC schools were on probation at some point in the ‘70s-’80s, w/ Rice & Arkie being the exceptions. Anyone have any details about the others’ infractions?

A hypocrite coach at Baylor? Looks like nothing has changed.

Great piece. Brings back memories of the early ’80’s, sitting in Texas Memorial Stadium wondering if Dickerson and James would trip over themselves chasing the money falling out of their uniforms. We all knew they were on the take.

I won’t claim our guys were saints, either. Besides the hot co-ends wandering through Jester East looking for the football wing, or heading away fixing their clothes, were the nice wheels we saw a number of the players driving. When asked: “Oh, my mama gave it to me.”

Yep.

Wow – wrote all that and forgot all about this?

http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/18/sports/texas-gets-2-year-probation.html

Just sayin’ – there were a lot of teams on probation – including yours.

Ag- From the excerpt pasted below sounds like we were playing the game but in the minor leagues compared to Jackie Sherrill, OU and SMU. I am curious as to who the player was that received substantial benefits. I’m sure someone on here knows.

The N.C.A.A. said a significant number of rules violations were found, but with a single exception, ‘’none of the serious violations involved the recruitment of prospective student-athletes, and it does not appear that the violations resulted in a significant competitive advantage for the University of Texas.’’ ‘Improper Extra Benefits’

The N.C.A.A. report said the one serious violation involved a violation of recruiting rules and the gift of ‘’very substantial, improper extra benefits to a very-talented enrolled student-athlete.’’

Like clockwork…

You wanna talk about clockwork? That’s the UT fans who plead that the only reason UT was second fiddle throughout the 80’s and 90’s was due to cheating. Make no mistake – there was cheating going on. But it was going on by dang near everybody.

Here you go Ag_in_TX,

http://barkingcarnival.fantake.com/2008/07/21/the-history-of-college-football-recruiting-cheating-part-8/

It’s been covered here in depth. The “everybody was doing it” argument is lame. There are and were degrees involved to the cheating. Buying players cars and paying them monthly salaries is a lot different than loaning a player gas money.

Ag_in-TX did you even bother to read your link?

The N.C.A.A. said a significant number of rules violations were found, but with a single exception, ‘’none of the serious violations involved the recruitment of prospective student-athletes, and it does not appear that the violations resulted in a significant competitive advantage for the University of Texas.’’

Yeah that’s in the same ballpark as SMU and A&M and OU during the 80’s.

There was a key element missing from the Texas violation report

Lack of Institutional Control.

I didn’t say the level of cheating was the same – just that cheating occurred.

I wish TTR would chime in on this thread – I know he has some stories about what went on at Texas mid 80’s.

btw – in the interest of full disclosure – I worked for the A&M athletic department from 1982-1984, so I know coach Sherill quite well and readily admit I am quite biased towards him. He is, and was, one of the finest men I’ve ever known.

In the interest of full disclosure — I worked for the Texas athletic department from 1983-1992 and while I’m sure TTR could chime in with some interesting stories — I think I have a pretty good handle as to what was going on at Texas, and elsewhere.

You must hang with a really shitty crowd then.

my post above is not directed to srr50, but to AginTX and his claim that FedEx is one of the finest men he has ever known. Though if srr hangs with the barkers, it might apply to him too.

srr,

Then please feel free to educate us on the details of the violations that put UT on two years probation.

Then please feel free to educate us on the details of the violations that put UT on two years probation

Will be happy to. Let’s begin with the NCAA statement:

In considering this case, the committee recognized the cooperative approach of the university and the commitment of President William H. Cunningham to have an athletics program at the University of Texas that operates in full compliance with NCAA rules and regulations.
 
The case started with self-disclosed information concerning possible violations by the university and expanded as newspaper reports disclosed the sale of complimentary tickets by student-athletes and other possible violations.

According to the NCAA report:

The one violation that involved recruting: an assistant made statements that "reasonably could have led the young man to believe he might received benefits not available to other students if he enrolled at the University. He was later given a mesh UT jersey with his name on the back.

Other violations were:

Two players got into a fender bender. The recruiting coordinator loaned them $2,600 to get it fixed, with the proviso that they pay it back. They did, by going out and getting a loan. The school reported the transaction, mistakenly believing that it was not a violation.

