HoneyBadger/TravellDixon/AU and NCAA

Today was a busy day.

The first news was that LSU was calling a press conference at noon. The immediate reaction was that it was no big deal, just that Les was probably gonna talk about the team, etc. But then it leaked out that there was supposed to be a huge announcement

And it was pretty big

Tyrann Mathieu, better known as The Honey Badger, was the Bednarik Award winner last year as the best defensive player in college football. Despite the fact that he wasn't even the best at his position on his own team. That honor went to Morris Claiborne, who won the Thorpe Award for best cornerback. Mathieu's claim to fame was a hell of a knack to be in the right place at the right time. Every game, it seemed like he was forcing fumbles, returning kicks for touchdowns, making huge highlight plays. So he quickly became the toast of college football and the latest overrated target of ESPN's affections

Off the field, he has been nothing but trouble. He's gotten in trouble for smoking weed, been suspended, etc and today it was announced that he was no longer a part of the team. He's gone. Some people are quick to say that Les deserves respect for taking a stand by dismissing his most popular player, but it also leaked out from a few sources that Mathieu was actually kicked out of school, that it was out out Miles' hands. Either way, I guess in the end the Honey Badger truly didn't give a shit, as the famous saying went. Not about playing in every game last year, not about doing the right things the right way, not about his teammates, and ultimately not about playing at LSU anymore. The best part for non-LSU fans is that we won't have to listen to Gary and Verne slobber all season about him. Thank God for that

Word is, he is going to be transferring to McNeese St. Doubt we ever hear much from him again

Then a little after noon, Cecil Hurt, I think, tweeted that Travell Dixon was no longer a part of the Alabama football team, that he was leaving for personal reasons

Dixon was the No.1 rated JUCO corner coming in this year and was going to compete for a starting position right away. While it's true that by all accounts he had been passed on the depth chart by fellow JUCO transfer Deion Belue, Dixon leaving is still a big loss at a position where we lost 3 of our main contributers from a year ago. Look for John Fulton, Jabriel Washington, and possibly true freshman Geno Smith to compete for the void left by Dixon. There is plenty of talent, but a proven JUCO guy is a tough loss.






It was reported early this morning that incoming freshman RB Jovon Robinson at Auburn had an eligibility issue. That there was something that had come up about his grades possibly being changed so that he could qualify to play at Auburn. That later proved to be true when his high school guidance counselor resigned upon admitting that his transcript had been completely faked

Robinson was a 4 star recruit that several AU friends of mine were excited about so they really hope this gets sorted out. At this moment, he is not practicing with the team and it remains to be seen if he ever will. In my personal opinion, he will be found to be ineligible and he will have to go JUCO or prep school

Another question is whether AU knew anything about it, or had anything to do with the cheating to get him in. Whether they did or not, like most Bama fans I am certain that the NCAA will find that they won't be able to prove anything and thus Auburn will be cleared and declared clean. Then their fans will crow about how they are spotless and on BAMMER cheats, etc and the truth will never come out or really matter. Just like we have seen now countless times