Interesting discussion on the Finebaum radio network yesterday afternoon. Paul welcomed the attorney for Decari Jenkins, the Auburn student beaten by Auburn running back Eric Smith in August at party taking place at a hotel in Auburn. Allegedly, Jenkins was approached by Smith “and other Auburn players” and assaulted inside the hotel. A friend was reported to have been struck and left unconcious by “another Auburn football player”. Then as Jenkins retreated from his attacker, Smith followed him outside, struck Jenkins from behind (in the back of the head), then kicked him as he lay unconscious, bleeding on the pavement.

Jenkins’ attorney, Wendy Crew, contends in their lawsuit filed in Federal court in Montgomery that other players were also involved, and that several Auburn students will testify of this kind of activity taking place on a regular basis involving Auburn athletes. There was an indication in the interview that the students who will give a deposition believe that a faction of Tiger players, calling themselves “The SWAG” engage in this kind of ganglike activity, and that these kind of incidents seem to just “go away” in Auburn.

Smith’s victim, Decori Jenkins, was a fifth-year engineering student. The suit claims that he has permanent facial scarring and suffers from Post Concussion Syndrome, affecting his ability to complete college. Smith was suspended for one game and welcomed back on the team. Most disturbing perhaps is Smith’s apparent belief that he could beat Jenkins in the manner in which he did outside the Lexington Hotel, in front of four Auburn police officers, then casually walk away. He was arrested immediately by the officers, but charged with disorderly conduct (not assault and battery), and was later granted youthful offender status. Further, the case was sealed and cannot be re-opened.  

What made Smith so confident he could perform such a heinous act 20 feet away from police officers?

You can hear the interview for yourself here, and read Jon Solomon’s report from the Birmingham News here.

37 thoughts on “Auburn’s Eric Smith Sued; Others Named”

  1. Kind of makes selling recreational drugs and pulling your girlfriends hair seem inconsequential doesn’t it. Maybe we should invite Jimmy Johns back! LMFAO! Maybe it was a UcheaT or Barner player that shot Deaderick? RTR!

  2. If that is true, and not just a fabrication by the attorney, then he needs to go…Period. As far as the Auburn cops go, did you ever think that maybe he just didnt see them ? Or maybe he was so amped up he didnt notice them….WHo knows ? You wont hear many if any Auburn people defend this crap.

  3. Wait a minute? I thought this guy was a Chizik annointed “Auburn Man”?

    Didn’t we have to hear that crap? Something about that Smith had to prove himself to be back on the team? Good luck to that Auburn man in his attempt to keep from having a $100 k judgment against him and the other Aubs that beat this guy up. Let’s see if he proves that.

    If the victims attorneys are smart, they are looking for a way to expand their suit to include the University as a defendant. I’m sure that is where they are going by making the gang history public on the radio.

    Hmmm, Fearless & True Thugs watched by obnoxious drunks.

    The truth hurts, doesn’t it?

  4. Joke, instead of condemning the attack, Auburn fans and conspiracy nuts have been attacking Wendy Crews character and trying to paint this as a Bama set-up. Auburn fans could care less about Decari Jenkins or the fact that this 5th year Engineering student ever receives his degree. Typical behavior on the Plains.
    I wonder if SACS would be interested in this case?

  5. Perhaps even more disturbing was a line in Jon Solomon’s article on this in today’s Birmingham News.

    Other Auburn players on the scene, as Smith was being cuffed, identified Smith “as an Auburn football player” and asked, “What can be done?”

    Looks like our suspicions through the years have been on target.

  6. Thanks for posting this ITK. I took Tuesday off and see what happens? AU scandal and we find out about ANOTHER Kiffin lie and Vol player arrest.

