Toney Clemons on the record according to Schad on ESPN radio.....

Submitted by JT4104 on

Well, not really a shock to me....

Yea, Snyder/Rosenberg like this kidd doesn't have an axe to grind.

Everyone flew by him on the depth chart last year......what a surprise!

The Other Brian

August 30th, 2009 at 7:08 PM ^

Not shocking at all. Comical actually, considering he was one of the ones who threw a fit and took his blanket and left because he couldn't climb the depth chart and couldn't put the work in.

I wonder what Dan Hawkins thinks about him now?

diclemeg

August 30th, 2009 at 7:43 PM ^

Rodriguez is no dummy, and nothing will come of this, other than perception that the Wolverines do in fact work harder than anyone else. Great coaches toe the lines...as they should... Belichick does more than anyone.

Rodriguez surely has all the bases covered. The best thing to do is not even discuss this.

One thing to do discuss...is the possibility that Rosenberg sold out, in order to try to be a nationally known journalist.

DCBlue

August 30th, 2009 at 8:04 PM ^

as an analogy regarding "toeing the line" on rules doesn't really cut it. This is the guy whose excuse for taping games was really pretty laughable. If you meant "test the line" maybe it's a little more appropriate. And to say he shouldn't even discuss this is not really an option. He's going to HAVE to discuss with the Michigan compliance staff, and, although much less likely, perhaps with the NCAA. We better hope this scenerio isn't like Belichick and the taping one. The Patriots lost a first round draft choice for that. I don't want to lose any scholarships, or even be put on double secret probation with the NCAA.

victors2000

August 30th, 2009 at 7:12 PM ^

a tad laid back. I wonder if he got scammed, you know, asked some innocuous, open-ended questions that Toney answered while enjoying the limelight of the interview and now he's like, "Oh D#@m!!!"

Brick

August 30th, 2009 at 7:24 PM ^

No. He said specifically that he wanted to stand up for the current players and say that the allegations were true. His main claim seemed to be that they spent all day Sunday on football related activities up to 11 hours.

There was no specific discussion of what he did on Sunday and if any of it was voluntary, he just said he was there from almost 10-10.

BlueVoix

August 30th, 2009 at 7:13 PM ^

Looking like perhaps Tone should have attended Pitt all along.

No one here would have given half a shit if he showed up for a practice...or game, since they can't fill Heinz.

tomhagan

August 30th, 2009 at 7:15 PM ^

Did they count Clemons as "a starter" on last years team? Did he even start one game? Perhaps he did because of injury....kid had about 5 catches all year though and booked to another program.

That's the same kid that claimed to have played all the time under Carr, in his comments when he transferred, when in reality he never did at all.

again: no big loss there

me

August 30th, 2009 at 7:22 PM ^

"On Sunday, it was lifting, film, dinner and practice," Clemons told Schad. "I usually got out around 10:20. I truly don't want to be associated with the program back there. But I am going to help benefit my teammates back there by speaking and giving testimony."

Brodie

August 30th, 2009 at 7:23 PM ^

If Clemons claim is really dinner, film and practice on Sundays then he just pulled the fucking crime of the century. That is != 10 hours of practice. Probably 5 at most.

JC3

August 30th, 2009 at 7:25 PM ^

I don't understand how you can be classy about leaving, then turn around and burn the hell out of every bridge you left behind. Seriously..

mikefromaa

August 30th, 2009 at 7:27 PM ^

I'd bet they talked to Helmuth too. I saw him at Speedway the other day. Pretty sure I could beat him in a footrace. Maybe not to the dinner buffet.

The Other Brian

August 30th, 2009 at 7:27 PM ^

After reading his quote, I honestly have to question either his intelligence, or Joe Schad's reporting skills.

He wants to help his former teammates? How, by dragging their current coach and team through the coals? WAT?

Poster on Rivals put it best. Clemons and the media are acting like Rodriguez is waterboarding people.

IT'S DIVISION ONE FOOTBALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

MaizeinPhilly

August 30th, 2009 at 7:33 PM ^

i'm sure it's very convenient to be calling up players who transferred due to lack of playing time for a story like this.

besides... isn't calling these players (who are suppossed to be more focused on football, right?) violating some kind of ncaa rules? what a joke

Jlow

August 30th, 2009 at 7:37 PM ^

True text book whinning. Reminds me of J. Boren. If you can't hang with the program, then quite and then bash the hell out of them. Unfortunate.

