Houston Texans running back Arian Foster admitted to accepting cash payments during his college career at Tennessee in a documentary. NCAA rules prohibit student-athletes from accepting money or things of value from program boosters or agents, although Foster was non-specific about where the money was coming from.
Producers of the documentary "Schooled: The Price of College Sports," spent four hours interviewing Foster, according to Sports Illustrated.
"I don't know if this will throw us into an NCAA investigation -- my senior year, I was getting money on the side," Foster said.
The running back was at UT from 2004 to 2007. He indicated he had no money for food during his senior year. Below is a transcript of Foster's comments taken from a video excerpt posted by SI.com in advance of the documentary's release.
"I really didn't have any money," Foster said. "I had to either pay the rent or buy some food. I remember the feeling of like, 'Man, be careful.' But there's nothing wrong with it. And you're not going to convince me that there is something wrong with it. There were plenty of times where throughout the month I didn't have enough for food. Our stadium had like 107,000 seats; 107,000 people buying a ticket to come watch us play. It's tough just like knowing that, being aware of that. We had just won and I had a good game, 100 yards or whatever You go outside and there's hundreds of kids waiting for you. You're signing autographs, taking pictures, whatever. Then I walk back, and reality sets in. I go to my dorm room, open my fridge, and there's nothing in my fridge. Hold up, man. What just happened? Why don't I have anything to show for what I just did?
"There was a point where we had no food, no money, so I called my coach and I said, 'Coach, we don't have no food," Fosted added. "We don't have no money. We're hungry. Either you give us some food, or I'm gonna go do something stupid.' He came down and he brought like 50 tacos for like four or five of us. Which is an NCAA violation. (Laughs) But then, the next day I walk up to the facility and I see my coach pull up in a brand new Lexus. Beautiful."
Foster also indicated he had teammates at Tennessee that sold drugs for money.
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