    I couldn’t be happier with Kiffin in Knoxville and Chizik in Auburn. 🙂

  7. My gosh…..Am I not an Auburn fan ? Did I not just condemn the attack ? So, using your logic 100% of the poeple who claim to be Auburn fans are condemning the attack…..See how stupid that sounds? Anyhow, the gaul that an Alabama fan can have is amazing to me….Goodness, do you people not remember not even three years ago, about 20% of your entire team had been charged or thrown into the pokey for on thing or the other. How quickly you forget. The difference between you people and Auburn fans on here like me, we dont defend behavior like that. Yall did…Dont even try to deny it . I heard every excuse in the world. Ranging from “Innocent until proven guilty” (and I believe in that by the way), to Saban knows what hes doing , he will handle it “in house” hes too classy to air out the teams dirty laundry in public…..All kinds of crap…If there is a video of E.Smith assaulting someone, and it is proven to be unprovoked and not in self defense….I want him to go. We dont need that crap on our team.

  8. Alex, good point (Wow), Perhaps there angle is to put the university into a situation where they wright a check instead of letting the bad P.R. bite em in the butt before recruiting hits crunch time. Who knows.

    Lawyers are evil.

  9. I think the issue here isn’t that Chizik allowed him back on the team–though that looks bad with the allegations out now. The larger questions are the allegations of multiple players and a lawless culture around the football program.

    Kind of sounds like UT.

  10. Hmmmmmmmm, wonder if you bammers would view this incident with a degree of skepticism under the exact same circumstances if it involved UA. There’s no doubt that Smith punched the kid. Smith claimed that the kid punched him first when he was arrested, and the officer even said that Smith’s nose was bloody. The kid’s complaint that he originally filed in the criminal case strangely omitted all these details of “gangs” and his friend getting knocked out by another football player. Despite the fact the cops were obviously right outside the hotel, this mysterious other AU player was not charged for knocking this other anonymous person unconscious. It’s also hilarious that this lawyer sends her complaint to all the major newspapers and goes on Finebaum on the day she files the complaint.

    Smith was dealt with by the justice system. Personally, I think he should have been suspended for longer than he was, although it’s hardly a history making event when a fb player gets into a fight at a party. It’s just unusual for the cops to get called when it happens.

  11. Please……..How many of the “Legacy Crew” did Saban kick off the team ? remember them ? You know that one of them assaulted a security guard, right ? Tell me again what Saban did to disciplin ANY of the 12-15 players that were arrested >? Oh yeah , nuttin…..But that was different , right ? No. it wasnt .

    Jimmy Johns wouldve still been playing if they would have let him out of the slammer on Saturdays…

  12. ITK, I think it’s also telling that Jon Solomon wrote the article for the Bham News, not Charles Goldberg. For years Goldberg has been nothing but a cheerleader for Auburn athletics. I guess he couldn’t bear writing anything negative about his beloved Auburn. I don’t believe for a moment that Don Kausler would have any trouble writing this type of article.

  13. Brilliant deduction, Bamafan. You are definitely on to something there, my friend. And yes, if this happened to Bama, the most dangerous place in the world to be would be between Don Kausler and his computer.

  14. It took Saban a couple of seasons to weed out the bad apples left by Shula’s lax policies it will take Chizik a while to clean up after Tubs mess as well.

  15. Not all Lawyers are evil. The victim’s attorney has done nothing wrong in this case by talking to the media. I don’t consider Steve Henniger evil, and am fully aware that he has sued UA twice in ten years. And, if Henniger had not shot off his mouth, he and Mike Price would’ve kept some of the money they got from Time, Inc.

    Alas, the evil here is a bunch of arrogant 19 yo thugs and Chiznik.

    I’m going to miss Larry Langford. I’ve never laughed so hard in my life after hearing him say “Chiznik”.

  16. I miss LankFoRd myself — just remember rowing down the Cahaba River next to the dead bodies and condom wrappers for the Summer Olympics. LMFAO!!

    p.s. — the 9 hole golf course at the old Cooper Green site —

    I really do miss him. LMAO!!

  17. BP you’re so full of shit you shouldn’t even be allowed to vent your opioion. All you fuckers ever have to fall back on is bullshit theories, Shulas misfits and Jimmy J. More than once you’ve falsely slandered Saban with that bullshit fantasy that he didn’t play only because he was in jail. You people are pathetic with your attempts at defending your dysfunctional fambuhle. Anyway, this is a Bama board and Bama and the Barn aren’t exactly amigos. Don’t expect even the most docile Bammer to feel sorry for Lowder, Dye and Jacobs children. If you want sympathy your posting in the wrong place! RTR!

