KILL AUBURN - A Series by ESPN

[Townhallsavoy]

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/9135194/twelve-auburn-tigers-football-players-failed-synthetic-pot-tests

The 2010 national champion Auburn Tigers were gripped by an epidemic of synthetic marijuana use that led to a rash of failed drug tests and a decision at the highest levels of the university to keep the results confidential, ESPN has learned.

A six-month investigation by ESPN The Magazine and E:60 into the spread of synthetic marijuana at Auburn reveals that a dozen students on the football team, including its star running back, Michael Dyer, failed tests for the designer drug. The investigation also found that because the school did not implement testing for the drug until after it won the national championship in January 2011, as many as a dozen other seniors who used synthetic marijuana were never caught.

“
The whole time, I was thinking, 'They can't do nothing about the spice.'
”
-- Dakota Mosley, former Auburn TE,
after failing seven straight tests for synthentic marijuana
The drug -- also referred to as "spice" -- has been linked to paranoid delusions, hallucinations, and, in rare cases, deaths.

In one extreme case, a freshman tight end, Dakota Mosley, failed seven consecutive weekly tests for the drug, but never was punished. (He was suspended for three months in a separate incident after he tested positive for marijuana.) The Arkansas native says he learned he'd failed a sixth test on the same day he was scheduled to meet with NCAA investigators to discuss a probe into potential recruiting violations.

Instead of being kicked off the team, Mosley was brought into then-coach Gene Chizik's office and told he could keep his spot on the team. "The whole time, I was thinking, 'They can't do nothing about the spice,' " Mosley told The Magazine and E:60.

The next day, the emboldened freshman was part of a midnight incident that left him and three other Tigers charged with an armed-home invasion robbery.

The first of the Tigers to come to trial, Antonio Goodwin, was convicted in June 2012 and sentenced to 15 years in prison. At his trial, Dyer, who lent the players a gun allegedly used in the crime, admitted to chronically smoking synthetic marijuana. In a jailhouse interview with ESPN, Goodwin estimated that "half the team probably smoked spice."

A second defendant, star safety Mike McNeil, is scheduled for trial in Lee County Circuit Court next week. On Wednesday, in a story largely focusing on McNeil, the website roopstigo.com reported allegations from former players that Chizik and his staff changed players' grades to secure eligibility, offered money to potential NFL draft picks so they would return for their senior seasons and violated NCAA recruiting rules.

No date has been set for the third accused robber, Shaun Kitchens. All were dismissed from the team by Chizik the day after the crime.

The Magazine/E:60 investigation revealed that while Chizik and Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs were aware of the football team's twelve positive tests for synthetic marijuana, they kept the results secret, even from the parents of the players.

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Because synthetic marijuana was new, Jacobs contended in an interview, it was not yet part of the university's official drug-testing policy and therefore not something coaches could punish students for using.

"We did all we could do to educate our student-athletes until [we] could understand exactly what we're dealing with," Jacobs told The Magazine. "I think just like the rest of the campus, and the nation, we were trying to figure it out."

As a result of that decision, not one parent was notified, and no discipline was meted out in the eight-month gap between the first test in January 2011, and August 2011, when Auburn's drug policy was officially amended to include synthetic marijuana.

Kitchens' mother, Kimberly Harkness, a nursing assistant, told The Magazine that she would have put her son into rehab if she'd known. She said she spoke with her son two weeks before the robbery by phone while he was in the office of Trooper Taylor, the team's assistant head coach. Not a word was mentioned about the synthetic marijuana test that the wide receiver failed, or suspicions that was the reason he was skipping class and missing team meetings.

"I knew something was wrong but I couldn't put my finger on it," Harkness said. "I feel like Auburn betrayed me."

Mosley's attorney, Davis Whittelsey, said he will argue in court that Auburn was more concerned with covering up drug tests than getting students counseling for the highly addictive drug, which is linked to about 11,000 emergency room visits a year.

"Could Auburn have done more? Hell, yeah," Whittelsey said. "Not only could they have done more, they should have done more."

Coach & Company

Former Auburn defensive lineman Mike Blanc addresses the allegations against the school and describes his conversations with Selena Roberts.

More Podcasts »
The team's hidden synthetic marijuana problem may have links to an NCAA probe into recruiting violations at the university.

The Magazine and E:60 have obtained text messages between Mosley and his father from March 9, 2011, that show a heightened level of concern about what Mosley would say to the NCAA investigator he was going to meet after his meeting with Chizik. His father, Harrison, was particularly concerned about a photo of Dakota that hit the Internet, showing him clutching stacks of bills.

"Did you ever visit with the NCAA lady," he asks his son at 7:21 p.m. on March 9, 2011.

"Yeah, I did," Dakota answers.

"So what was said?"

"Just asked about the trips."

"What about the picture?"

"Just told them it was from my mom selling her car."

"That was it?" Harrison asks. Then he follows up with a terse, "Call me for a minute."

