Auburn Football Team Accused Of Bribing Players And Changing Grades In Bombshell Article

Kevin C. Cox/Getty ImagesA new article on Roopstigo by former New York Times reporter Selena Roberts details how the Auburn University football team allegedly got away with a slew of violations under ex-coach Gene Chizik.

Former players told Roberts about coaches bribing players to stay in school, officials changing players' grades to make them eligible, and players getting straight-up cash payments.

Here are the main allegations:

• According to three players, the team was told before the 2011 National Championship game against Oregon that as many as nine players would be academically ineligible. But the school "found a way to make those dudes eligible," one player told Roberts.
• Player Mike McNeil says he got an "F" in computer science, but it was changed to a "C" after he told to his advisor in the athletic department
• Coaches tried to bribe receiver Darvin Adams to stay in school with "thousands" of dollars, according to two players
• McNeil says he was once given $400 cash by defensive coordinator Will Muschamp after a bad practice in 2007. Muschamp denied the allegation
• McNeil says he was given $500 cash to entertain prospect Dre Kirkpatrick when he came on a recruiting visit. That's 10x the allowed $50.

This isn't the first time that Chizik (who was fired in 2012) and Auburn have come under fire. As SB Nations points out in its exhaustive timeline, there have been past accusations of improper payments and recruiting tactics.

But this article is the most damning article to date.

Read the whole thing here >