  18. Hey EGGHEAD,

    You reference Tennessee as “UcheaT”; you have some nerve!

    You and the dirty Crimson Turd cheating bastards are really qualified to refer to anyone else as “cheaters”

    Bammer is the dirtist cheaters in NCAA sports!!

  19. “Thanks for posting this ITK. I took Tuesday off and see what happens? AU scandal and we find out about ANOTHER Kiffin lie and Vol player arrest.

    I couldn’t be happier with Kiffin in Knoxville and Chizik in Auburn.”

    More useless Bammer Bullshit from a member of the Crimson TURD Moron Nation.

    You shithead are scared to death of Kiffin, and with good reason!

  20. You shitheads are scared to death of Kiffin, and with good reason! He is going to own the Crimson TURD just like Fulmer did!

  21. Gee alex, based on your repeated threats of physical violence against all who disagree with you on this site I would think that you would consider Eric Smith your soul mate. Why is it that Smith is an arrogant thug when he punches somebody in the back of the head but you aren’t when you threaten to punch someone in the face or take out their knees????

  22. Go fuck yourself IV faggot! If you don’t like what I call your shithole school, go play somewhere else! By the way how does it feel to be McClusterfucked? Honk if you see Chester runnin’! ROTFLMFAO! RTR!

  23. Eggy…..Step off bud…..Dont go dog cussin people for stating the truth…..Bottom line is this. A LOT of UA players were behaving attrociously when Saban took riegns in T-Town…And he did NOTHING about it, because he couldnt do anything about it. Dont deny that fact. Tell me what he did do disciplin Jimmy J. or Prince Hall or D.J. Hall or Brandon Deadrick or Brandon Fanney or any of those dudes ? The only two that I know of that were disciplined were Johns and the kid that held up the pizza delivery man (wow , did I just really say that)….Im not blasting Saban aight. He has don a decent job of cleaning up the mess he inherited from Mikey….But alls Im sayin is its not like he came into T-town and did it his first year.

  24. Joke, if you believe kicking players off the team is the only way to discipline, then you clearly don’t understand leadership. It is much harder to try to change the culture in a place with the people you have than it is to fire everybody and start over. Great leaders know the difference. Nick Saban is a great leader.

    Now. A felony is a different matter, and ever situation is different. But clearly what Eric Smith did to that engineering student at AU is much different than a player getting in an argument with his girlfriend and fending her off of him, or someone responding to racial attacks from bratty greeks (which UA has the worst greeks anywhere). But let me be clear; Eric Smith is a criminal, just as Jimmy Johns was a criminal, and he deserves to be behind bars for what he did to Decori Harris.

    Saban put his stamp of approval on the suspension of our top two running backs and starting center in 2007, crushing our ability to run for the rest of that season. We didn’t know if or when they’d be back.

    But again, to say the only way to “show discipline” is to suspend or kick a player off the team just demonstrates a lack of understanding of leadership. You don’t burn someone at the stake just because the masses think you ought to. Sometimes those masses are preoccupied with their own petty motivations for said suspensions and dismissals.

  25. First , thanks for making my point for me. I see that you will wholeheartedly defend the two that were with Smith to remain on the team then , right ? I am not saying Smith shouldnt be booted. To the contrary, I think if he hit the kid first , he should go…If he didnt he should be SEVERLY punished for carrying it as far as he did.

    I dont think there was any doubt that Hall should have gone…Or several others for that matter. He was VERY quick to let players go last year and this year for “not being able to cut it” …But that was conveniently after he had 2 years to stock enough blue chippers in the cuppord to where it wouldnt hurt the teams performance, unlike 07…..

    As far as the textbook stuff, Saban didnt have any other choice but to suspend those players. That was completely out of his hands..

  26. Well BPI, you tell me what you would have done coming to a new school being paid 4 million a year under expectations to perform, and the school had a depleted roster from NCAA scolly limitations, and half the upperclassmen and stars were either out of control or in trouble with the law? You gonna kick them all off the team and tell admin, boosters and fans, we’re gonna write off this season and wait till next year? I don’t think so! He had to play it the best way he could. So he cut the totally unacceptable, and gave the others a chance to reform under his system. Some did, some didn’t. As each one used up his allotment of attaboys, he was shown the door. Everybody that gets into minor trouble, even selling small quantities of drugs, deserves a second or even third chance. However, drug trafficing, armed robbery, rape and premeditated battery producing permanent injuries, does not! Now do you in all your Barner wisdom think you coulda’, woulda’ done it differently and still produced to this point 29 wins?

