Posted on 12/20/2002 5:26:54 AM PST by NittanyLion
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A gambling investigation at Florida State centers on former Seminoles quarterback Adrian McPherson, who was kicked off the team last month after he was accused of stealing a check.
University vice president John Carnaghi said Thursday that police ''are investigating rumors and hearsay regarding a single, former football player, Adrian McPherson.''
''The investigation does not currently extend to any other student athletes at FSU,'' he said.
McPherson's lawyer, Grady Irvin Jr., said his client has never bet on a sporting event. McPherson started four games this season, going 3-1.
''We will not participate in this unbelievable rumor that is being fueled by persons known, persons unknown and a salivating media,'' Irvin said. ''It's a nonissue. That's it.''
Concerned about the rumors of on-campus gambling, Florida State asked for assistance last month from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The agency assigned members of its Tallahassee office along with investigators from more than one of its seven regional offices to assist.
After a four-week investigation by FDLE and university police, no other students or athletes have been implicated.
Authorities have questioned some of McPherson's teammates, as well as student trainers and managers. Coach Bobby Bowden said no one has spoken to him about any of his players.
''Good gosh, that's the No. 1 priority in the NCAA right now,'' Bowden said. ''It's one of our biggest scares, but we cannot find anything.''
McPherson, Florida's high school ''Mr. Basketball'' and ''Mr. Football'' during the 2000-01 school year, was dismissed from the team Nov. 25. He was charged with stealing a blank check from R&R Truck Accessories in Tallahassee, a misdemeanor, and with receiving stolen goods after the check was cashed, a felony.
The check was later forged by someone, made out for $3,500 and cashed. The money has not been recovered.
FSU denies that the investigation currently involves any football players other than former player McPherson. A story in the Sunday newspaper said that police served a warrant at a residence where a former baseball player and another student(not sure if he was an athlete or not) lived. The former player was the only one there and said the warrant was essentialy for his roommate(they had not lived together for long and didn't know each other too well). The police took a computer and some notebooks belonging to the roommate.
I have a bad feeling we are going to get a visit from the NCAA before this is all said and done.
The list goes on and on and on........
Goes all the way back to Ron Simmons. And the Free Shoes stuff wasn't really about shoes, the NCAA just couldn't get enough proof to sink the program. I could sit here all day and list the scandals.
Gee, thanks .... ;o)
In all seriousness, my brother & I wondered if something were going on when so many receivers couldn't hang onto the ball back before Rix lost his starting position. There were rumours flying then, and now the actions of "AD" just add fuel to the fire.
Despite what is discovered I'll remain a Nole fan forever, sink or swim - but let's uncover what's wrong and fix it. In all honesty, I enjoyed going to the games more before St. Bobby arrived and turned the program around - you could sit anywhere and traffic was light. Once success arrived we were pushed from mid-field seats to the end zone (don't donate enough), despite attending during those lean years.
I have the utmost respect for Coach Bowden, and thank him for the dreams he, his coaches and players have helped to come true, in particular those of a young handicapped man that simply wished he could walk. To that end, numerous players on the team(s) have been his friend and talked with him during lulls in practices, signing media books etc. Winning isn't everything - character counts. Seeing first hand the results of Bowden's leadership - the effects on his caches and players, and the time that they shared with a young handicapped boy when they could have been doing others things - it speaks volumes for his honour and character.
I post on another sports board and remember being mystified by all the dropped balls in one game in which Rix played. Everyone was criticizing Rix and I commented that nearly every single incompletion was the result of dropping a pass which was right to the receiver.
Never even crossed my mind about the gambling, but it makes sense now. Still doubt it but also now wondering.
There is a rumor/hypothesis that the receivers didn't like Rix(its actually well known that many players were disapointed with his continual poor play) and were dropping passes on purpose so that McPherson would get put in. It may be just a rumor, but as you two posted, it looked really odd that most of the incomplete passes were drops. Whether this is true, and whether it has ties to gambling is anyone's guess.
After watching the Noles for years I know I was amazed to see the number of drops. I honestly never would have guessed it was to get rid of Rix, or part of something far more sinister, but pulling Rix in the Notre Dame was not the answer.
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