More OSU Schadenfreude: OTL Profiles Dennis Tallbott

Submitted by MGoShoe on

ESPN's Outside The Lines profiles Dennis Tallbott.

First a litany of shady dealings with the OSU athletics department and football program:

  • Set up paid signing sessions for OSU student-athletes (with eligibility) as early as 2006, including at least one current NFL player.
  • Wore the national championship ring of an OSU RB and told relatives he had paid the rent of a WR on the 2003 OSU national championship team.
  • Routinely provided Terrelle Pryor with free rounds of golf at his country club during the summer after Pryor's freshman season.
  • Brought Pryor and Thaddeus Gibson to his son's birthday party in Dec 2009 and Pryor and DeVier Posey to his son's birthday party in Dec 2010.
  • Retained his media pass for the 2009 football season despite OSU's knowledge of the country club issue.
  • Tressel was made aware of his sales of underclassman signed memorabilia in Mar 2007 but still received free tickets to OSU games by football players eight times during the 2008 season.

Then a litany of shady dealings in general:

  • Falsely claimed to have been a former Chicago White Sox pitching prospect. His stepmother says he didn't even play sports in high school.
  • Falsely claimed to be a graduate of Kent State.
  • Has caused "some financial problems" for his adoptive father and stepmother.
  • Bad debt and back taxes owed in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
  • Found in contempt for failure to pay child support.
  • Sports memorabilia dealers challenge the authenticity of several items he sold.

justingoblue

June 12th, 2011 at 10:53 AM ^

I can't wait for someone to FOIA Tressel's office phone records and cross reference them with the clubs number. Add the Fall 2008 compliance forms Tressel signed for a little more disgrace for that asshole, not to mention a few extra scholarships lost.

VicVal

June 12th, 2011 at 12:59 PM ^

You're right.  Someone (I forget who and I can't find a link to the article) submitted a FOIA request to TSIO earlier this spring for all FOIA requests the school had gotten recently on its litte dust-up with the NCAA.  It was pretty entertaining,  but I do think another one might be in order.

clarkiefromcanada

June 12th, 2011 at 10:56 AM ^

From Talbott's mom:

"I have worked in the car business for many years, and some of this stuff had to do with car dealings. 

What the hell is it with everyone near Ohio and cars?

fatbastard

June 12th, 2011 at 11:51 AM ^

How much wanna bet that his shady car dealings are also related to the buckeye players.  They mentioned he goes back to the late 80's.   A lot of opportunity to get close to players by "selling" or "leasing" or letting players "borrow" cars.  Would be amazing if he really were employed by Wexner, too. 

Yeoman

June 12th, 2011 at 11:07 AM ^

"The same newspaper article described Talbott as graduating from Kent State. His profile posted on a social media site, under an "education" heading, lists Kent State University 1989-92. His major is identified as English. Kent State officials told ESPN he attended the school for two semesters -- the fall of 1989 and of 1990 -- majoring in pre-business. They have no record of his being involved in the baseball program."

I wonder if the claim on his linkedin profile that he was "Director, Recruiting and Staffing, The Limited" was a fabrication too? Director of Staffing at the parent company of Victoria's Secret has the sound of a drunken bar boast.

justingoblue

June 12th, 2011 at 11:09 AM ^

Woah, what happened with your post header? Things have been messed up lately...I don't know if it's just your post being messed up or not, but for the blockquote to work you need to type it in plain text editor.

As to your question, who knows with this guy? He's lied at least once since this investigation started so it wouldn't exactly be surprising if he did again.

LSAClassOf2000

June 12th, 2011 at 11:09 AM ^

.....when I want to look totally legitimate. First, I lie about completing my undergraduate degree at a MAC school, then I tell people that I work for the company that owns Victoria's Secret. I also claim to have walked into Giselle Bundchen's dressing room twice, once by accident. 

LSAClassOf2000

June 12th, 2011 at 11:23 AM ^

The book and movie were going through my mind as I was reading the article....he should have just gone big - Wharton grad, Rhodes scholar, senior in an investment firm. On the weekends, a photographer and sports merchandise guy in the Columbus,  Ohio area and companion to Terrelle Pryor. 

LSAClassOf2000

June 12th, 2011 at 11:30 AM ^

Terrelle Pryor seems to be the living embodiment of a "bad omen". So far, everyone that has been near him  has either resigned, interviewed by the NCAA or SI, or been the subject of a less-than-flattering article. 

No, this is not a name you use as a reference unless you're Gordon Gee and you've recently been canned by your school's now ex-football coach. 

Yeoman

June 12th, 2011 at 11:51 AM ^

Maybe Gee's found a way to do at OSU what the direct approach couldn't get done at Vanderbilt. Attack an athletic department and booster network directly and all you get is resistance. Back away from control and leave them to their own devices, and they'll eventually brew up a scandal so epic that the ordinary mechanisms for orderly NCAA wrist-slapping aren't enough to deal with the problem. Next thing you know he'll be doing a Robert Maynard Hutchins on the place.

MGoUberBlue

June 12th, 2011 at 11:34 AM ^

For an Emmy?

What's the best part of this story?

(a) If Pryor had $40,000 of income during 2009, then will the Buckeye losing streak be at 24 games after the NCAA lobs some penalties their way?

(b) While Pryor can avoid testimony before the NCAA, if this raises IRS fraud issues for not disclosing income, then the IRS does have subpoena powers over tax avoidance.  So we may yet hear the whole story.

(c) The institutional control issue extends to private golf courses, which leads to more potential witnesses.

(d) All of the above/

LSAClassOf2000

June 12th, 2011 at 11:49 AM ^

Vacated 2009 and 2010 seasons at OSU would merely mean that those who lost to them really lost to themselves, for those teams did not legitimately exist in Columbus. It would be nice if it turned "L" into "W", but it would be awesome to get the "W" against the three eligible players down there. 

justingoblue

June 12th, 2011 at 11:53 AM ^

Vacating wins isn't meant to replace W's with L's, it's meant to pretend that those games never existed. OSU would take a big hit on the all time wins list (PSU and Oklahoma would pass them) but they wouldn't take a hit on their W/L%, if that makes any sense.

docwhoblocked

June 12th, 2011 at 2:24 PM ^

there is a part of me that feels really bad for the reputation of the Big Ten and somewhat bad for all of OSU players who actually were clean and played by the rules. (More than 50% of them I would guess).  I have no pity for the multitude of knuckle dragging a-hole OSU fans I have met living here in Toledo, Ohio on the front lines of the U of M/OSU war zone.  Indeed, nothing but Schadenfreude for them. 

mackbru

June 12th, 2011 at 3:15 PM ^

This is just magnificent. The coup de grace, in my opinion, comes when the press nails down the names of other current players who were on the take via Talbott. (So far, it's just vaguely suggested.) At which point, OSU's "one bad apple" argument goes out the window.

One question: why aren't the NCAA investigators still in Columbus? Gee says they left a week ago. Is he just flat-out lying?