  27. As far as why Smith wasn’t charged with assault when he was arrested is routine. Disorderly conduct specifically mentions fighting in public. Generally this what an officer at the scene of a fight will use for his arrest and it’s up to the participants to file an assault report and then speak with a warrant clerk. The clerk makes the determination if probable cause existed, prepares a warrant and the victim signs for it. The reason the case is sealed is because of the youthful offender status. Its almost like a juvenile court record but you still have to endure the punishment. This same thing was allowed for courtney upshaw and his girlfriend upon their conviction. Just wanted to clarify a couple of things you mentioned. Y O status happens a lot with college students and in that age bracket. It’s a one time thing and there can be a time period where if you get in more trouble your status is waived for the charge which could unseal the case.

  28. Bingo egg…Now, what makes Chiziks predicament any differant than Sabans at that time ? Now let me ak this. Why is it totally different in Bama fans eyes ?

  29. Well BPI, for the same reasons it would be different in the Barners eyes if the shoe was on the other foot as it has been from time to time and we’ve posed the same question to you, or Tennessee or whoever. It’s rival slash with no punches pulled, no quarter given. Take no prisoners. But since you asked – the obvious differences are that: 1. Chizik is not being paid 4 million a year to turn a program around overnite. 2. Hiring a coach with a pitiful losing record so that he can be controlled, takes the pressure off of him to win at all costs and therefore gives him less right to legitimatize lax control or punishment of players. 3. Smith has apparently commited one of the cardinal crimes that I listed above requiring dismissal and yet he was only suspended for 1 game. Any other questions?

  30. Joke, what makes it different is, we have video evidence of your football player beating a defenseless engineering student, whose head is gashed open from a cheap shot and is laying helpless on the pavement. But that doesn’t stop Smith from kicking him repeatedly, then casually walking away.

    Eric Smith is an animal that needs to be locked up. But don’t worry. Next Friday he’ll be jacked up like a little pussy cat in a cage full of wolves. We. Are. Going. To. Kill. Auburn. Period.

    Will you cry, Joke?

  31. No. Ill sleep aight itk…And yes , yall are probably going to kill us. bu who knows ? Crazy things can happen…Egg. I will be the first to admit that Saban has righted the ship. No one can argue that , when you look at the thugs he inherited and how far the team has come, its been a miraculous transformation. Now, let it be said that I dont want Smith on the team if that video is as bad as they say, he wont have a le to stand on. Get rid of him and send a message to the team. One thing I dont care for about Chizik is the way he tries to be the players buddy…On the show every Sat morning I notice more and more of it. Im more of an old school , do it cause the coach said to, or else kind of guy. In that regard, Saban is a great coach.

  32. EG, did you seriously just say that a misdemeanor assault charge is worse than selling freakin’ drugs????? (Oh, I love how you try to make it seem so atrocious by calling it “premeditated battery producing permanent injuries”. Newsflash: the DA, being fully aware of all the facts and being privy to this mysterious videotape, still chose to charge Smith with misdemeanor assault.)

    Are you so crimson jaded that you actually believe that bs simply because it seems to bolster an argument in Bama’s favor on a single point???? Well I got news for ya genius, the laws of the State of Alabama strongly disagree with you. You sell drugs, you are doing time and it will be in prison and not the county jail for 48 hrs. Period. You get charged with midemeanor assault and its your first arrest, you’re probably gonna get a year of unsupervised probation and pay a fine.

    P.S. I also love that your basis for it being acceptable for Saban handling discipline in a more lenient manner is b/c Saban is being paid $4 million per year. What the #%@*???????

  33. 1. 7-17-07 Alabama player Brandon Deaderick charged with Reply

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    criminal mischief, resisting arrest and giving police a false name.

