...Thursday, 104.5 ESPN reporter Jordy Culotta received a text message from Peterson after offering a forum to discuss the allegations. Peterson's text response read, "No I'm good. Cause that's all it is yu know, but thanks any way." Shortly after receiving the text, Culotta spoke to Peterson who said the report was, "All baloney."
In fact, Peterson told Culotta twice that he never even visit the school in College Station, Texas. That would seem to contradict an ESPN report in which Kelly Naqi cites Peterson’s father, Patrick Peterson Sr. as describing his son’s visit to A&M as "a good trip."
"Why would I jeopardize my future over going to Texas A&M and $80,000 when I knew that my future was playing football," Peterson told Culotta.
Peterson Responds to Allegations - 104.5 ESPN Radio Baton Rouge
Update: Yeah, he did go to A&M once:
Five-star cornerback visits Aggieland - AggieYell.com
August 6, 2007
"It's not often that the no. 3-ranked player in the entire country shows up for a somewhat surprise visit at a university. However, that was exactly the case a little over a week ago. Patrick Johnson, a five-star cornerback out of Pompano Beach, Florida, made an unplanned trip to College Station."
The rest is behind a paywall, but you get the picture
EDIT: The rest of the article is now not behind a paywall
""I visited Texas A&M the other day," said the 6-foot-1, 193 pound prospect. "My dad and I were in Houston visiting one of his friends and he suggested that we go look at A&M."
UPDATE #2: Patrick Peterson released a statement through LSU denying the allegations and claiming no relationship with Willie Lyles.
However, the Aggies rivals.com writer who wrote the piece about his unofficial visit to A&M back in 2007 is now saying that the "friend" PP7 and his father visited in Houston, was in fact Willie Lyles.
Someone is not telling the truth here.
about 1 year ago
PodKATT
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He visited ATM
“I visited Texas A&M the other day,” said the 6-foot-1, 193 pound prospect. "My dad and I were in Houston visiting one of his friends and he suggested that we go look at A&M.
August 6th, 2007 article on Aggieyell.com
by Big McLargeHuge on Mar 31, 2011 12:34 PM CDT reply actions
Can you post a link to it?
Team Speed Kills -- SBNation's SEC Blog
If you're so inclined, follow me @Year2
Yeah I remembered that he did.
I would like to think he just got it mixed up in all his trips.
"Put me in a college football stadium press box on a Saturday afternoon, and I'm more giddy than a 13-year-old at a Miley Cyrus concert." - Mark Schlabach
by Matt 'n' The Hat on Mar 31, 2011 12:55 PM CDT up reply actions
thanks for the links guys
ugh, I hate it when things turn for the worse
Managing Editor/Chief Lackey-And The Valley Shook THE LSU Tigers Blog of the Week for 52,136 Weeks in a Row and Counting
Not sure that's too bad of a contradiction
I was looking forward to seeing that he indeed never visited there, but considering it was a last second, surprise visit to a school he hadn’t really been considering, he probably just meant that he wasn’t really ever considering them and didn’t take an official there.
by Big McLargeHuge on Mar 31, 2011 1:25 PM CDT up reply actions
Official from LSU:
Statement from LSU CB Patrick Peterson on Willie Lyles….
"I have never had any type of relationship with Willie Lyles and he had no influence on my decision to attend LSU, or any other school for that matter. He had no involvement with my recruiting process and I resent the fact that my name has come up in these allegations. I chose LSU because it’s a great school with a great football program. I never received nor was I offered anything to go to LSU and anyone saying otherwise is being dishonest."
Writer (and a handsome one at that),
And the Valley Shook
I like this response :)
"When a hurricane damaged my father's house, my brother rushed over with a gas grill, three coolers of beer, and an enormous F**k-It Bucket - a plastic pail filled with jawbreakers and bite-size candy bars. ("When s**t brings you down, just say 'f**k it,' and eat yourself some motherf*****g candy.")"
— David Sedaris
I've been to college station too
And outside of the aggie cult & the chicken, there wasn’t much that was memorable. Can’t blame ya, Zod.
by Kellertigerfan on Mar 31, 2011 3:08 PM CDT via mobile reply actions
I've got a sinking feeling in my stomach
“I have never had any type of relationship with Willie Lyles”
" the “friend” PP7 and his father visited in Houston, was in fact Willie Lyles."
Don't Panic.
by 4.0 Point Stance on Mar 31, 2011 3:37 PM CDT reply actions
Something is not adding up here.
The twitter feed by Brian Perroni links to this article where he supposedly state Peterson (then Patrick Johnson was visiting Will Lyles). There is NO mention of will Lyles on that link!