An assistant provided small amounts of cash (up to $20) to a student-athlete over the course of the young man’s enrollment (1983-1986), cash that was later repaid upon request; (b) loaned a student-athlete $200 to pay bail bond, a loan that was repaid; © failed to convey the proper rules interpretations to a representative of the university’s athletics interests, which caused the representative (who was prepared to abide by the rules) to contact a prospective student-athlete in person and to assist the prospect in obtaining employment with his firm prior to the young man’s graduation from high school and before the young man signed his letter of intent, and (d) signed the young man to a National Letter of Intent during an improper recruiting contact at the young man’s high school.

Subsequent to the 1980 Bluebonnet Bowl, an assistant coach provided a student-athlete a small amount of cash to purchase a bus ticket from Austin to the young man’s home town.

During the 1984 football season, an assistant coach provided a student-athlete approximately $10 to $20 cash to purchase gasoline for the young man’s trip to his home; further, this money was repaid to the coach.

On two occasions, the recruiting coordinator gave cash to a student-athlete for miscellaneous purposes. Specifically, during the 1981-82 academic year, the young man was given approximately $20 cash, and during the 1983-84 academic year, the young man received $40 cash.

On one occasion during the fall of 1984, an assistant coach gave $20 to a student-athlete in order for the young man to purchase a one-way airline ticket (cost of $36) between Austin and his home; further, this money was repaid to the coach.

During one or more of the following academic years, 1980-81, 1981-82, 1982-83, 1983-84 and 1984-85, 10 student-athletes sold their complimentary football tickets (some for amounts well in excess of face value) to teammates, friends, a member of the university’s athletics equipment staff and other unidentified individuals

Penalty Summary: The university shall be publicly reprimanded and censured, and placed on probation for a period of two years from the date these penalties are imposed, If the remedial and corrective actions proposed by President Cunningham (as identified in Part I of this report) are fully implemented, the university’s probationary period will be reduced to one year. (Which IIRC it was)

Texas self-reported, admitted guilt, and already had a new system in place to better educate all athletic department staffers on the NCAA rules by the time the official investigation began.

Compare that to SMU stonewalling the NCAA and continuing a slush fund to pay players on a monthly basis, after already spending over $100,000 to recruit and sign them in the first place.

So how about a breakdown on what got A&M on probation.

And so UT was on two years probation as well. Since that wasn’t in the original article, just wanted to clear that up.

NCAA uneveness in punishment? Long standing beef with me, bro.

I know coach Sherill quite well and readily admit I am quite biased towards him. He is, and was, one of the finest men I’ve ever known.

That’s all the proof you need to know of this aggy’s credibility.

So how about a breakdown on what got A&M on probation.

We’re waiting, aggy.

Davey – The Grant Teaff Devotional Room?

A&M cheated it’s ass off, as did everyone except maybe Rice. Hell yes you guys cheated. Hell, one of my best friends played on your golf team in the early 80’s…he got illegal benefits…if he got’em you can just imagine what the football players got.

The Dallas Morning News

UT BOOSTERS GAVE PLAYERS CASH, GIFTS
Athletes say practice was routine; Akers `surprised’
Laura Miller Copyright 1986, The Dallas Morning News The Dallas Morning News (DAL) + _
Published: March 26, 1986

AUSTIN — University of Texas boosters and sports agents have given Longhorn football players cash, liquor, meals, free dental and legal services, and discounts at apartments and bars — all violations of the National Collegiate Athletic Association extra-benefit rules.

During a two-month investigation of the Texas football program by The Dallas Morning News, former players said that boosters and agents, whom they usually met through coaches, routinely approached players with offers of cash and favors from the day they first walked onto the practice field. In interviews with 28 former Texas players, whose careers spanned the period from 1978 to 1985, 11 said they accepted cash payments — in some cases amounting to more than $10,000 — while they were playing football at Texas.

“My senior year it just got hotter and hotter,’ said Tony Degrate, a standout defensive tackle from 1982 to 1984 and winner of the 1984 Vince Lombardi Award as the nation’s outstanding college lineman.

“From alumni walking up to me in the locker room, to my room, shaking my hand and giving me a bill (money). Then at the end of the year, they’d call me — guys in business suits with briefcases — and I’d say meet me in a restaurant. At 11 o’clock at night. In a restaurant. Not in my room.’

Head football Coach Fred Akers, interviewed Friday in his Austin office, said he was not aware that his players had received any benefits beyond the tuition, room, board and books provided by their athletic scholarships.

“I am really, I am surprised,’ Akers said. "I am surprised, and I intend to turn this over to the NCAA. . . . If I know of something that is true — or suspect that it is — I’ll sure turn it in.’

