Four former Auburn football players claimed they received thousands of dollars of cash from boosters from a number of schools on an HBO special that airs Wednesday night, according to the website Sports by Brooks.
The players, Chaz Ramsey, Troy Reddick, Stanley McClover and Raven Gray, alleged they received money as part of a pay-for-play scheme during their time at Auburn. None played there more recently than 2007.
"Somebody came to me, I don't even know this person and he was like, 'we would love for you to come to LSU and he gave me a handshake and it had five hundred dollars in there," McClover said in the HBO special, an advance copy of which was obtained by Sports by Brooks. "That's called a money handshake ... I grabbed it and I'm like, 'wow,' hell I thought ten dollars was a lot of money back then."
McClover told "Real Sports" that boosters from Auburn, Michigan State and Ohio State also arranged for him to get money and other inducements such as sexual services when he was being recruited in 2003. He originally committed to Ohio State but switched his commitment to Auburn after receiving cash that he said persuaded him to change his commitment. On that occasion, he said the cash was delivered in a bookbag. The amount was not disclosed.
"I literally passed out I couldn't believe it was true," the HBO transcript quoted McClover as saying. "I felt like I owed them."
"Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" reports the NCAA declined interview requests and Auburn officials declined to comment, according to Sports by Brooks.
Also in the interview with HBO, Ramsey said Auburn boosters would approach him after games, and that they would give as much as $300 to $400 a game. He said that before he arrived at Auburn, a booster gave him spending money during his junior college career.
The former Auburn offensive guard said he accepted more than $5,000 in cash from boosters, but that he has since taken a stand against the practice. "I'm not out to get anybody, I want high school athletes to know what they're getting into," he told HBO.
