NFL sports agents accuse Saban of paying players at Alabama and MSU

Submitted by Leaders And Best on

Kind of a strange story, but Pittsburgh NFL sports agent Ralph Cindrich has accused Nick Saban cheating and paying players. Claims he has proof but offered no evidence in the interview. The weird part is how he brought this up in a discussion about Penn State. The agent is Pennsylvania native but a Pitt grad so no real strong ties to Penn State either.

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2012/07/pittsburgh_sports_agent_accuse.html

The kicker is Alabama fans have been attacking him on his twitter, and Josh Luchs joined into the fray:

josh Luchs @Joshluchs

@RalphCindrich Good advice Ralph. Mine extend beyond Bama.

josh Luchs @Joshluchs

@RalphCindrich Yep. Saban was HC at MSU when Doc & I were bankrolling T. Banks and others.

Amaizeinblue

July 29th, 2012 at 3:34 PM ^

Obviously no one would be surprised if this is true, but I always wonder what the ulterior motive is when you throw out a claim like that then offer nothing as evidence to support it. Like this board says, proof or it didn't happen.

exmtroj

July 29th, 2012 at 3:38 PM ^

We all know it's obviously true, but even with proof, what is the NCAA going to do to him? Take away 10 scholarships over 5 years? One year bowl ban? A severe finger-wagging?

Rage

July 29th, 2012 at 3:44 PM ^

Probably around 2001 I was at a party in Detroit.  A lot of people were there and I ended up talking to a former Spartan wide reciever.  We talked for a while and he told me that when he was playing there (under Saban), he'd find an envelope inside his locker every week with a few hundred dollars enclosed.  "and I was only third string, imagine what the starters got", he said.  

Wolvie3758

July 29th, 2012 at 4:25 PM ^

Weve known this has been going on with Bama and Saban  AND the SEC FOR YEARS....theres been ALOT of smoke throughout the years regarding Saban and Illegal recruiting..Theres gotta be some Fire there..YET....years later the NCAA is clueless?   Why are they AWAYS the last ones to know?

AthensOriginal

July 29th, 2012 at 4:40 PM ^

Because, constitutionally, they are not a detective outfit. People ALWAYS make this mistake in thinking they are. The Freeh Report, the FBI's investigation into how Ed Martin made his money, Yahoo!'s discovery of the Tressel emails -- they springboard off the investigative results others find much more effectively than they do it themselves.

Obviously I agree with you in thinking the NCAA be more proactive and keep their nose to the ground, but that's just never what they have fancied themselves to be. Sad but true. Until the NCAA gets subpoena power, they are a joke and people should never assume otherwise.

stephenrjking

July 30th, 2012 at 2:26 AM ^

The NCAA has little real power because no actual laws are being broken. It's not illegal to pay Cam Newton hundreds of thousands of dollars or to pay a coach to "buy" a player (something that Bama almost got the DP for), just unethical.



Major NCAA scandals almost always occurs when the law is broken and law enforcement gets involved. This has been true in the Ed Martin situation, the OSU situation, the USC situation (remember, Bush's benefactor was suing) and virtually everything else.



Note that the quoted agent says the players he knows would talk "under oath." No oath and they say nothing. And the $EC continues to cheat.

Bloodoo

July 29th, 2012 at 7:21 PM ^

Cindrich was asked who is watching the NCAA.

"That's a very good question," he said. "No one's watching them. You want to know who's watching them? Nick Saban. You want to trust Nick Saban?

"You people are sheep. SHEEP!"

Okay, I made up last part up, but it felt so right.

Tater

July 29th, 2012 at 8:43 PM ^

Send lawyers, guns, and money; the shit has hit the fan.

As for "hard evidence," the NCAA changed everything about enforcement with PSU.  Let's see if they are as willing to punish cheaters as they were to punish the people fooled by Jerry Sandusky.

This story has been out for a day or so, but if the little twitter convo starts to go further, things could get really interesting really fast.

WolverineHistorian

July 29th, 2012 at 10:03 PM ^

Saban's last year in East Lansing was a surprise 9-2 before leaving for LSU as the bowl games were about to start.

Otherwise, Saban's MSU teams went 6-5-1, 6-6, 7-5 and 6-6.  He was 0-3 in bowl games (being outscored 134-49 in those 3 games).  He had a dismal 3-11 record against top ten teams, although it was pretty funny watching them beat #1 OSU in 1998 yet still not qualify for a bowl game.  

His MSU teams had plenty of choke jobs, plenty of personal penalties and too much looking ahead to the Michigan games that cost them the prior week.  Remember the blocked field goal against Northwestern in '97?  

If Saban paid players at MSU, it was money NOT well spent.