Jeff Leiding, an All-America linebacker who played at Texas from 1980 to 1983, said he received cash payments from various alumni and boosters throughout his college career.

“It’s use and get used,’ said Leiding. "Once your name isn’t in the newspaper — you’re nobody.’

Darryl Clark, a UT running back for four years before playing two seasons with the Arizona Wranglers of the U.S. Football League, said: "It’s like a dream for a lot of players — they never knew they could live like this.’

However, at least one alumnus — who also is a professional sports agent representing at least two former Texas football players — said some players actively solicit payments and favors.

“I get a call probably once a day from somebody who wants something,’ said Jon Teer, a 27-year-old Texas graduate. "They want to use my credit card for my phone. I’ve had them call for cash. I’m not a money machine. I’m not a bank. I can’t loan people money.

“When I first started helping the guys, knowing the guys, everyone wanted to jump on the bandwagon . . . and you know what the biggest excuse is? "I got my girlfriend in trouble. I need some help.’ I’ve heard that 500 times.’

The News, in Sunday’s editions, reported that 24 of 28 former players interviewed since January routinely sold their complimentary game tickets to boosters at dramatically inflated prices.

Some estimated they made $4,000 per season from the sales; others said they made that much just from the Texas-Oklahoma game, played annually in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

“I don’t know whether I got $1,000 or $10,000 — I really don’t,’ said Terry Orr, a standout Longhorn running back now with the Washington Redskins. "I lived on tickets. I really did.’

Shortly after the article appeared, UT Athletic Director DeLoss Dodds said he had reported the ticket-selling allegations to the NCAA, and announced that he had retained Houston lawyer Knox Nunnally, a former UT football player, to conduct the university’s own in-house investigation.

Of the 11 former Longhorn players who admitted accepting money, seven said they established long-term relationships with boosters — whom they called their "sugar daddies’ or "sweet daddies’ — and received regular installments of cash.

“My guy (booster) had two Picassos in his bathroom,’ said Ed Hickey, a UT linebacker on the 1981 and 1982 teams. "I got money for being on the team, playing and tutoring his nephew.’ Hickey declined to identify the booster.

Maurice McCloney, a wide receiver and a letterman on the 1980 and 1981 Longhorn teams, said he received cash from two boosters, one from Dallas, the other from Beaumont, his hometown. "They gave me real good advice, they had a lot of influence — they were bright, wealthy and they influenced me to be sharp . . . .

“Over three years,’ McCloney said, "I got about $10,000 from them.’

In addition to the former players who told The News they had accepted cash payments from boosters and agents, 17 of the 28 players said they were given meals, beer and liquor, rides back to their hometowns, discounts on apartments or freebies at Austin restaurants and nightclubs.

An Austin dentist, who in 1977 founded a black professionals’ organization to befriend black UT football players, said he and some of his colleagues have provided free legal, medical and dental services to some black football players — many of whom, he said, would have had no other way to pay for it.

“Most of the kids who have fortitude and persistence to play big-league ball come from very humble backgrounds and small towns,’ said Dr. Norman Mason.

“As far as medical care, they haven’t had it. . . . If he comes in here with real pain and needs a tooth pulled or something, I’ll just do it and send him back to school,’ Mason said. "But now a root canal, where I would have to sit down and spend some time, we get an understanding. Maybe he’ll come over to my house and cut the lawn, wash the car.’

Mason said black football players also receive "special favoritism’ at "Phases,’ Austin’s only black nightclub, which is owned by Mason’s two dental partners. "My partners are obviously concerned and, sure, the players very rarely have to pay a cover . . . and a lot of times they (the owners) would give them snacks and make food available to them.’

NCAA rules, however, specifically forbid student-athletes from receiving extra benefits.

According to NCAA legislation, student-athletes who accept extra benefits — which the NCAA has determined constitutes "pay for play’ — lose their eligibility to continue playing that sport.

“The general standard is you can provide what’s available to the normal student body, and anything beyond that would violate the benefits rule,’ said R. Dale Smith, assistant director for NCAA enforcement.

NCAA officials would neither confirm nor deny the existence of an inquiry into the Texas program, and they refused to speculate on possible penalties that might arise from any violations.

Penalties for NCAA rules violations can range from a mild reprimand to sanctions against an athletic program. The most severe NCAA sanctions include loss of scholarships, a team’s being barred from post-season play, and the banning of student-athletes from collegiate sports.

Akers said no college coach can completely control alumni and agents.

“We don’t encourage, and in fact, we don’t allow our exes to take rules into their own hands,’ said Akers, who replaced Darrell Royal as head coach after the 1976 season.