PodKATT: The original post needs to be edited to reflect this.
Someone is lying here, and this suggests to me that it’s not Zod.
In the history of college football, no player, no coach, no guru, compares with [Les] Miles’s masterful incorporation of applied chaos theory and time relativity into strategic game planning. Simply put, the man is on another level. A level many don’t or can’t understand. Genius.
Forgive me for the typos.
In the history of college football, no player, no coach, no guru, compares with [Les] Miles’s masterful incorporation of applied chaos theory and time relativity into strategic game planning. Simply put, the man is on another level. A level many don’t or can’t understand. Genius.
To clarify:
Here is Perroni’s Twitter feed:
Here is a story I wrote on Peterson visit to #TAMU 3 yrs ago. I confirmed at time the “friend” was Will Lyles. http://bit.ly/fJXj0a
This implies that the story confirms they were going to visit Lyles. All the article he links says is
“I visited Texas A&M the other day,” said the 6-foot-1, 193 pound prospect. "My dad and I were in Houston visiting one of his friends and he suggested that we go look at A&M.
He seems to confirm nothing of the sort, unless he confirmed this somewhere else.
In the history of college football, no player, no coach, no guru, compares with [Les] Miles’s masterful incorporation of applied chaos theory and time relativity into strategic game planning. Simply put, the man is on another level. A level many don’t or can’t understand. Genius.
Anyone getting that deja vu feeling
From the Cam Newton saga? I felt then that Newton was ineligible, and I’m having a harder and harder time as more stuff comes out that Zod will end up differently. I hope so though.
I'm proud of my damn strong football team. Have a great day!
I think Zod's statement
Is a heck of a lot more definitive.
Writer (and a handsome one at that),
And the Valley Shook
by Billy Gomila on Mar 31, 2011 4:43 PM CDT up reply actions
certainly a better response
by Zod and his father than the Newton camp. And at least we don’t have a championship on the line to be taken away.
"I'm not saying we wouldn't get our hair mussed, but I do say no more than 10 to 20 million killed, tops...depending on the breaks." - Buck Turgidson
Strong statement from Zod
Not much wiggle room in there. That’s not some non-denial denial, that’s an outright denial.
A few things…
— If we paid Zod $80,000 to come to LSU, we deserve to go on probation. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. I think all analysis starts there. This a serious charge.
— Zod said, “I have never had any type of relationship with Willie Lyles”. The linked Aggie visit stories, if true, say that Lyles was a friend of his father’s. Visiting your dad’s friend for one day hardly consitutes a relationship. There’s no apparent contradiction there.
— Denying he went to A&M to visit better just be an honest mistake. It certainly could be, but that one bothers me.
— From the ESPN article, even if it is 100% true down to the last detail, that doesn’t prove that Peterson was paid to go to LSU. It proves that William Lyles try to extrort $80,000 from an A&M assistant. Which the A&M assistant did not report.
— I’m not in all-out panic over this yet, as we’re yet to get a witness tying anything to LSU, but it’s certainly a concern right now. Put us at Def-Con 2.
Fake Pundit. Real Fan.
And The Valley Shook!
I self-indulgently tweet @ATVSPoseur
The visit denial could have been referring to taking an official visit, which he indeed never did.
Team Speed Kills -- SBNation's SEC Blog
If you're so inclined, follow me @Year2
"It all depends on what your definition of visit is"
"I'm not saying we wouldn't get our hair mussed, but I do say no more than 10 to 20 million killed, tops...depending on the breaks." - Buck Turgidson
Regarding the linked articles
The linked Aggie visit stories, if true, say that Lyles was a friend of his father’s.
i have not seen one article that mentions Lyles. Only the Twitter post does, claiming (incorrectly) that the linked article confirms the friend was Lyles. See my above posts. Is there are article I’m missing that states otherwise?
I am trying not to engage in OSU/Auburn type cognitive dissonance here, but it really does seem like there isn’t anything here of substance. That said, IF there was a payment made then something does need to happen, even if it was just a rouge booster acting without the knowledge of anyone from the university — I’m with you there.
In the history of college football, no player, no coach, no guru, compares with [Les] Miles’s masterful incorporation of applied chaos theory and time relativity into strategic game planning. Simply put, the man is on another level. A level many don’t or can’t understand. Genius.
To add...
… if the ESPN story and the Aggie story are both 100% correct down to the last detail, there still isn’t anything linking LSU to wrongdoing. No one has accused LSU of paying Lyles any sum (other than the $6000 for the recruiting service in two states, as LSU admitted) nor has anyone accused Peterson of soliciting money.
