In this 2002 file photo, OU's Eric Bassey tackles OSU's Billy Bajema. STEPHEN PINGRY/Tulsa World File
On Tuesday
morning, Baltimore Ravens tight end Billy Bajema read the initial story
in Sports Illustrated’s five-part look into the football program at his
alma mater, Oklahoma State University.
Then he sent a text to John Talley, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes director for the north central region of Oklahoma.
In
the SI story, four former players said Talley either “grossly overpaid”
football players for jobs or compensated them for jobs they didn’t do.”
Talley told SI he has paid players to work on his ranch, but denied he ever paid players to “not work.”
Contacted by the Tulsa World, Talley declined comment and said he was told to refer calls to the FCA’s National Support Center.
Bajema,
during a Tuesday telephone interview with the Tulsa World, indicated
that he’s no fan of an SI story which, among other things, alleged that
players got envelopes of money from boosters.
“I never once during my
time there saw for myself any kind of extra payment going on with an
envelope the way it is described in that article,” he said. “I never saw
a booster handing out envelopes on an airplane. I never saw them
walking up and down aisles. I never saw any of that. It’s all news to
me. If that stuff is true, it’s the best-kept secret ever.”
One of the things which bothered Bajema most was the portrayal of Talley. And that’s why Bajema sent Talley a text message.
“I
let him know that I appreciated all the influence that he had on me as a
Christian and as a man during my time at Oklahoma State and that there
are a lot of people like me who he made a big impact on their lives,”
Bajema said.
“We owe him a debt of gratitude and I just wanted to
encourage him that I have his back and there are a lot of other guys who
are willing to defend his reputation and stand by him through this. To
see an article come out about him that mostly seems like hearsay from
disgruntled former players is sad and you just want to defend the guy’s
reputation.”
Bajema, who played at OSU from 2001-04, said he never worked on Talley’s ranch, but knew many guys who did.
“I think John’s goal was to give people an opportunity to learn to work hard to earn money and to have a job,” Bajema said.
“I
think that rather than let people have easy jobs or no-show jobs like
it is portrayed in the article, I think he provided guys with the
opportunity to learn work ethic and that’s what his goal was in allowing
guys to go out there and try to earn some money.”
Bajema said Talley “absolutely” does not fit the stereotype of greasy booster.
“He
is the FCA leader in that area and part of his job is to have an
influence in the athletes at Oklahoma State and try to have a positive
impact in their lives and he did that in any way he could,” Bajema said.
“I
never saw him operate in any way that I thought lacked integrity
whatsoever. I always appreciated the influence he had on me and had on
my teammates and his conduct was upright.”
Bajema said a few guys may
have gotten interviewed for the SI article. “But for every one of
those, there are 100 that would say they appreciated the impact that
John Talley had on their lives.”
From a bigger-than-Talley
standpoint, Bajema said if everything was going in the OSU program the
way it was described in SI’s article, there’s no way all of the players
wouldn’t have known about it.
“I never witnessed any of it and all
the guys I talked to never witnessed any of that either,” he said. “It’s
kind of a crazy deal. I’m sure they will get to the bottom of it and
they will all sort it out. It’s frustrating to see these things come out
when the culture described bears no resemblance to the culture of the
football program that I played in.”
OSU
Browns third-string quarterback Brian Hoyer will start Sunday against Minnesota in place of Brandon Weeden, who sprained his right thumb last week.
The Big 12 Baseball Championship will be May 21-25 at Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City.