“I mean, if we know about it, we’re going to turn them in. But unfortunately, you can’t watch them all . . . 24 hours a day, and you hope they’re going to do what is right.’

Players said they were sought out by alumni and boosters while at Texas — they were admitted to closed practices, showed up in the dressing rooms after games and flooded the annual "Meet the Players’ barbecue sponsored by boosters in Memorial Stadium.

“The alumni come up to you at practice or in the dressing room with their sons in tow, and I’d say, "Hello, my name is so-and-so,’ ’ said Scott Bagley, who played at Texas in 1982. "And he’d say, "I know.’ I couldn’t believe it — they knew me. In my street clothes. And he’d say, "If there’s anything I can ever do for you, let me know.’ ’

Jeff Leiding, who played two years with the USFL’s San Antonio Gunslingers, said players normally find a "sugar daddy’ in one of two ways: "The first is in recruiting, if there was alumni in your hometown, or when you start to play if you do something like I did with Arkansas — then they’re there.’

The Texas-Arkansas game in 1980 was Leiding’s first — as a member of the kickoff team. He recalled wanting "to do something to let those people know I’m alive.’

Running down the field, Leiding made a spectacular leaping tackle "that hit like an explosion,’ flattening the Arkansas kick returner and separating Leiding’s shoulder.

“After the Arkansas game, everyone wanted to have me over for a beer,’ Leiding said.

And boosters never forgot it; from that game on, Leiding said, the cash flowed readily.

“I really don’t know how much money I got — I really don’t,’ Leiding said. "I got so many handshakes . . . .I remember one night after the Arkansas game my senior year, Mike Luck, Mike Ruether and I — we spent $440 just on liquor for what we got in the locker room that game. We just drank the whole thing.’

The alumni even gave money to Leiding’s girlfriend, now his wife.

“I remember Jeff was on crutches his junior year, and an alumni came up to me and gave me $50,’ Kim Leiding said. "It was Jeff’s birthday, and he said, "Have dinner on me.’ ’

Tony Degrate, who signed recently with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League, said his relationships with alumni didn’t begin in earnest until his senior year, when he was named winner of the Vince Lombardi Award.

“I never pursued a sugar daddy,’ said Degrate. "If I had wanted something, I could have had it. But my senior year I made up for all those years I lost.’

The 1984 football season, Degrate said, was a blur of free dinners, nights on the town, cash handshakes, free clothes and jewelry, and offers from agents that staggered the one-time high school standout from Snyder, in West Texas.

“I had one agent come in and say, "Sign this contract — for $30,000 cash, and it also guarantees you a house and a car,’ ’ Degrate said. "I turned it down. Money wasn’t everything to me.’

But when Degrate did take money from boosters or agents, he said, he knew it was against NCAA rules.

“I put a limit to some of it,’ Degrate said. "The attention I received, I had to be careful. I always felt that same way — that the guy offering me $1,000 could be an NCAA investigator.’

For the most part, Degrate said, he came to rely on Houston agent and longtime UT booster Tony Herry.

Although NCAA rules prohibit a student-athlete from making a written or verbal commitment with a professional agent until after his eligibility is completed, Degrate said he and Herry had an understanding during Degrate’s senior season that Herry would be representing him in the 1985 NFL draft.

“The day after the 1984 (Freedom) bowl game — I gave Tony $500 in cash,’ said Herry. "I had told him I would do that.’

Herry also said he immediately arranged some loans at Austin banks for Degrate, who said he bought, among other things, a Mercedes 500SEL with the money.

But well before Degrate’s eligibility had expired, Herry frequently treated Degrate and his parents to steak dinners in Austin restaurants after home games. And Degrate said there also was a traditional cash handshake between Herry and Degrate after every game. Degrate, asked if there was a $100 bill in those handshakes, replied: "I was worth more than that.’

Herry said he became a professional agent after losing money in the oil-drilling equipment business, said: "I take exception to giving Tony outright cash at each game.

“I did give him money for dinner if there was heat from Fred (Akers). Fred was always watching out to see what the kids were doing. So I would give Tony the money, and he would pay for dinner for all of us — the Degrates and my family — and if he had $45 or $50 left over, well then, that’s OK.’

Degrate said that at one point Akers pulled him aside and told him: "Man, you are not invincible. The same people who buy you drinks are the same people who call me at 3 in the morning telling me you’re out getting drunk.’