    2. 7-17-07 Alabama football player Brandon Fanney, 21, Reply

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    was brought to the Tuscaloosa County Jail and charged with disorderly conduct.

    3.7-17-07 Roy Upchurch were also arrested in front of “The Legacy,” Reply

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    a bar along the Strip.

    4. (10-21-07) Alabama football player Antoine Caldwell charged Reply

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    with improprieties in the way athletes received textbooks.

    6-12-09 The NCAA placed Alabama’s football program and 15 other of the school’s athletic teams on three years’ probation for major violations due to misuse of free textbooks, stripping the Crimson Tide of 21 football wins over a three-year period.

    5. (10-21-07) Alabama football player Glen Coffee charged with major Reply

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    violations of its textbook disbursement policy.

    3-6-09 The NCAA letter, dated May 19, 2008, said the allegations against Alabama were potentially major violations, including allowing athletes to improperly receive textbooks and other supplies, failure to monitor textbook distribution and to provide adequate education on the rules to athletes and employees at the university bookstore.

    6-12-09 The NCAA placed Alabama’s football program and 15 other of the school’s athletic teams on three years’ probation for major violations due to misuse of free textbooks, stripping the Crimson Tide of 21 football wins over a three-year period.

    10-3-09 NCAA calls Alabama “a school with extensive recent history of infractions cases unmatched by any other member institution in the NCAA,”

    6. (10-21-07) Alabama football player Chris Rogers received Reply

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    improper benefits in the NCAA textbookgate case.

    6-12-09 The NCAA placed Alabama’s football program and 15 other of the school’s athletic teams on three years’ probation for major violations due to misuse of free textbooks, stripping the Crimson Tide of 21 football wins over a three-year period.

    7. (10-21-07) Alabama football player Marlon Davis, received Reply

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    “impermissible benefits” from the textbook disbursement system.

    8. (10-21-07) Alabama football player Marquis Johnson, received improper Reply

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    benefits in bookgate NCAA case.

    9. (11-18-07) Alabama leading receiver DJ Hall, who was suspended for LaMo Reply

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    the entire game,actually started the second half for the Tide.

    Louisana-Monroe still won the game against Alabama 21-14.

    Year 2007 complete

    10. 2008 bammer players problems continues 2-18-08 Reply

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    University of Alabama football player Jeremy Elder, was arrested Sunday on two counts on first-degree robbery, Elder point a gun at two Alabama students in the incident that led to his arrest, police said.

    Elder, a freshman from College Park, Ga., is being held in the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Department jail on $120,000 bond.

    UA police shed more light on the incident in an advisory posted on its Web site. UA spokeswoman Cathy Andreen confirmed that Elder was the suspect arrested in the case.

    Two male UA students reported they were approached by an unknown male in a parking lot about 11 p.m. Saturday night. The male presented a gun and took cash from one of the students. There were no injuries.

    On Sunday, UA police investigators arrested Elder.

    Alabama coach Nick Saban has not commented on Elder’s arrest.

    11. (2-23-08) Alabama safety Rashad Johnson was charged with disorderly Reply

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    conduct for allegedly knocking a security guard down at an off-campus bar.

    12. (2-26-08) Alabama linebacker Prince Hall has been suspended from Reply

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    the football team indefinitely, by sabear today.

    13. (6-4-08) Alabama linebacker Jimmy Johns has been arrested charged with Reply

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    selling cocaine and possessing ecstasy pills on campus.

    Alabama linebacker Jimmy Johns was arrested on felony drug charges Tuesday and kicked off the team, the latest in a string of off-the-field problems for coach Nick Saban’s squad.

    Johns, who moved to defense for his senior year after playing running back and receiver in 2007, was “pretty wide open” selling cocaine to students on and around the University of Alabama campus but tried to hide what he was doing from teammates, police said.

    “He didn’t want them to know he was involved in it,” said Capt. Jeff Snyder of the West Alabama Narcotics Task Force.

    Records did not indicate whether Johns had hired a lawyer. He was held at the metro jail with bond set at $120,000.

    Saban dismissed Johns from the team almost immediately.

    “This type of behavior obviously will not be tolerated and he is no longer a part of our program,” he said in a brief statement.

