🏈 Andre Suspended

[Guest]

I just can't say much because I don't know the full story. Like many of you I was angry at first followed by disappointment then back to anger then back to disappointment.

Right now I feel more for the team than Andre', but again maybe I'll feel differentely once I know more. I wish fans across the state and country would refrain from certain comments until more is known. We're all upset, but I wish we didn't have to air all of our dirty laundry before we know how dirty it is.

I can only control what I say though. :?

My biggest concern now is the timing of all this. I won't rest well until I know for sure it happened after the season. Maybe I'm making too big of a deal about the when, but I guess our recent history has caused me to be nervous.

 

[ExiledTidefan]

I'm not going to gush over Tony Barnhart's story, because I'm not a big fan of him, but he wrote a great article there. I hope the importance of team and selflessness sticks to the remaining team. I hope they now see, if they didn't already, that Coach Saban means business about building this thing up. I hope that recruits and the parents of recruits get the message as well.

This action taken by Coach Saban should be important for all Alabama fans.

 

[Guest]

I hope the importance of team and selflessness sticks to the remaining team. I hope they now see, if they didn't already, that Coach Saban means business about building this thing up. I hope that recruits and the parents of recruits get the message as well.

This action taken by Coach Saban should be important for all Alabama fans.

Well said ETF. In the future this will do nothing but help the program, IMO. It's a shame it had to happen this way, but Saban sent a message to the player/recruits. No matter who you are, how important you are to the team, you are not above the team. Just another part of the process.

Also, I think the rest of the team, especially the O-line, will rally around this. I can't wait until Friday.

 

[NTT]

I am not one of the fans that will remeber Smith for this. I will remember him for all he has done for the program.

 

[Guest]

I don't know about you guys but I have man crush on Coach Saban. He preaches character and now he backs it up. Just think how many coaches would bend the rules to win a big game.

As everyone has said, this is a very valuable statement to college football and especially Alabama football. He sees the greater good and the rewards of building great character is sometimes painful to players and fans alike. We continue to get his message that no person is bigger or better than the sum of the team.

We should win the game and JPW may get a blind side or two but the message will continue to be loud and clear that whether we win or lose, Alabama football will be repected and the players will demonstrate good character.

 

[payne1814]

NCAA Sanctions

With all the talk about Andre and a sports agent, could someone please tell me this won't bring NCAA action against the program like the Langham situation. Tell me he just hurt himself and not everybody else!

 

[gary funderburk]

OK, no, this will not UA at all. Once it was discovered CNS took control of the situation. Now if staff would have tried to cover it up, that is where we would have been in trouble. But word is contact was made after the SEC championship game. This is just rumor right now, not solid. But if this is true we have no worries.

 

[Guest]

As I mentioned earlier once a timeline is established I'll feel much better.

FWIW unless we find out something totally different about the circumstances this is no apples to apples situation. Currently it appears that the only similarity in the Smith situation and the Langham situation is both occured surrounding the Sugar Bowl and both involved an agent.

 

[cjaytch]

"Meanwhile at the Superdome, Alabama's team is going about practice as normally as possible to prepare for the upcoming game against Utah. Sophomore David Ross remained as the first-string left guard in practice today with usual guard Mike Johnson at left tackle. "

Is this the same lineup we played with in the Tulane game? Was someone besides Andre hurt that game? I guess that means we dont have a true backup LT...

 

[cjaytch]

"Meanwhile at the Superdome, Alabama's team is going about practice as normally as possible to prepare for the upcoming game against Utah. Sophomore David Ross remained as the first-string left guard in practice today with usual guard Mike Johnson at left tackle. "

Is this the same lineup we played with in the Tulane game? Was someone besides Andre hurt that game? I guess that means we dont have a true backup LT...

Nevermind, I found my answer

"Mike Johnson moved from left guard to Smith's left tackle spot, while sophomore David Ross worked with the first-string offensive line at left guard. It was the same adjustment Alabama used against Clemson on Aug. 30 when Smith hurt his knee in the second half. Smith missed the following game Tulane, with starting guard Marlon Davis also out of for most of that game.

In an alarming memory from the Crimson Tide's perspective, Tulane's defense allowed a total of only 172 yards that night. It was Alabama's worst offensive output since the 2000 season. "

Looks like our offence scored a grand total of 17 points with that lineup in 6 quarters of play against Clemson and Tulane.