Herry and Degrate’s relationship peaked in December 1984, Degrate said, when he was nominated — and subsequently won — the Lombardi Award.

Although NCAA rules stipulate that all travel, lodging and entertainment expenses for an award nominee and his parents must be covered by the award association — and not by the player’s university or boosters — Degrate’s four-day celebration in Houston was orchestrated and largely paid for by Herry and Texas alumni, according to Degrate and Herry.

“During Lombardi week, the alumni spent $6,000 on me,’ Degrate said. "Me and my friends had a limo. We went everywhere. Bar bills were preset. There was a dinner for my friends that cost over $1,000.’

Herry acknowledged paying the expenses for Degrate’s family. "That week was a real high for me because it was worth the money I spent to entertain the Degrates,’ Herry said.

The Houston Breakfast Club, an informal group of Texas boosters and alumni, held a gala in Degrate’s honor at the Houston Racquet Club the night before the award was presented, Herry said.

“After the dinner, we went like a beeline in a limo to Rick’s Cabaret,’ said Herry, referring to himself, Degrate and several of Degrate’s teammates who had come to Houston for the festivities. "I stayed 30 minutes and left. But they had a little trouble because the girls at Rick’s wouldn’t table-dance for blacks.’

Degrate recalled going to a strip bar the next night. "There were three or four alumni there,’ he said. "And they gave us a stack of 100 $1 bills to, you know, give to the girls. I’d never been to one of those places, and I never will again. It was kind of funny.’

In retrospect, Degrate said, the stardom of his senior year at Texas was fleeting. When the pro draft came around in the spring, Degrate was not drafted until the fifth round. Although he signed with the Cincinnati Bengals, he was cut. He tried the Green Bay Packers, but again failed to make the roster.

“My advice to the younger guys is, "Don’t get caught up in all the hoopla.’ It would be foolish to say, "Don’t accept the money,’ but be sure to know who you’re dealing with,’ said Degrate. "Just make sure you don’t get it from run-of-the-mill people. Get a person you can trust . . . so if it ever came up — even if he did it — he wouldn’t be the one to say, "Yeah, I gave him the money.’

“Someone who will keep his mouth shut if the heat comes down.’

Maurice McCloney, who transferred to Texas from Nebraska in 1979, said he was introduced to two boosters shortly after his arrival on campus. He regarded the relationship as personal, and he said he never told his teammates about them — a pact acknowledged by several other former players interviewed by The News.

“Nobody knows who’s getting what and how much,’ McCloney said. "Maybe some guy gets $15 a week and somebody else gets $150 a week. So the $15 dude doesn’t want him to know it. But on the other hand, the $150 guy doesn’t know the other guy’s getting $15.’

McCloney refused to identify the boosters who gave him money. "I don’t think my guys would want me to mention their names,’ he said. "That would be coldblooded . . . .You never know, I may have to call these guys in the future.’

Because boosters helped him while he was on an athletic scholarship, McCloney said, he gave apartment discounts to football players after he became a property manager in Austin upon completion of his football career. "If a regular person had to pay $400, I got it for a player for $200,’ he said, "because I know, as an ex-athlete, how it is in the summertime, having no money.’

Another former Longhorn, Klint Groves, a defensive back on the 1981 and 1982 Texas teams, said booster Lloyd Davis, a former banking executive from his hometown of Lampasas, periodically gave him money.

“It was tough for me,’ Groves said. "My mother could only afford to send me $20 every two weeks, which was pretty bad. So — like some of the athletes in the same situation as me — what alternatives do you have? Accept some money from alumni. Sell your tickets. . . .

“In my case, I had everything I wanted except the money to smuggle women,’ Groves said with a little laugh. "Which I really didn’t need. I was trying to play football and be a star of the bar, too. It’s like, Mr. Davis would say, "Do you need some Coca-Cola money?’ . . . .He’s a real good man. My house in Lampasas was just three blocks from his. He just wanted me to do good.’

Davis denied any involvement with Groves.

“I know nothing about Klint Groves except that he’s a local boy, and he flunked out (of UT),’ Davis said. "That’s all I know. I never gave him any money or bought tickets from him or anything. I’m afraid the boy’s not telling you the truth.’

In 1982, the University of Texas was placed on probation for one year after the NCAA determined that Davis had paid former wide receiver Johnny "Lam’ Jones, also from Lampasas, $700 for 14 complimentary tickets.

“That was just a one-time deal to help a poor kid,’ Davis said in a telephone interview Monday.

