Tales of recruiting improprieties are nothing new to college football, but they always seem to generate plenty of attention when they do end up surfacing in the headlines.
In a lengthy profile on SBNation.com this week, former five-star tight end and Green Bay Packers undrafted free agent Colt Lyerla recounted how extra benefits were promised to him in order to sign with a certain Pac-12 school.
"There was a point where me and my mom and everyone in my family was like, 'Yeah, like, go to USC,'" Lyerla said. "'We can't wait for you to go to USC.'"
However, according to Lyerla, an Oregon booster who knew his family started to act as an adviser. The booster eventually made him aware of certain benefits that he could receive if he stuck to a school closer to his hometown of Hillsboro.
"I was promised a house, a car, all these things," the ex-Duck said. "All of a sudden, (family members said) 'You need to go to Oregon. That's the best place for you. They're going to take care of you.'"
Lyerla was quick to point out he never received a house, car or any other extra benefits promised to him while he was in Eugene, remarking that he got "played" to sign with the Ducks over another school.
"(Oregon) takes seriously any allegation of a rules violation and the compliance department will thoroughly examine the information to determine its validity as we do in all cases," the school said in a statement released to local media on Wednesday.
Lyerla later left the program, citing a number of issues in the SBNation piece, and was arrested for cocaine possession in October of last year. Despite his athletic prowess, he was not selected in the 2014 NFL Draft and later signed with the Packers.
After injuring his knee during camp in August, Lyerla signed an injury settlement with Green Bay and was released.
You can follow Bryan Fischer on Twitter at @BryanDFischer.
