CT was waiting for someone to take the bait on this one, so here goes:
Wow, I hope this is something that a simple shot of penicillin can clear up
Tampering
- Thread starter crockster
- Start date
Wow, I hope this is something that a simple shot of penicillin can clear up
If he was contacted by TNT, does that mean he's leaving Iowa for Monday Night Raw?
To clear the air, and to validate Willie's integrity which has always been above board, Willie did not mention our imply on his show that "TnT" were talking to Real at nationals. Have a listen to his show, and decide for yourself (it's the TFW: Portal SZN... show)
I think it is also safe to assume the first person to understand Real's future plans was Real, thus it is most likely Real initiated contact.
Granted there were rumors and widespread knowledge Real was graduating this year, let's just go with Real started any conversation at nationals.
What Willie did mention, is that 'people' were orchestrating a deal at nationals, and the implication centered on NIL. Thus if NIL focused, this topic on the surface implies some insulation between 'the Iowa program' and 3rd party people who can offer NIL money.
It's noteworthy, Real entered the portal with a 'do not contact' flag, which also indicates that he probably already knew where he was going, i.e. a deal is either final or close. Willie highlighted this fact as well.
Now here is where inferences can be made, right or wrong.
Whomever, these "people" are, 3rd party or not, at the end of the day noone can speak for or obligate the Iowa Hawkeyes program to a kid other than TnT. So if Real talks to an Iowa booster, a team member, or the trainer... none of those conversations can go very far without 'the big guy' (gratuitous Biden reference) getting involved.
I don't think a booster can have a potential 6 figure NIL conversation with a kid that TnT haven't cleared or indicated interest.
Sure, exact amounts were probably discussed later, but if Real reached out at nationals even showing the slightest interest, one would think word would get to TnT within say .... 5 minutes. If then elements of the deal we're discussed at nationals, it seems implausable (to me) that TnT were not engaged in the discussion to some extent, of for no other reason than to validate interest. There is also the question, how would Real know who to talk to when there? Did people in the audience wear name tags designating themselves as the "Iowa Hawkeye NIL Guy"? Prior or initial contact with the program seems plausible just to bring the right parties together.
So again, Willie is totally in the clear in terms of what he did and didn't say in his show.
Did he say an NIL deal was discussed at nationals? Yes.
Did he reference or imply TnT talked to Real at nationals? No.
Does Real not speaking to TnT at Nationals while a NIL deal was being 'orchestrated' pass the Goggles sniff test? No.
What does all of this mean in the grand scheme of things? Not much, and hardly worth the time I took to write it, but it was important to cover Willie's back
Ask to meet under a bridge with a lot of ambient noise to foil nearby boom mics
Why do you think this?
Mineo is calling out Fellers as the alleged bagman.
If its just a "potential deal" (nothing signed, just a handshake) what's the risk?
Any booster close to a program would understand its needs and potential targets who would fit its culture, as well as their schools entry requirements.
Anybody seriously following wrestling could know which wrestlers are more likely to be willing to accept a NIL (e.g. soon to be graduates).
Big money successful boosters seem more likely to have the confidence to make a move.
I think what cracked me up most was Hawk fans asking why Willie didn’t talk with Brands first before running with his story. Wtf could Willie possibly learn from Brands in regards to OTHER COACHES admitting to him that they filed complaints?
You practice much spy trade craft?
Not afraid of be mistaken at the bridge as one of the contestants of a prescheduled brawl?
Willie , Cenzo and Basch are all on Baschmania podcast right now.
Cenzo said another wrestler on Stanford has been contacted by another school's booster. I would assume its Shane Griffith. Rumor was Rutgers. Cenzo also indicated PS never ever contacted Real Woods. Wrestlers were contacted at NCAAs by other teams
Since Rutgers has the Suriano model, you know have the conversation first, agree to the scholarship deal second and then ask permission to talk to athlete.
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The NCAA is pretty weak when it comes to enforcing something they should like poaching. However, they will flex their arms when a school is running an RTC that creates a training environment to help student athletes excel and be able to compete at World and Olympic levels. Yeah, let's do away with that in the name of protecting student athletes! The NCAA are bunch of dum dums.
what i found really interesting is that cenzo said that while psu did not pursue woods, woods thought he had an offer from penn state. maybe a psu booster saw all the smoke about real to psu and tried to tip the scale? maybe there really are rogue boosters? idk.
the other thing that was interesting is cenzo indicating that real got a nice nil deal, but real saying on the bader show that he didn't, but is looking forward to pursuing one since the fan base is so big.
Maybe Woods learned about his PSU offer by reading Ben Askren's Twitter feed
SMU got punished for repeatedly using the Alabama / Notre Dame / UofTexas model and having greater success.
I swear I could see your grin while you typed this.
I don’t know. Was curious if anyone else was praying that Cenzo wouldn’t let something slip that could cause Hawk fans to make a fuss about. Cenzo is a coach now, has to be careful what he says. You know they are out there just waiting for him to say something a coach really shouldn’t say about other programs and athletes. I started sweating when he commented on Gaitan and questioning why the kid all of the sudden changed his commitment to ISU and then a bag being mentioned. I can guarantee Hawkeye fans are just waiting to pounce if he messes up. Some of those bastards would call for his job and be proud of themselves while doing it.
I have to admit, I was wondering how far he would go too. And hoping not too far.
The thing is, only PSU wrestling fans and HR knuckleheads pay any attention to HR brain explosions. BWI folks for the entertainment value, and the HR folks because they actually believe they are deep thinkers. Vodka's number is on universal speed block in the ncaa compliance offices and nobody else over there can find the number. Cenzo is good.
If he did go too far, Basch would have edited it out.
If any of you had the ability to make "this happen".....I would not condone it being posted on tHR.....but I would certainly respect it...
This is hilarious.!
Thinking about it though, I don’t know how Real can endorse anything now even if it is on the up and up. As passionate as some wacko wrestling fans are, I can see them using the ol’ cancel culture approach against any business he comes out and promotes. Lol. Yeah…. Fans will be putting the company logo all over Twitter letting everyone know they endorse cheating and all kinds of other shitty accusations against them. Lmao.
I am colorblind but I am guessing this isn't Maryland......because if it is.....they suck at it
Yes, he said both of those things. Absolutely hilarious!
He’s a rascal. Reminds me of his trolling of Ohio State and Ryan
During the SMU pay to play in football a couple boosters were head strong enough to make offers on their own lol. That 30 for 30 is awesome.
Wrestling is just finally getting a taste of what the two main sports have been dealing with for decades and now has gone full free agency.
Wrestling is just finally getting a taste of what the two main sports have been dealing with for decades and now has gone full free agency.
I had no idea there was a debate about how the Real deal was done. Real lived with IZZY and he is like another dad. Izzy hangs out with Fellers and is a regular in Iowa City. Real wanted to get paid. He is going to get paid. Fellers put up the money and landed Real Woods. I think the spirit of the deal was probably worked out between Fellers and Izzy months ago and finalized during the NCAA tournament.
Yes he did and it was glorious
That would certainly explain Fellers’ extreme sensitivity on this topic over twitter the last couple of days...