    Alabama players have been involved in a series of arrests and off-the-field suspensions, with Saban acknowledging the need for better discipline and judgment earlier this year after two players were arrested within days of each other.

    “I’ve said enough is enough and we’re trying to fix it,” Saban said in February.

    About two months later, Snyder said, police began getting tips that Johns was involved in drug sales. Alabama was conducting spring football practice around the same time.

    Undercover officers purchased cocaine from Johns five times in the last 1½ weeks, Snyder said, and they arrested him at a gas station near his off-campus apartment, where he lived alone.

    Authorities who searched the apartment found about 10 grams of cocaine and ecstasy pills. Johns was charged with distributing cocaine and possessing the pills, Snyder said.

    Snyder said Johns didn’t use his status as a football player to solicit business, but being a member of the Crimson Tide didn’t hurt, either.

    “He was popular. A lot of people knew him,” he said.

    Snyder said officers purchased drugs twice from Johns at the player’s apartment, once near campus and twice at the university. He declined comment on whether officers obtained drugs in the Alabama football complex. But he said there was no indication other players were involved.

    14.(12-28-08) Alabama tackle Andre Smith has been suspended for Reply

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    improper dealings with an agent.

    Sources told ESPN.com that Smith’s suspension was related to improper dealings with an agent. Saban’s statement on the matter said only that it was due to violation of team rules and policies.

    15. (2-20-09) Alabama appears before NCAA Committee Reply

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    on Infraction.

    16. 3-6-09 the cheatin’lying’ bammers keep NCAA letter hidden for 8 months Reply

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    3-6-09 The NCAA letter, dated May 19, 2008, said the allegations against Alabama were potentially major violations, including allowing athletes to improperly receive textbooks and other supplies, failure to monitor textbook distribution and to provide adequate education on the rules to athletes and employees at the university bookstore.

    17. free fish, free boating for more high profile bammer players Reply

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    Spring ’09: Alabama players Julio Jones & Mark Ingram the student-athlete received free food lodging, transportation and entertainment from an male friend.

    In less than 5 months two of Alabama’s big name recruits and players (Andre Smith & Julio Jones) have broken NCAA rules.

    You can beat if there’s a NCAA rule to be broke, a bammers is somewhere near by.

    18. (6-12-09) The NCAA placed Alabama’s football program Reply

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    and 15 other of the school’s athletic teams on three years’ probation for major violations due to misuse of free textbooks, stripping the Crimson Tide of 21 football wins over a three-year period.

    told u!

    19. (6-13-09) Two former bama players Zach Schreiber and Jeffrey Dukes Reply

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    both previously unnamed players called ” intentional wrongdoers,” in the cash for textbook case are revealed.

    There are now 7 bama football players involved in bama’s unique cash for textbook system.

    22. (8-20-09) Alabama linebacker Courtney Upshaw arrested Reply

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    and charged with domestic violence/harrassment.

    21. (9-2-09) FREE LAPTOP: Alabama LB Jerrell Harris receives laptop Reply

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    computer (a impermissible benefit for another bammer player Mark Ingram Julio Jones and now Jerrell Harris) Harris was not able to produce a receipt for the laptop.

    22. Last but not least (10-3-09) NCAA “calls out” bammer football culture Reply

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    NCAA calls out bammer describes them as having an
    * “abysmal” history of infractions.
    * “a school with extensive recent history of infractions cases unmatched by any other member institution in the NCAA.”

    Now this is something the local media should be focusing on not ES.

    I’m out!:)

    Sorry for so many post regarding bammer football players issues during 2007-2009…but the ES timing by pf and others made it necessary to do so.

  34. DUUUUUAAAAAAAYYYYYYYUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    ^^^^^^^^WHAT HE SAID^^^^^^^^^^^

  35. But hey, bammmers , keep focusing on Eric Sims getting in a fistfight…Yeah, thats the ticket.

  36. Nice research “Carson Brown” —

    I’ll give ya credit on that.

    Although mentioning textbooks with concussed engineering students is ridiculous. No football team has “angels” except for Jay Barker (LMAO!) — I just can’t wait (time has never moved so slow) ’til we beat your ass up and down that Pat “Iron Liver” Dye Field.

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