 

[BamaGradinTN]

McClain's comments about Andre

"We'll deal with it as a family," said McClain, who will be a coveted draft-eligible junior next season. "We wish him the best, first and foremost. We're going to miss him. You can't replace Andre Smith, number one. We're going to do everything we can to get ready for Utah. But, I'm not in that situation (to be eligible). I pray to God that I'll be in that situation one day, but we have great compliance guys. They've told us over and over what you need to do and what you should do when agents contact you, so I can just do the smart thing and stay away from them. And then, next year, if I need an agent for some reason, then I'll wait until the appropriate time to have one."

http://blog.al.com/rapsheet/2008/12/what_can_be_learned_from_andre.html

Hopefully we won't have to deal with this again.

 

[BigAl]

I wasn't aware the University had the jurisdiction to check a player's cell phone records. Seems like violation of privacy to me, and a lawsuit if Andre wanted one. I'm not even sure they could ask him for such information. Seems highly illegal.
I KNOW that the NCAA cannot do things like this since it has no legal authority whatsoever. The NCAA has no more legal authority than a fraternity. All they can do is discipline you within the framework of their organization, and none of that supersedes the law.

I'm pretty sure they are well within legal rights to check any and all records. After all Andre is/was a player/employee. When i go to work my employer knows every word i say on there phone and they also know ever move i make on there computer. I don't see where this is any different. After all they are just trying to protect UA's best interest. As far as i'm concerned thats the way it should be.

 

[BigAl]

On another Bama board i saw where they say now that Andre didn't do anything but a family member, possibly his uncle or his dad, took out an insurance policy on Andre through an agent before the Bowl game. Another agent who wanted Andre turned them in.

 

[TerryP]

On another Bama board i saw where they say now that Andre didn't do anything but a family member, possibly his uncle or his dad, took out an insurance policy on Andre through an agent before the Bowl game. Another agent who wanted Andre turned them in.

That's what I was told last night.

I'm fairly certain which group was the one courting his family, but haven't been able to really verify it as of yet.

I'll say this, and then let you do the research.

See Jemarcus Russell and specifically one of the guys handling his "affairs."

If you didn't know about it, when he was coming out of LSU his last year there were A LOT of stories about him having dealings with an agent.

 

[AFF]

I wasn't aware the University had the jurisdiction to check a player's cell phone records. Seems like violation of privacy to me, and a lawsuit if Andre wanted one. I'm not even sure they could ask him for such information. Seems highly illegal.
I KNOW that the NCAA cannot do things like this since it has no legal authority whatsoever. The NCAA has no more legal authority than a fraternity. All they can do is discipline you within the framework of their organization, and none of that supersedes the law.

I'm pretty sure they are well within legal rights to check any and all records. After all Andre is/was a player/employee. When i go to work my employer knows every word i say on there phone and they also know ever move i make on there computer. I don't see where this is any different. After all they are just trying to protect UA's best interest. As far as i'm concerned thats the way it should be.

If a phone/computer is given to you by a company/school, then yeah.

But, if the cell phone was his own personal phone, then the school/NCAA/Attorney General/whomever would need to get a court order to get legal access to his phone records. A court order would probably not be very difficult to obtain since Alabama apparently has state law(s) prohibiting certain types of communications between players and agents.

Without a court order, his privacy should be limited by the conditions of any terms of privacy clause(s) in the contract he signed with whatever phone service he used at the time. Cingular/AT&T will not give out that information without a legal request.

There are a number of websites that obtain some phone data illegaly and then sell it. However, I doubt that was the method used to obtain Smith's records if they were indeed obtained. Since the State AG is looking into the case, I suspect a court order was issued.

 

[BigAl]

I wasn't aware the University had the jurisdiction to check a player's cell phone records. Seems like violation of privacy to me, and a lawsuit if Andre wanted one. I'm not even sure they could ask him for such information. Seems highly illegal.
I KNOW that the NCAA cannot do things like this since it has no legal authority whatsoever. The NCAA has no more legal authority than a fraternity. All they can do is discipline you within the framework of their organization, and none of that supersedes the law.

I'm pretty sure they are well within legal rights to check any and all records. After all Andre is/was a player/employee. When i go to work my employer knows every word i say on there phone and they also know ever move i make on there computer. I don't see where this is any different. After all they are just trying to protect UA's best interest. As far as i'm concerned thats the way it should be.

