May 13, 2016
It looks like it will be a long time before the Laremy Tunsil NFL Draft night saga will be over for the University of Mississippi. ESPN http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/15518292/ole-miss-rebels-officials-confirm-laremy-tunsil-text-messages-checking-alterations">writers Mark Schlabach and Nicole Noren reported that the texts that showed up on Tunsil’s Instagram account did in fact happen last year.
The university is now trying to determine if someone altered the texts in any way before publishing them.
The texts in question are said to have occurred between February and April of last year and appear to show Tunsil asking UM Assistant Athletic Director John Miller for $305 for a utility bill and money for his mother’s rent.
Miller allegedly replied to Tunsil, “See Barney next week,” in what could be a reference to Barry Farrar, the Rebels’ assistant athletic director for high-school and junior-college relations.
The texts were just part of a horrible draft night for Tunsil. Minutes before the draft began, someone released a video on his Twitter account showing him smoking a bong attached to a gas mask.
That video caused Tunsil, thought to be a top-five pick, to tumble down the draft until the Miami Dolphins took him with the 13th overall selection. After being drafted, Tunsil admitted in a news conference that he did in fact ask for money, and the texts were real.
The NFL cut the draft-night news conference short after Tunsil admitted to the allegations. He has since declined to answer questions about the texts in two press conferences as a Dolphin.
In related news, http://www.si.com/college-football/2016/05/12/ole-miss-hugh-freeze-deposition-restrictions-laremy-tunsil-lawsuit">attorneys for UM head coach Hugh Freeze have asked a judge not to have Freeze deposed for a civil suit that Tunsil’s stepfather filed against the young athlete. Lindsey Miller, the stepfather, is suing Tunsil for assault, defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The lawsuit came just two days before the first round of the draft. Court records indicate that Tunsil’s mother Desiree Polingo filed for divorce six days after Miller filed his lawsuit.
On the night in question, Tunsil claims he was protecting his mother after his stepfather yelled obscenities and pushed her onto a table and chair. Miller says the attack was unprovoked as he was trying to protect Tunsil from meeting with agents. Neither men are currently facing criminal charges.
Miller’s attorneys want to depose Freeze about a statement that he released after the incident and for the names of two men who were with Tunsil that night—a man named Zo from South Carolina and another unnamed agent.
ESPN’s Outside the Lines was able to get documents from the Regulation and Enforcement Division of the Office of the Secretary of State of Mississippi that show an agent was penalized for direct contact with a student-athlete and family member from a Mississippi school in late June of 2015.
The agent met with the student-athlete and his family without giving written notice to the University of Mississippi as state law requires. Outside the Lines says it has confirmed that the student-athlete was Tunsil, and the agent was Isaac Conner of A3 Athletics in Knoxville, Tenn.
Conner is an executive vice president and general counsel for A3 Athletics. Records show that he received a $250 fine for his failure to not notify UM of his intent to meet with Tunsil.
If a judge says Freeze has to be deposed, Freeze’s attorneys want to have the deposition sealed from the public, be in written questions and deal only with the supposed physical confrontation between Tunsil and his stepfather.
Freeze’s attorneys also want to limit those in attendance at the deposition to just the parties to whom the case pertains. Freeze is looking to block the NCAA from piggy-backing on this lawsuit to find out if any violations occurred under his watch.
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