Beyond the abortions, strippers, cash, cars and etc that the University of Miami has been accused of, the one that troubles me are the alleged bounties.
All the other stuff I do not begrudge the players because I would have taken that money and strippers as well. I am not a hypocrite, so I am not going to judge them on that.
The one thing I could never see myself doing is intentionally trying to hurt someone. No amount of money would be worth that, I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror. Former Florida State quarterback Chris Rix was one of the players that allegedly had a bounty on his head. Larry Brown Sports has his thoughts on the matter.
“My first reaction was ‘wow,’ the former Seminoles quarterback told LBS. “It’s just sad to see.”
“I do remember a few late hits — some of them were called, some of them weren’t,” Rix says. “I remember one specifically in the 2003 BCS Orange Bowl game, after I had thrown a pass [Jonathan Vilma] came in and led with his hand. He got it inside my face mask and gave me a black eye. I don’t remember that being called as a late hit.
Rix, still somewhat surprised by the news of the bounties, is proud that the Hurricanes players never accomplished their monetary goal. At least that’s the message he’d tell former Canes linebacker Jonathan Vilma, who reportedly made $2,000 from hard hits on the quarterback.
“If I saw him, I really don’t know what I’d say. I’d say ‘I know you got offered $5,000 to take me out of the game. While you got a lot of good hits on me, you notice you never took me out of the game — I always finished. So I’m sorry you never got the full $5,000 check for taking me out of the game.’”
A lot of people are wondering if The U will get the death penalty. While the allegations are extremely serious, I don’t expect Miami to get the SMU treatment.
But the hammer will come down and it will come down hard.
The sad thing is, it won’t change anything. Players are still going to be paid and strippers will still be used to woo recruits.
The question begs is what school is next to be on the next contestant on that Summer Jam Screen.