MaizeNBlue

August 30th, 2009 at 7:40 PM ^

The players leaving have the right to voice their opinion, but it feels like in this case words were twisted, situations misunderstood, and hence the FreeP article. Just a crappy situation.

That said, time to let it go and look forward to Brian's season preview tomorrow :)

Magnum P.I.

August 30th, 2009 at 8:14 PM ^

Based on the ESPN frontpager: The Freep only talked to ten "former or current players," and only six corroborated the report. Only one of the six was distinctly termed a current player, and his comments didn't come across as disgruntled. So, this report could very well be based on the perspectives of (1) Clemons (who we know), (2) Boren, (3) Wermers, (4) O'Neill, (5) Zion Babb, and (6) one current player who only confirmed that he spent 9-10 hours in the football facility on Sundays last year. Considering the opportunism demonstrated in the timing of this report, it wouldn't surprise me at all if these are the former players on which this entire debacle is based. It's not exactly a feat of journalism to get a group like this to wax dissatisfied about the program.

Rosenberg: Hello, is this Justin?
Boren: Yes.
Rosenberg: Hi, I'm writing a story about U-M's football program and how they may possibly be in violation of NCAA standards regarding their training regimin. Would you say that you spent more time than the alloted 8 hours per week involved in football-related activities during your spring with the new staff?
Boren: Hell yes. They ran us into the ground. I was in the weight room three times as many hours as I was supposed to be. They were like slave drivers.
Rosenberg: Thanks, that's all I needed.

Let's hope this report is only not discredited but forcefully so, such that U-M comes out the better for it.

kgroff531

August 30th, 2009 at 9:10 PM ^

is that I am going to have to hear crap from all these gators fans that I am forced to live with down here in FL. True or not, it just sucks that this is being reported as fact before any real investigation has started. Often, right and wrong is determined by public opinion, which in this case, is going to be based on some poor reporting. F**king freepress.

Michiganguy19

August 30th, 2009 at 9:45 PM ^

This guy is such a SOB. Did any of him and Coners rap videos have the date displayed? Because they certainly werent at voluntary workouts when they were rapping about the dirty south and pennsylvania.

Whenever I see anything related to the Atlanta Braves or C.Jones I hear Coner's "Like Chipper with the Braves" rap lyric.

wolverine1987

August 30th, 2009 at 11:28 PM ^

Magnus, I liked what you wrote, but I want to take the other side for a second and make sure we're not too emotional today to be fair. So, a question for you and everyone: is it possible INYO that Clemons actually feels that the staff did violate the rules and is speaking out only because he was contacted to confirm a story? And despite the fact that we all are annoyed and look at him as a turncoat who is hurting the program, that he feels what he is doing is right? After all, he left without any derogatory quotes at all, unlike others, and he had the opportunity to do so.

It does no good for us to denigrate him as someone who couldn't win a job IMO. He and Terance Taylor are both on record as saying basically the same thing regarding Sundays, and Terance, as far as I know, has no such issues. While as you point out, there are solid questions over what is a violation and what is not, if it is even close to true that 10-12 hour Sundays were the norm, it's tough for me to believe that 6-8 of those 12 don't count. Perhaps so, in which case this is what we all believe, much ado about nothing. But it also means that the investigation that Martin announced today is indeed worth doing, if only to clear the reputations of the university and staff.

Magnus

August 31st, 2009 at 6:20 AM ^

It is possible. I'm not letting Rosenberg off the hook. The fact that his "sources" are apparently freshmen (Stokes and Hawthorne), perhaps Clemons, and perhaps other disgruntled ex/current Wolverines makes me think that this whole thing is a wee bit slanted.

My goal with that post wasn't really to make Clemons look like a fool - my goal was to point out that his words shouldn't automatically be taken as scripture. The fact that he said he "wants nothing to do with Michigan" makes it seem like he's got a bit of an ax to grind...

OSUMC Wolverine

August 31st, 2009 at 9:17 AM ^

Give the kid a break. It must be hard for him having to wear depends at age 19 because college football scared the living sh*t out of him. I for one believe everything this upstanding young man with a propensity to sh*t himself at the first sign of adversity says. To get up in front of the media knowing he is probably going to sh*t himself during the interview took some real guts, and maybe even two depends. Being able to stand up in front of the world and declare that I'm a lazy sissy with a serious incontinence problem is admirable. I wish him the best of luck and lay off the spicy food so it doesn't burn your ***