Current Houston Texans running back has been a font of information about NCAA violations during his time with the University of Tennessee. Foster first mentioned he accepted money from boosters in a 2013 documentary called Schooled: The Price of College Sports. Thursday, in a radio interview with Dan LeBatard, Foster put a dollar amount with it, saying he took about $40,000 to $50,000.
“You have people help you out here and there,” Foster told LeBetard. “Boosters and alumni and ex-players, they all know how it is, man. It’s hard living check to check when you don’t have enough money to go out to the movies or any kind of leisure activity. And you’re not allowed to get a job. Especially when I was in college, they were a lot more stringent on those rules, so at any given chance I got the opportunity, I took a free handout. Absolutely.”
When LeBetard asked for a specific dollar amount, Foster told him that it was “40, 50 grand throughout my entire career.”
The fallout was quick and Foster took to twitter to at first recant his statement, then kind of defend it. But as Tennessee fans began attacking Foster, his tune changed.
Problem w college fans is they think it's "illegal" to recieve money for labor. It's not. And it happens everyday. Get over it.
— feeno (@ArianFoster) January 30, 2015
“@CaptainHulk3: That's not a joke or funny! I'm sure Coach Fulmer appreciates it!”
Fulmer sittin in a million $ home cuz people like me.
— feeno (@ArianFoster) January 30, 2015
As Friday wore on, the tweets became more serious, with Foster even suggesting other former Vols took money.
“@JasonByrdUTvols: @ArianFoster Charlie Garner a true VFL! Boom sucka! http://t.co/Hi4GdZAwir”
Ask him if he ever got money. Bet he lies.
— feeno (@ArianFoster) January 30, 2015
Foster played at Tennessee from 2004-08. When Foster first revealed he’d received money in his time at the university, his then-coach Philip Fulmer made it clear he wasn’t aware of it.
“As the head coach at Tennessee for 17 years, I took great pride in having a program that was NCAA compliant, as did our staff and administration,” Fulmer had said in a statement. “If we knew of a violation, big or small, we reported it.”
Foster explained how getting money from outsiders every month worked back in 2013.
“Side people always offer you money all the time, just random people usually. `Can I take care of you?'” Foster said. “It happens all the time. When you’re at college and your family doesn’t make a lot of money, it’s hard to make ends meet. Toward the end of the month, you run out every month. It’s a problem all across America. It’s just when you play top-tier Division I football, there’s people that are willing to help you out. I got helped out.”
Former Vols linebacker Ryan Karl disputed Foster’s claims.
“So Arian Foster I gotta call you out here,” Karl wrote on his Facebook page. “You’re my boy, but you did not get $40-50k from boosters while at UT. Shoot, you were as broke as me in college driving a crap car living in a crap apartment – like us all. Also, these claims of being wined and dined by agents is a big stretch too.”
The NCAA apparently as a four-year statute of limitations when it comes to violations like Foster claims to have taken place. It’s not likely any problem will be created from this, other than some embarrassment for Fulmer, and some annoyed comments from current Tennessee head coach Butch Jones.