Right now, there’s an oblique accusation but its not worth denying until someone makes an actual accusation. If LSU paid Peterson, or Lyles, they are immensely stupid and deserve whatever punishment comes our way.
Perroni did not report Lyles was the friend in 2007 in the referenced link, which doesn’t mean he was not the friend, but Perroni’s got either really good notes or a great memory. Obviously, that doesn’t mean Lyles isn’t the “friend” in the story.
Fake Pundit. Real Fan.
And The Valley Shook!
I self-indulgently tweet @ATVSPoseur
Correct.
Obviously, that doesn’t mean Lyles isn’t the "friend" in the story.
But there doesn’t appear to be anything that confirms he was.
In the history of college football, no player, no coach, no guru, compares with [Les] Miles’s masterful incorporation of applied chaos theory and time relativity into strategic game planning. Simply put, the man is on another level. A level many don’t or can’t understand. Genius.
I agree
I’d like more than a 2011 tweet about a story written in 2007.
Fake Pundit. Real Fan.
And The Valley Shook!
I self-indulgently tweet @ATVSPoseur
As would I
but it’s all we have to go on.
The problem is we have no reason to disbelieve either the Aggie reporter or the Peterson’s, other than blind loyalty.
Not to mention that if the aggie guy responds, it might be behind a paywall for all we know
Managing Editor/Chief Lackey-And The Valley Shook THE LSU Tigers Blog of the Week for 52,136 Weeks in a Row and Counting
To be clear
I don’t think Perroni is lying. I’m merely saying he didn’t report it was Lyles back in 2007 according to the link provided. There very possibly could be another story that does mention Lyles, or he just has it in his notes.
Perroni has nothing to gain by lying. In fact, he has much to lose, as reporters rely on their credibility.
Fake Pundit. Real Fan.
And The Valley Shook!
I self-indulgently tweet @ATVSPoseur
Very true.
I would point out that the omission of Lyles’ name in the 2007 story makes sense given how few people actually knew who Willie Lyles was back then. And I am very curious whether this is the first time Van Malone’s mentioned this. For his sake I hope not.
Good points, however
I’d like something more than “I can confirm Lyles was there.” A picture, a witness, some sort of proof. That’s nothing to do with questioning Perroni’s credibility, but if he’s going to impeach Peterson’s he should have something to back it up.
Writer (and a handsome one at that),
And the Valley Shook
by Billy Gomila on Apr 1, 2011 11:37 AM CDT up reply actions
Addendum
Even if it’s a better explanation of the confirmation. Something like “I very distinctly remember speaking to Willie Lyles then,” or something along those lines.
Writer (and a handsome one at that),
And the Valley Shook
by Billy Gomila on Apr 1, 2011 11:39 AM CDT up reply actions
Agreed. Something more than a tweet would be called for under these circumstances.
I’m going to stay tuned to see if “something more” ever develops.
But it bears pointing out that even if Peterson and his dad did visit Lyles that’s not in and of itself an indictment. Heck, I’ve met Ray Goff on multiple occasions. Doesn’t mean I’m a horrible football coach who’ll never beat Florida. Guilt by association is highly overrated.
Yeah
And it definitely doesn’t constitute a “relationship.”
Writer (and a handsome one at that),
And the Valley Shook
by Billy Gomila on Apr 1, 2011 12:00 PM CDT up reply actions
This blows
"I know the quarterback has a strong arm, but...I mean the ball's not gonna outrun ME" --PP7
Zod is being very adamant about this.
This is not a half assed denial. I’m going to chose to believe he is not lying and that he and LSU did nothing wrong until some bit of tangible evidence tells me otherwise. I think Patrick Peterson diverses my trust, and I am taking him at his word.
In the history of college football, no player, no coach, no guru, compares with [Les] Miles’s masterful incorporation of applied chaos theory and time relativity into strategic game planning. Simply put, the man is on another level. A level many don’t or can’t understand. Genius.
by Gregatron on Mar 31, 2011 5:41 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
Could this have something to do
with the rumored falling out between LSU and Lyles? What was the timeline on that?
"I'm not saying we wouldn't get our hair mussed, but I do say no more than 10 to 20 million killed, tops...depending on the breaks." - Buck Turgidson
Rumored fallout?
Writer (and a handsome one at that),
And the Valley Shook
by Billy Gomila on Mar 31, 2011 7:34 PM CDT up reply actions
yeah, well...
