More Testimony In Favor Of Mike Balogun

On a day where Florida State University was back peddling more than a defensive back in a two-a-day practice, Mike Balogun’s lawyer was prepping for an important court date tomorrow. Balogun’s camp already had his former NAFL team president’s testimony that he only played for two seasons and was done before the age of 21. Now they’ve gotten three more people speaking up for him, including the person responsible for putting him in the stat book. According to the Tulsa World, attorney Woody Glass filed three affidavits in Cleveland County District Court. In those affidavits are the testimonies off these three men.

James Walsh, a coach for an all-star game for small college and semi-pro players, says Balogun didn’t play in the 2004 All-American Bowl, despite being named on Mid-Americafootball.com as a 2004 all-star linebacker.

John Phillips, a statistician for 2005 NAFL2 championship game in Orlando, said roster and even jersey information is often incorrect and unreliable within the league, and that "rosters ... were likely inaccurate and players I mentioned in the game report likely did not play in the game." Balogun was listed on SemiProFootball.org as playing in the 2005 NAFL2 championship game.

 Tony Hall, president of the Diamond Football League, certified that Balogun "did not play with the Prince George Jets," as it was reported during the 2008 BCS Champoinship game on FOX.

We’ll see how it all turns out tomorrow but if these testimonies hold up in court then Balogun could be knocking helmets with Mormons in a couple of weeks.

As for the party responsible for starting this mess, Florida State is taking a much different stance than what the public perception is. According to the FSU compliance director, Brian Battle, they only called OU to find out how they got Balogun eligible and never turned them in to a governing authority. That certainly goes against everything we’ve heard so far. Maybe the Seminoles suddenly remembered that they have a trip to Norman next fall and don’t want to provide any extra motivation for the crowd to be even more hostile towards them.

 "The purpose of the inquiry to Oklahoma University was to gather information regarding a similar eligibility case involving former Florida State wide receiver Corey Surrency," Battle said in the statement. "Florida State’s compliance office did not contact the Big 12 or the NCAA."

Yeah right, and Brad McRae never paid Rhett Bomar for not working! There are already documents in court that state otherwise on this so someone is going to get left out to dry. If it’s Balogun then his career at OU was short lived because if they can’t get that part of the story right then they won’t be able to prove much else either. If its Florida State then Mr. Battle putt even more egg on the face of an institution where the outside perception is that they’ve got so many NCAA infractions that a Texas lineman would need to borrow his teammate’s toes to count and yet they spend time digging up dirt on the team that beat them in the national championship game almost ten years ago. Bitter much?