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http://www.newsok.com/banned-ou-football-player-mike-balogun-breaks-silence/article/3445203
Banned OU football player Mike Balogun breaks silence
Ex-Sooner says he didn't play in semi-pro game that made him ineligible
BY JAKE TROTTER, Staff Writer, jtrotter@opubco.com The Oklahoman 13 Comments
Published: March 10, 2010
NORMAN — For months, Mike Balogun has remained quiet.
MultimediaVideoview all videosOU Pro Day
Mar 9OU's NFL Draft hopefuls for 2010 undergo a series of tests of their...
Photoview all photos Tuesday, he finally shared his side of the story.
Balogun, who was stripped of his final year of eligibility by the NCAA when it ruled he had played for a semi-pro team after his 21st birthday, gave his first interview since the incident after testing in front of NFL scouts during Oklahoma’s annual pro day.
"Something needs to change,” he said. "I know the NCAA is its own governing body. Nobody can touch their rules. But I think it needs to be changed. I wouldn’t say they ruined my career, but they put a dent in it.
"I don’t think anybody should have that much control over somebody’s football career, or life in general.”
Balogun entered the 2009 season as one of OU’s top linebackers. But two weeks before the season opener, the NCAA decertified him and launched an investigation to determine if he had played semi-pro football after turning 21.
The NCAA, whose rules mandate that for every season an athlete plays semi-pro football past the age of 21 he loses a season of eligibility, eventually ruled that Balogun had.
Balogun’s attorney filed a permanent injunction featuring several sworn affidavits in an attempt to get Balogun back on the field, which was unsuccessful. Because Balogun was a senior last year, the NCAA ruling ended his college career.
Tuesday, however, Balogun maintained he "definitely did not” play semi-pro football after his 21st birthday and said the NCAA failed to present credible evidence when it decertified him
"It was a weird, unfortunate situation where all the information they had, the NCAA, it was nothing for sure, just what they wanted to believe,” Balogun said. "The NCAA investigated me five times. I was used to it, it was the fifth investigation I had. I thought it was going to blow over. But the fifth time they decertified me. I guess they thought the information they had came from reliable sources. To make a long story short, my story stayed the same. The evidence they had that was supposedly different (the fifth time) was all the same stuff.
"The NCAA, in my opinion, did a lot of backdooring, talking to a lot of people, making those people think they had my best interest. People started talking me up, not knowing what was going on. (The NCAA) took some of that, switched it up. Well, I had affidavits from the majority of people they talked to that said otherwise.
"Something needs to change. The NCAA makes its own rules and they manipulate it however they want.”
The NCAA investigation was prompted by the 2008 BCS National Championship, during which the announcers commented on Balogun being a former semi-pro football player before attending Lackawanna (Pa.) Junior College and ultimately OU.
Documentation in Balogun’s injunction filling claims that an official from Florida State’s compliance office contacted the Big 12 Conference and OU and suggested they investigate Balogun’s eligibility.
Florida State officials were familiar with the rule since they had a player, wide receiver Corey Surrency, whose career was cut short after it was found earlier in 2008 he had played a season of semi-pro football past the age of 21.
"The night we get back from the national championship, I get a call from (OU’s) compliance office saying they’re investigating me again because Florida State called and asked how did this guy have eligibility because an announcer during the game said something about me playing semi-pro ball,” Balogun recalled. "I didn’t understand what (Florida State) was trying to accomplish.”
The Seminole official asserted a box score found on the Internet showed that Balogun had played semi-pro ball after his 21st birthday. Balogun turned 21 on Sept. 28, 2004. The box score was from a game dated Nov. 12, 2005, when the North American Football League’s Maryland Marauders played in the league’s title game. In the box score, Balogun was listed as recording seven tackles and recovering a fumble in a 13-10 loss to the West Sound (Wash.) Saints. He would have been 22 during that game.
"A box score from (five) years ago still posted by somebody not even associated with the organization they said I played for,” Balogun said. "My name is still posted on their rosters to this day. But am I still on their team?
"At that point, I was done with (semi-pro ball), finished with it. I was working construction then. I didn’t even play in that game. They had me playing a great game. I was like the Player of the Century. Come on, don’t give me all that when I didn’t earn it.”
Balogun said he and his attorney are planning to sue for monetary damages after the NFL Draft, and he’s hoping his lawsuit will set a precedent.
"Any part where I can be part of changing the rules, how they can manipulate someone’s life or career, I’ll be part of it anyway I can,” Balogun said. "It affects people’s lives. I could’ve got discouraged in school. I didn’t. But not everybody is the same.”
Until then, Balogun, who also expects to graduate in May, is hoping to make it with an NFL team, even though he sat out last season.
"All I want is a shot at a roster spot, and I’ll prove myself,” he said. "I just want a shot. That’s all I need.”
