Laremy Tunsil admits to taking money from Ole Miss coaches
CHICAGO — An anonymous hacker used the night of the NFL draft to try to take down Laremy Tunsil and the Ole Miss football program
Moments before the draft began a video of Tunsil smoking out of a bong fashioned out of a gas mask was posted onto his Twitter account. When it had done its damage, moving Tunsil out of the top 10 entirely and to the Miami Dolphins on No. 13, the hacker started on Tunsil’s Instagram account.
There they posted screenshots of alleged text messages between Tunsil and John Miller, assistant athletic director for football operations, in which Tunsil asks for money to pay rent and also for his mother's $305 electric and water bill. In reference to the former, Miller makes a reference to "Barney." Barner Farrar is Ole Miss' assistant athletic director for high school and junior colleges.
“I made a mistake,” Tunsil said in a press conference. “That happened.”
Pressed if that meant he had taken money from a coach, Tunsil said, ‘I’d have to say yeah.’
ESPN's Joe Schad tweeted Friday morning that Farrar said he had not given Tunsil any money and that Tunsil had not asked Farrar for any money. Attempts to independently confirm the news with Farrar were unsuccessful.
This is potentially devastating news to Ole Miss, which is already in the midst of an investigation process with the NCAA. A notice of allegations (which included violations that led to Tunsil serving a long suspension during the 2015 season) was delivered to Ole Miss in January. A third party requested a 30-day extension earlier this month.While Tunsil was being asked if he had met with the NCAA, his agent Jimmy Sexton's assistant stopped the press conference and escorted Tunsil to a room down the hall before closing the door.
Ole Miss released a statement late Thursday night that said it was aware of the reports and, "Like we do whenever an allegation is brought to our attention or a potential violation is self-discovered, we will aggressively investigate and fully cooperate with the NCAA and the SEC."
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Coach Hugh Freeze was in the green room with Tunsil and fellow NFL first-round picks from Ole Miss, Laquon Treadwell (23rd overall to the Minnesota Vikings) and Robert Nkemdiche (29th overall to the Arizona Cardinals).
Tunsil missed the first seven games of the 2015 season for receiving the use of three loaner vehicles over a six-month period without payment; a four-month, interest-free promissory note on a $3,000 down payment for buying a used vehicle; two nights at a local home; an airline ticket purchased by a friend of a teammate; and one-day use of a rental car.
The whole night played out as one of, if not the, wildest draft day scenes in the history of the draft.
The leaking of the video shocked those at the NFL Draft and apparently those in team meeting rooms — multiple reports said that the Baltimore Ravens were set to draft Tunsil at No. 6 overall before the video was posted. As a result he was taken off their board entirely, and the Ravens picked Notre Dame's Ronnie Stanley.
Tennessee, who was expected to pick Tunsil when it had the No. 1 pick, traded up to No. 8, but instead of taking Tunsil the Titans went with Michigan State's Jack Conklin. Conklin was considered clearly the third-best tackle in the draft behind Tunsil and Stanley.
Tunsil admitted to the contents of the video — "I made that mistake several years ago."
Even before the video dropped Tunsil had bad news during draft week. His former stepfather, Lindsey Miller, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday alleging Tunsil had defamed Miller's character during the parties' legal issues last summer.
Tunsil, who left Ole Miss after his junior season, gave up two sacks in three seasons as Ole Miss’ left tackle. He sat out the first seven games of the 2015 season, but once he returned the Rebels were a top-10 unit among power five schools in yards per game and sacks per pass attempt.