I’m not sure where I remember seeing that initially, and I only had a vague recollection of seeing it at all, and I thought yall might no more…The reason my recollection was vague is that it turns out that it is wholly unsubstantiated, BUT:
this is from this link:
It is widely speculated that Lyles delivered Patrick Peterson to LSU…But after that LSU and Lyles are rumored to have had a major falling out. I suspect LSU would burn Lyles if it could do so without burning itself.
This is from a comment on the SBNation Oregon site by the guy that runs the FSU site. I included the bad part at the beginning along with the other shit cause it seemed delusional not too. Doesn’t mean anything at all, but the post is from March 3, which makes it seem somewhere prescient in retrospect. Lots of different ways to interpret that, but you can do that on your own.
"I'm not saying we wouldn't get our hair mussed, but I do say no more than 10 to 20 million killed, tops...depending on the breaks." - Buck Turgidson
know not no
and somewhat not somewhere. Fuck all this shit, it’s even make me dumber write.
"I'm not saying we wouldn't get our hair mussed, but I do say no more than 10 to 20 million killed, tops...depending on the breaks." - Buck Turgidson
"I visited Texas A&M the other day," said the 6-foot-1, 193 pound prospect. "My dad and I were in Houston visiting one of his friends and he suggested that we go look at A&M.
That sounds like he hopped in the car and drove over, not a “coaches, show this recruit around” visit. Technically, it is a visit, but no more so than stopping at the gas station.
Seeing this come out now, out of the blue, so long afterward, I’m going to call BS. Until something shows PP actually having a relationship with Lyles, he doesn’t, which makes this a complete fabrication. And its not like LSU was 8-5 in 2007 with no promise of getting better like some other team – we had just won it all!
Oh, and I hate how ESPiN, etc, keep calling Lyles a ‘trainer’ – he’s no trainer. He sells game tape collections.
An Outsider's Perspective
I have to think that LSU would be better off if Peterson didn’t lie about visiting Texas A&M. The NCAA will be far more suspicious and inclined to investigate the claims more thoroughly if these sorts of contradictions arise so quickly after the story broke. I hope none of this is true. I’m really sick of NCAA investigations overshadowing football (mostly because my team has been at the center of most of it). I’m rooting for this getting cleared up quick so there’s no cloud over the game in October.
I'm an Auburn fan because I go to Auburn. You're a Bama fan because you went to Walmart.
Auburn Tigers 2010 National Champions
"I have to think that LSU would be better off if Peterson didn’t lie about visiting Texas A&M."
It’s far from established that he was lying. There never was an official visit. I have not seen a quote from Patrick, so I’m not sure if he said “no, I’ve never even been there” or “no, I never went on a football visit there.”
In the history of college football, no player, no coach, no guru, compares with [Les] Miles’s masterful incorporation of applied chaos theory and time relativity into strategic game planning. Simply put, the man is on another level. A level many don’t or can’t understand. Genius.
His dad didn't deny it
That would seem to contradict an ESPN report in which Kelly Naqi cites Peterson’s father, Patrick Peterson Sr. as describing his son’s visit to A&M as “a good trip.”
why would his dad lie about something so insignificant as a visit to a school?
I'm an Auburn fan because I go to Auburn. You're a Bama fan because you went to Walmart.
Auburn Tigers 2010 National Champions
You misunderstood what Greg said
He’s not saying that PP has never been to A&M, he’s saying that PP denied going on a recruiting visit there. He never made an official visit to A&M, which is also confirmed on rivals.
I don’t much care for that level of hair-splitting. That is the one part of PP’s comments that bother me. Maybe he honestly forgot he stopped by A&M (College Station is imminently forgettable). Maybe he meant “official visit”. Or maybe he got mad that there was an untrue story about him accepting money, so he lied about ever being to A&M as part of his strenuous denial. Or maybe he took money and this part of him trying to cover it up, in a very awkward way, that is easily disproved.
I’m leaning towards scenario #3 as the most likely of those four options, but I obviously don’t know. I think if he took the money, he’d be more careful in his statements, and wouldn’t say something so easy to disprove. Your mileage may vary.
Fake Pundit. Real Fan.
And The Valley Shook!
I self-indulgently tweet @ATVSPoseur
3 is entirely likely
If these accusations came totally out of left field, it wouldn’t be a stretch to think he might have panicked and gone too far with his denial in an attempt to cover his behind. Again, not trying to stir the pot, just providing my perspective. I’m all for focusing on Baseball now though since that winter sport that we both suck at is almost over. Pay for play is losing its luster.
I'm an Auburn fan because I go to Auburn. You're a Bama fan because you went to Walmart.