Read more: http://www.newsok.com/banned-ou-foo...-breaks-silence/article/3445203#ixzz0hsMWAWQ9
Banned OU football player Mike Balogun breaks silence
Ex-Sooner says he didn't play in semi-pro game that made him ineligible
BY JAKE TROTTER, Staff Writer, jtrotter@opubco.com The Oklahoman 13 Comments
Published: March 10, 2010
NORMAN — For months, Mike Balogun has remained quiet.
MultimediaVideoview all videosOU Pro Day
Mar 9OU's NFL Draft hopefuls for 2010 undergo a series of tests of their...
Photoview all photos Tuesday, he finally shared his side of the story.
Balogun, who was stripped of his final year of eligibility by the NCAA when it ruled he had played for a semi-pro team after his 21st birthday, gave his first interview since the incident after testing in front of NFL scouts during Oklahoma’s annual pro day.
"Something needs to change,” he said. "I know the NCAA is its own governing body. Nobody can touch their rules. But I think it needs to be changed. I wouldn’t say they ruined my career, but they put a dent in it.
"I don’t think anybody should have that much control over somebody’s football career, or life in general.”
Balogun entered the 2009 season as one of OU’s top linebackers. But two weeks before the season opener, the NCAA decertified him and launched an investigation to determine if he had played semi-pro football after turning 21.
The NCAA, whose rules mandate that for every season an athlete plays semi-pro football past the age of 21 he loses a season of eligibility, eventually ruled that Balogun had.
Balogun’s attorney filed a permanent injunction featuring several sworn affidavits in an attempt to get Balogun back on the field, which was unsuccessful. Because Balogun was a senior last year, the NCAA ruling ended his college career.
Tuesday, however, Balogun maintained he "definitely did not” play semi-pro football after his 21st birthday and said the NCAA failed to present credible evidence when it decertified him
"It was a weird, unfortunate situation where all the information they had, the NCAA, it was nothing for sure, just what they wanted to believe,” Balogun said. "The NCAA investigated me five times. I was used to it, it was the fifth investigation I had. I thought it was going to blow over. But the fifth time they decertified me. I guess they thought the information they had came from reliable sources. To make a long story short, my story stayed the same. The evidence they had that was supposedly different (the fifth time) was all the same stuff.
"The NCAA, in my opinion, did a lot of backdooring, talking to a lot of people, making those people think they had my best interest. People started talking me up, not knowing what was going on. (The NCAA) took some of that, switched it up. Well, I had affidavits from the majority of people they talked to that said otherwise.
"Something needs to change. The NCAA makes its own rules and they manipulate it however they want.”
The NCAA investigation was prompted by the 2008 BCS National Championship, during which the announcers commented on Balogun being a former semi-pro football player before attending Lackawanna (Pa.) Junior College and ultimately OU.
Documentation in Balogun’s injunction filling claims that an official from Florida State’s compliance office contacted the Big 12 Conference and OU and suggested they investigate Balogun’s eligibility.
Florida State officials were familiar with the rule since they had a player, wide receiver Corey Surrency, whose career was cut short after it was found earlier in 2008 he had played a season of semi-pro football past the age of 21.
"The night we get back from the national championship, I get a call from (OU’s) compliance office saying they’re investigating me again because Florida State called and asked how did this guy have eligibility because an announcer during the game said something about me playing semi-pro ball,” Balogun recalled. "I didn’t understand what (Florida State) was trying to accomplish.”
The Seminole official asserted a box score found on the Internet showed that Balogun had played semi-pro ball after his 21st birthday. Balogun turned 21 on Sept. 28, 2004. The box score was from a game dated Nov. 12, 2005, when the North American Football League’s Maryland Marauders played in the league’s title game. In the box score, Balogun was listed as recording seven tackles and recovering a fumble in a 13-10 loss to the West Sound (Wash.) Saints. He would have been 22 during that game.
"A box score from (five) years ago still posted by somebody not even associated with the organization they said I played for,” Balogun said. "My name is still posted on their rosters to this day. But am I still on their team?
"At that point, I was done with (semi-pro ball), finished with it. I was working construction then. I didn’t even play in that game. They had me playing a great game. I was like the Player of the Century. Come on, don’t give me all that when I didn’t earn it.”
Balogun said he and his attorney are planning to sue for monetary damages after the NFL Draft, and he’s hoping his lawsuit will set a precedent.
"Any part where I can be part of changing the rules, how they can manipulate someone’s life or career, I’ll be part of it anyway I can,” Balogun said. "It affects people’s lives. I could’ve got discouraged in school. I didn’t. But not everybody is the same.”
Until then, Balogun, who also expects to graduate in May, is hoping to make it with an NFL team, even though he sat out last season.
"All I want is a shot at a roster spot, and I’ll prove myself,” he said. "I just want a shot. That’s all I need.”
Read more: http://www.newsok.com/banned-ou-foo...-breaks-silence/article/3445203#ixzz0hsMWAWQ9
