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'A sick feeling'
Published June 13, 2009
Kyle Bennett said it gave him “a sick feeling” when he heard Alabama would be forced to vacate 21 football victories as part of its NCAA penalties related to the textbook disbursement case.
Ten of those wins are from the 2005 season, when the Crimson Tide finished 10-2 and beat Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl.
Bennett completed his career in 2005, playing a key role on a squad that was ranked No. 8 in the final polls.
“My initial reaction was if they try to come and get my Cotton Bowl ring, there’s no way they’re going to get that ring. They’ll have to cut it off a dead finger,” Bennett said.
“I do think we need to appeal and try to get back those wins. It meant a lot to us to wear that ring and see 10-2, Cotton Bowl champs on it.
“There was a lot of blood, sweat and tears put into that ring.”
After the penalties were announced Thursday, Bennett received a call from his friend and former teammate, Brodie Croyle, a quarterback with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Croyle saw the news on ESPN’s SportsCenter.
“Brodie called and said, ‘Dude, does this mean we were like 4-28 in our career at Alabama? It looks like that doesn’t it,’” Bennett said.
“We kind of laughed, but we’re not happy about it at all. In the book of life it looks like we got erased.
“We know how bad we beat Florida, we beat Tennessee 6-3 and we beat Texas Tech on that last-second field goal.
“We know we beat them on the field, but 20 years from now when people look back is when it’s really going to hurt.”
Only five of the 201 student-athletes involved in the case — football players Antoine Caldwell, Glen Coffee, Marlon Davis, Chris Rogers and Marquis Johnson — were identified.
Alabama coach Nick Saban suspended those five during the 2007 season when news of the story first broke.
Caldwell, Coffee, Davis and Rogers were teammates of Bennett’s in 2005.
“Antoine and Glen were a pretty big part of what we did, but I think we would’ve still won 10 games without them,” Bennett said.
“We still went on the field and won those games. There was no cheating going on. It didn’t give us a competitive advantage.”
Another of Bennett’s former teammates, Freddie Roach, is an assistant strength coach for the Tide football program.
“I did talk to Freddie, and he said nobody’s bringing it up down there,” Bennett said.
“They’re just worried about Virginia Tech right now, and they’re not going to let it affect them going forward.”
Gullahorn responds
John Gullahorn, president of the Marshall County Alabama Alumni Association, was pleased with how the university handled the case.
“I am proud that the university and its leaders made the decision to self report, do an internal investigation and admit there were problems in the textbook programs for all sports,” Gullahorn said.
“I am disappointed in the NCAA ruling causing the forfeit of games or records in that no athletic or competitive edge was gained because of the students’ conduct.
“Football can continue to move forward knowing there was no loss of scholarships, but the extended probation should mean that the university had better run a much tighter ship in the future.”
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