If a phone/computer is given to you by a company/school, then yeah.

But, if the cell phone was his own personal phone, then the school/NCAA/Attorney General/whomever would need to get a court order to get legal access to his phone records. A court order would probably not be very difficult to obtain since Alabama apparently has state law(s) prohibiting certain types of communications between players and agents.

Without a court order, his privacy should be limited by the conditions of any terms of privacy clause(s) in the contract he signed with whatever phone service he used at the time. Cingular/AT&T will not give out that information without a legal request.

There are a number of websites that obtain some phone data illegaly and then sell it. However, I doubt that was the method used to obtain Smith's records if they were indeed obtained. Since the State AG is looking into the case, I suspect a court order was issued.

Not if the cell phone was furnished by UA.

 

[AFF]

I wasn't aware the University had the jurisdiction to check a player's cell phone records. Seems like violation of privacy to me, and a lawsuit if Andre wanted one. I'm not even sure they could ask him for such information. Seems highly illegal.
I KNOW that the NCAA cannot do things like this since it has no legal authority whatsoever. The NCAA has no more legal authority than a fraternity. All they can do is discipline you within the framework of their organization, and none of that supersedes the law.

I'm pretty sure they are well within legal rights to check any and all records. After all Andre is/was a player/employee. When i go to work my employer knows every word i say on there phone and they also know ever move i make on there computer. I don't see where this is any different. After all they are just trying to protect UA's best interest. As far as i'm concerned thats the way it should be.

If a phone/computer is given to you by a company/school, then yeah.

But, if the cell phone was his own personal phone, then the school/NCAA/Attorney General/whomever would need to get a court order to get legal access to his phone records. A court order would probably not be very difficult to obtain since Alabama apparently has state law(s) prohibiting certain types of communications between players and agents.

Without a court order, his privacy should be limited by the conditions of any terms of privacy clause(s) in the contract he signed with whatever phone service he used at the time. Cingular/AT&T will not give out that information without a legal request.

There are a number of websites that obtain some phone data illegaly and then sell it. However, I doubt that was the method used to obtain Smith's records if they were indeed obtained. Since the State AG is looking into the case, I suspect a court order was issued.

Not if the cell phone was furnished by UA.

Like I said.

Does anyone know if the University gives out cell phones to players? I'd be surprised if that was allowed under NCAA rules.

 

[TerryP]

I've never heard of such a thing...never asked, but it seems HIGHLY unlikely.

 

[srollins]

You can't equate university athletes to employees either. You can't pay an athlete in NCAA activities or they are no longer eligible. This is the same line of reasoning that causes athletes to lose their eligibility when they contact agents. They are considered professionals at that point...

Professionals get paid to play.

 

[Guest]

I wasn't aware the University had the jurisdiction to check a player's cell phone records. Seems like violation of privacy to me, and a lawsuit if Andre wanted one. I'm not even sure they could ask him for such information. Seems highly illegal.
I KNOW that the NCAA cannot do things like this since it has no legal authority whatsoever. The NCAA has no more legal authority than a fraternity. All they can do is discipline you within the framework of their organization, and none of that supersedes the law.

I'm pretty sure they are well within legal rights to check any and all records. After all Andre is/was a player/employee. When i go to work my employer knows every word i say on there phone and they also know ever move i make on there computer. I don't see where this is any different. After all they are just trying to protect UA's best interest. As far as i'm concerned thats the way it should be.

If a phone/computer is given to you by a company/school, then yeah.

But, if the cell phone was his own personal phone, then the school/NCAA/Attorney General/whomever would need to get a court order to get legal access to his phone records. A court order would probably not be very difficult to obtain since Alabama apparently has state law(s) prohibiting certain types of communications between players and agents.

Without a court order, his privacy should be limited by the conditions of any terms of privacy clause(s) in the contract he signed with whatever phone service he used at the time. Cingular/AT&T will not give out that information without a legal request.

There are a number of websites that obtain some phone data illegaly and then sell it. However, I doubt that was the method used to obtain Smith's records if they were indeed obtained. Since the State AG is looking into the case, I suspect a court order was issued.

Not if the cell phone was furnished by UA.

Like I said.

Does anyone know if the University gives out cell phones to players? I'd be surprised if that was allowed under NCAA rules.

There's no way that the school gives them phones.