The ticket scheme surfaced in a 35-count federal indictment that accused Davis of misapplying funds from People’s National Bank in Lampasas to support UT athletic programs. Davis said he was assessed three years’ probation and a $5,000 fine.

Texas booster Jon Teer, who also is a professional sports agent, acknowledges that he has given players money. "Yeah, I violated NCAA rules, but please don’t put that (in the newspaper),’ said Teer.

“You don’t understand how important football is to this town. It will ruin me in Austin, it really will.’

Teer, who currently represents former UT players Mossy Cade and Fred Acorn in the pros, confirmed that he had helped former player Ray Hutchinson, a member of the 1983 and 1984 Longhorn football teams.

But Hutchinson and Teer — both of whom are from Refugio in the Rio Grande Valley — disagree on just how much help there was.

“I must have spent $15,000 to $20,000 I got from him my two years,’ said Hutchinson. "Everything I got my sister spent. My sister and I shared a checking account, and I’d put it in and she’d spend it. She was living by herself in Refugio, had two kids . . . .She was grateful.’

But Teer said Hutchinson grossly exaggerated the amounts.

“Maybe I’d give him a little money to run down to San Marcos and see a little girl,’ Teer said. "I would say four bus rides home and $10 one day he helped me move. And I gave him some rides home, too. Maybe, we’re talking about $300. One day to his sister, maybe I gave her $30 to get groceries because I saw her kids when I drove Ray home once, and their bellies were swollen because they were hungry. . . . I even gave him and his sister bus money to New Mexico one time because their natural fath er died up there, and Ray thought he ought to go.

“I don’t have the kind of money he’s talking about,’ said Teer. "If I get killed in the paper, what I did for Ray is worth it. I cared about him.’

Acorn, a former Texas defensive back and an All-Southwest Conference performer in 1983, described Teer as a booster who cares about athletes and never pressures them to sign with him.

“Believe me, I’ve played with all these guys,’ Acorn said. "Ray (Hutchinson) is a good boy, but I believe Ray is lying. He came to Texas believing he would get $15,000.’

Another UT booster, Bobby Lackey, a business executive in Weslaco in the Rio Grande Valley, said he gave money and possibly clothes to Tommy Cox, a Longhorn offensive back in 1978 and 1979.

Lackey was a football letterman at Texas from 1957 to 1959, and in 1977 was admitted to the Longhorn Hall of Honor, the university’s highest athletic award.

When Lackey was a high school football star in Weslaco, Cox’s father was a football standout at neighboring LaFeria High School. More than twenty years later, Lackey found himself helping the younger Cox — a LaFeria track and football star who was a high school freshman when his father died.

“I know I did help the boy somewhat in high school because he ended up living with a janitor down there at the school, and I knew his coach very well and his principal very well,’ Lackey said.

“The boy didn’t have any clothes, and he was a junior in high school. . . . and I had no intention that he could ever be good enough to play football at UT, but I was called by his principal and asked if I could give him some help.’

Lackey said he gave money to the janitor to buy food, and might have bought Cox some clothes in high school.

“As a junior, Lackey goes, "Do you have any clothes?’ ’ recalls Cox, who now works at United Bank in Austin. "He said, "Do you have any dress clothes for your graduation? For the prom? I said no. So he said, "Go see this person.’ I remember the suit — a blue suit. I was shocked. I said, "Why are you doing this?’ And he said, "Because you deserve it.’ He said, "You will, when the right time comes, you’ll sign with Texas.’ ’

Lackey, however, said he never pressured Cox to go to Texas.

“I encouraged him to go to the University of Texas because I thought it was a good place for him, and there could be some good benefits for him later on,’ Lackey said.

Cox said Lackey gave him cash whenever he needed it — "a couple hundred dollars in my hand for spending money when he came for games.’

“I bought a couple of his tickets that he had at the time,’ Lackey said. "I might have given him $10 or $20 — maybe $30 — I don’t know. I do my own kids that way. I tell you, it wasn’t a heck of a lot more than that.’

According to the former Texas players interviewed, student-athletes will continue to accept money from boosters and sell their complimentary tickets until the NCAA provides some type of allowance for scholarship athletes.

“I think the NCAA ought to get off the pot and come to 1986 and get in the real world,’ said Jeff Leiding. "This isn’t 1955.

“Unless the NCAA does something, 60 of the top 150 schools will be on probation.’

Photos: 1.Tony Degrate 2.Darryl Clark 3.Jeff Leiding; LOCATION: UT-Austin-Football.

Copyright 1986 The Dallas Morning News Company

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