By JIMMIE TRAMEL Sports Writer on Sep 13, 2013, at 3:21 PM Updated on 9/13 at 7:20 PM
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Aso Pogi has a simple request for Sports Illustrated: “I want the tape.”
And, if Pogi can’t get the tape, then he has another request: Play the tape. Let everyone hear it.
The backstory is this: SI quoted Pogi, a former Oklahoma State quarterback, in the first part of a five-part investigative series on the OSU football program.
Pogi, during a lengthy question-and-answer session two days ago, provided a play-by-play of his encounter (it occurred the Wednesday before publication) with SI reporter Thayer Evans.
Pogi said Evans had not arranged or scheduled an interview, but showed up unannounced at the Lawton church where Pogi is a youth pastor. Though busy, Pogi made time to chat with Evans and they sat down in Pogi’s office. Pogi said he was never told he was being recorded and said Evans never took a note. Pogi said he was shocked to hear some of the things Evans was alleging and reacted in disbelief.
The real shock came when Pogi read the first chapter of SI’s series and saw that he words were used to back up statements that were made to him by Evans. Pogi contends that a direct quote (“It’s a big deal. I was the starting quarterback.”) was used out of context to support SI’s claims. Pogi claims what he said was more along the lines of “that would have been a big deal if those things were going on because I was the starting quarterback.”
On Friday, and after simmering for a few days, Pogi decided he needs to hear the tape.
After Pogi told the Tulsa World on Tuesday that he was unaware he was being recorded by the interviewer, an SI spokesperson called the Tulsa World to say he had heard the conversation and it had been recorded on the reporter’s cell phone. Pogi said he was unaware that cell phones could be used as recorders.
“I really never saw a cell phone and that’s just the thing about it,” Pogi said Friday. “If he put in on my desk... I can recall seeing my bibles on my desk right in front me. He just sat down in a chair and started talking. I did not see anything put on my desk and maybe I was just in shock and not hearing everything correctly, but I stand by what I said. Air the tape. Let’s get on with it.”
Why is this so important to Pogi? As mentioned earlier, he’s a youth minister. He wants to be an example for young people. He feels manipulated and believes his credibility has been damaged. He said he’s catching grief from people who haven’t heard his version of the story and he is seeing faces of young people who seem to be looking at him in a different way.
“To insinuate that hurt my kids,” he said. “It really does. Hey, if it’s so incredibly drama-filled, air the tape because I want my kids to hear the tape. I want them to hear the truth. I want the kids to know that they are standing beside someone who is going to lead them in a positive direction. Not this crap. Not this garbage.”
Pogi isn’t denying he was reimbursed for gas money in order to speak at FCA engagements while in college and he isn’t denying that he stayed at FCA director John Talley’s ranch rent-free for a period of time. One of the reasons he stayed there is because he is friends with Talley’s son, Saul, a former OSU deep snapper.
“I know exactly what was said,” Pogi said. “I have nothing to hide.”
So, Pogi says, let everyone hear the tape and hear the conversation exactly as it occurred.
“Let’s get to the bottom of it,” he said. “I think the only way you can is -- if you supposedly recorded the whole interview, which you claim, which you never told me you were doing and you took no notes, well, let’s bring it out. That’s the thing with me. I’m not ashamed of it. Bring the whole thing out. Let people hear it. It’s fine with me. That’s why I think if SI has lawyers and everybody who has heard the tape, hey, then air the tape. There you go. I’m not running away from responsibility. I know exactly what I said. I know the mode I was in, how I was in complete shock. But it’s his allegations that he is naming off -- not me.”
Writers make difficult choices all the time about what to include and exclude in stories, but Pogi said SI should have been fair enough to write that he repeatedly denied seeing any of the things alleged by the interviewer.
“Now they’re running around and doing part four and part five of all of this stuff,” Pogi said. “It’s so dramatic. It reminds me of high school drama or middle school drama. ‘I’ve got a secret you are not going to believe.’ C’mon, man. But let’s hear the tape and let people understand what’s going on.”
Late Friday update: SI won't be giving Pogi a copy of the tape, or giving it to the media. A spokesman said interview tapes won't be released and referred to a previous statement that all interview tapes were vetted by SI's team.
