Attorney: Lindsey Miller not involved in Laremy Tunsil hack
OXFORD - Former Ole Miss offensive lineman Laremy Tunsil suffered two social media hacks Thursday night, one involving a video posted to his Twitter account of him apparently smoking a bong and one on Instagram involving alleged text messages of him asking a staffer for money.
While the alleged hacker’s identity is unknown, Tunsil’s stepfather, Lindsey Miller, denies any involvement in the situation through his attorney after filing a lawsuit against Tunsil on Tuesday.
“Mr. Miller denies any involvement whatsoever in the events that transpired last night,” said Miller’s attorney, Matthew Wilson, in a statement released Friday morning. “When he learned last night that Mr. Tunsil’s accounts had been backed, he was surprised that the posted content even existed. He condemns the unlawful hacking of Mr. Tunsil’s social media accounts and hopes that whoever is responsible is brought to justice quickly.”
Mock drafts widely projected Tunsil to be taken within the first six or seven picks, perhaps as early as No. 3 overall to the San Diego Chargers, but fell to the Miami Dolphins at No. 13. The drop will likely cost him about $8 million in terms of contract value.
NFL Network’s Aditi Kinkhabwala reported that the Baltimore Ravens, who drafted No. 6 overall, removed Tunsil completely off their draft board because of the video.
After Tunsil was chosen by the Dolphins, someone posted a screenshot of alleged text messages between Tunsil and assistant athletic director for football operations John Miller in which Tunsil asks for money to pay for rent and for his mother’s $305 electric and water bill.
After being pressed as to whether he had taken money from a coach, Tunsil told reporters, “I’d have to say yeah.”
Two of the alleged messages are out of order, one reading “I need a favor” written to Miller at 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 14, 2015, and one posted below but with a timestamp of one minute earlier saying “What u need” as coming from Miller. Everything else appears in chronological order.
"The FBI is not currently involved in the matter and has not heard from anyone involved in the incident," FBI Jackson spokesman and special agent Jason Pack said in a statement Friday morning.
Contact Daniel Paulling at dpaulling@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @DanielPaulling on Twitter.