Wednesday, May 25, 2005 Tommy Gallion has gotten help from some unexpected places in his legal crusade on behalf of Ronnie Cottrell and Ivy Williams against the NCAA and Phillip Fulmer.
One of those places is the state of Tennessee. Some older Tennessee fans have been willing to share information about possible NCAA violations at UT under Fulmer with the lawyers of Team Cottrell. "They were primarily John Majors supporters," Gallion said Tuesday. It makes perfect sense that people loyal to Majors would not be loyal to Fulmer. In their eyes, Fulmer didn't succeed Majors as the Tennessee head football coach in 1992 as much as he stabbed him in the back and pushed him out the door. In essence, Majors went into the hospital with heart trouble and came out without a job. Fulmer went from interim head coach to head coach to the top of Majors' enemies list. "There was apparently a lot of bitterness there," Gallion said. "I figured that was a good way to find out what was going on up there." Talk to people who've talked to him, and it's clear that Majors is still bitter 13 years later. "He's very bitter," said someone who talked to Majors last week at Jimmy Rane's annual charity banquet in Opelika. "He's a guy that doesn't like Fulmer. He's got a mad-on for him, big-time." And how would Majors feel if Gallion were to present some damaging information about Fulmer at the Cottrell trial, which is set to begin in July? "He wouldn't mind at all," said the person who spoke to Majors. "It would please him a lot." In that case, Majors should be glad to hear this: Gallion said he met several months ago with two NCAA enforcement representatives in his law firm's Birmingham office. He said he gave them "mountains of documents" about alleged rules violations at Tennessee. Has the NCAA followed up? In at least one case, Gallion said, yes. He said he knows the NCAA has interviewed one of his sources. It was a former employee at the high school of a Tennessee football player who provided information that called into doubt the player's initial eligibility. "They did talk to her," Gallion said, "which was somewhat encouraging." As were the depositions of former SEC Commissioner Roy Kramer and former SEC investigator Bill Sievers. Gallion said those depositions revealed that Fulmer started e-mailing Kramer as early as May or June of 1998. The subject: Alabama and recruiting in Memphis. Which again raises an old but critical question: Why did the SEC and the NCAA wait so long to share those concerns with Alabama? Fulmer is not a defendant in the Cottrell civil case, but Gallion has every intention of putting him on trial in the Tuscaloosa court room the way he has on the radio and in the newspaper. "I promise you this," Gallion said. "Win, lose or draw in this case, I will not let Fulmer alone until the public knows what he did and what he continues to do. "There's no room in college football for this type of person." Kevin Scarbinsky's column appears Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Write him at [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ RTF mailing list RTF@rolltidefan.net http://rolltidefan.net/mailman/listinfo/rtf_rolltidefan.net