Auburn Tigers 2010 National Champions
by FlyAuburn13 on Mar 31, 2011 11:03 PM CDT up reply actions
I didn't think you were trolling
Your comments are more than fair, and an outsider’s perspective is appreciated.
I completely agree that denying a visit to A&M is the biggest red flag in PP’s comments. I’m leaning towards my explanation #3 as the most likely scenario, but all of the scenarios I listed are possible, and there are more I didn’t list.
Fake Pundit. Real Fan.
And The Valley Shook!
I self-indulgently tweet @ATVSPoseur
I'd feel better if he had taken a visit there
Because he said in the article I linked that he was planning on taking an official there and the timeline from there goes to Lyles asking for $80K, Malone refusing, and Patrick Peterson canceling his visit. Now none of that comes close to being more than circumstantial evidence but I have a bad feeling about this.
I’ll say this. We have no excuse for cheating. We are the only in-state powerhouse. We have great in state talent. We are an elite program. If anyone paid a dime for a prospect, it’s pathetic.
by Big McLargeHuge on Apr 1, 2011 10:23 AM CDT up reply actions
Seems like a lot of unverified rumors...
His word against my word type of thing to me.
I’m a real cynic about this stuff. So I will say that it wouldn’t shock me if we had paid (nor any other school). But I also know there’s almost no way they will be able to mount enough evidence to prove anything.
The NCAA probably knows a lot of this stuff… but it’s not what the NCAA knows… but what they can prove.
I think the big difference at this point between Peterson and Newton
Is that Newton was known as a scumbag long before any money accusations came out. He cheated on academics multiple times (as far as we can tell) and was (arguably) forced out of UF after being suspended.
Peterson on the other hand is generally known as an upstanding player who has done the right thing.
Seems to me that while it is possible that Peterson did something wrong, it is more likely that either Lyles acted without his knowledge and tried to get $$ out of A&M but Peterson didn’t know – or even more likely – nothing happened at all and Lyles is now trying to get his 15 minutes of fame by slamming LSU and Peterson so he can write a book in a year or two.
SI now says Malone threw a bit of gas on the fire.
“Malone said he never told then-Texas A&M coach Dennis Franchione about Lyles’ request, but told Lyles A&M doesn’t pay for football players. He said he later told Peterson that Lyles was trying to sell his services.
If this is true, things are a bit uglier. But either way, Malone should be stripped of all duties by the NCAA right now.
"They play violent football at risk of injury for their team and for their school. The gift that I'm given is to be allowed to be on the sideline with them and coach them." Les Miles
by ZimmZimmZalaBimm on Apr 1, 2011 11:05 AM CDT reply actions
"He said he later told Peterson that Lyles was trying to sell his services"
If true, then didn’t Malone acknowledge that he knew Lyles was not speaking for Peterson?
I'm all for plausible deniability but...
Some of you guys are REALLY reaching on this one. He denies ever having been to College Station, not taking an official visit. I understand hoping for the best but it’s looking pretty obvious that he lied in at least some capacity. It doesn’t sound like they just stopped by and wandered around campus by themselves either:
“Everything there was great. The facilities were the best I had seen of anywhere that I’ve been this summer. But I really liked their academic program the best. They really stressed that a lot and let me know that I was there to get my degree first. That’s important to me.”
It’s pretty tough, no matter how generous you want to be with his statements, to think that he “forgot” or only meant an official visit.
The site contradicts itself...
Expand ‘all’ here – no visit listed to A&M.
As an aside… /general reporting rant mode on!
Why are statements that reporters say someone made always taken for the truth? Seriously – how do you know the reporter didn’t just make the quote up? I mean, if we are going to start questioning people’s creditability, why not question the guy who’s job depends on getting interviews and quotes from people on their interests in certain universities to spike reader attention and sell subscriptions? Just look at the crap some of the big network news reporters spew and how slanted or made up their stuff tends to be; you don’t think Joe Blow here doesn’t make up his own works as well?
/rant over
Reaching huh?
Some of you guys are REALLY reaching on this one. He denies ever having been to College Station, not taking an official visit.
Okay then chief, can you back this up?
In the history of college football, no player, no coach, no guru, compares with [Les] Miles’s masterful incorporation of applied chaos theory and time relativity into strategic game planning. Simply put, the man is on another level. A level many don’t or can’t understand. Genius.
Still waiting....
In the history of college football, no player, no coach, no guru, compares with [Les] Miles’s masterful incorporation of applied chaos theory and time relativity into strategic game planning. Simply put, the man is on another level. A level many don’t or can’t understand. Genius.
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