An Auburn spokesperson insisted there was no connection with the meeting that Chizik held with Mosley, and the NCAA meeting.

[Kaos]

When was "spice" made illegal at Alabama?  Michigan? Notre Dame?

How many players were tested for "spice" at those colleges? 

[AUownsU]

Funny shit watching Chopper and this guy from TamohawkNation make this guy from ESPN look like the dumbass he really is...


TomahawkNation.com‏ @TomahawkNation
"A six-month investigation by ESPN The Magazine and "E:60" into the spread of synthetic marijuana at Auburn" Stop it. Find a real issue.

Corey Dowlar/ESPN‏ @cdowlar
Some would definitely consider it a real issue. http://bit.ly/NQLEM1

TomahawkNation.com ‏@TomahawkNation
 Pretty sure it wasn't even a banned substance in 2010. And can find things like that for any drug, presciption or otherwise.

Corey Dowlar/ESPN‏ @cdowlar
Have you read that story?

TomahawkNation.com ‏@TomahawkNation
Yes, it's likely not good to smoke spice. But it wasn't even a banned substance for the time period in question.

Corey Dowlar/ESPN‏ @cdowlar
 No comment.

AuburnChopper ‏@AuburnChopper
 Haha. Exactly. Maybe they needed another month to learn that part.

 Corey Dowlar/ESPN ‏@cdowlar
 I missed the joke, apparently.

AuburnChopper‏ @AuburnChopper
 It's been identified and written about before.

Corey Dowlar/ESPN‏ @cdowlar
 I'm not defending the report. I'm not saying it is groundbreaking either. Not sure what your point is.

AuburnChopper‏ @AuburnChopper
 Check out @KevinScarbinsky 's timeline.  Fact is, it WAS a problem, but not an NCAA issue, and Auburn moved to fix it. ...and did.

Corey Dowlar/ESPN‏ @cdowlar
OK. Again, your point is what exactly?

AuburnChopper‏ @AuburnChopper
You acted as if it was a bigger story than I tho think most will find it to be. If I offended you, apologies.

Corey Dowlar/ESPN‏ @cdowlar
 Takes more than that. I wasn't speaking to the NCAA angle of it. It is an issue, health related or whatever, to be discussed.

AuburnChopper ‏@AuburnChopper
 My point is that Auburn handled a problem. Why did it take ESPN's crack staff "Six Months" to write THAT story? Groundbreaking? No.

-----------------------
The clown goes on and says he doesn't care either way. Yet spends the better part of 2 hours tweeting back and forth about it. Blah, blah, blah fucking ESPN fucktard.

[AWK]

...

[djsimp]

...

THIS!

[Kaos]

Wow.  When Chopper's winning the battle.... well.... it says something.  Not sure what, but something. 

[AUChizad]

http://auburn.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1491830

Eradicating Spice Was a Top Priority

AUBURN | The use of synthetic marijuana was an issue at Auburn during the 2010 football season, sources have confirmed to AuburnSports.com, but the athletic department quickly partnered with its drug-testing company to create new tests to identify the substance in athletes' bloodstreams.

The parent of a former Auburn player said Gene Chizik made things very clear to players in 2011 that using synthetic marijuana would result in disciplinary issues.

Aegis Sciences Corporation of Nashville, which handled the department's drug testing needs, hadn't yet developed a test for the then-legal substance when Auburn requested one in September 2010.

Auburn agreed to help Aegis create a new test by offering urine samples for use in clinical trials. Eight football players tested positive during the first two months of trials, a fact confirmed by a knowledgeable source, though the athletic department didn't formally begin punishing "spice" users until August 2011.

The NCAA added "spice" to its own list of banned substances in August 2011 as well.

Though players who tested positive during the 2010 season didn't face sanctions since the substance wasn't yet banned, AuburnSports.com spoke with the parent of a former player who said he was informed by the school of his son's positive test.

ESPN.com reported Thursday night that the parents of former players Dakota Mosley and Shaun Kitchens claim they weren't informed of their sons' positive tests.

ESPN The Magazine reported Thursday that "not one parent was notified, and no discipline was meted out in the eight-month gap between the first test in January 2011, and August 2011, when Auburn's drug policy was officially amended to include synthetic marijuana."


One parent of an Auburn player that tested positive for "spice" during that time period disagrees.

"It's just false and inaccurate. As a parent, I was notified, so that bumps the fact that no parents were notified," said one parent that wishes to remain anonymous. "I haven't seen the ESPN story, but if they said the parents weren't notified, that's not true. I was called and I know two other parents that were notified, too.

"I know for sure two, from me seeing them down there. If they notified me and two other parents, if there was anyone else, I'm sure they were told. I don't understand this."

The parent says he was notified of the failed drug test between the end of spring practice and June of 2011. That's within the time period that ESPN claims no parents were notified.

"It was just the coaches calling me and telling me basically he was smoking 'spice' and he wasn't supposed to be," the parent said. "There weren't any repercussions at the time because it wasn't a banned substance. They had internal punishment they could do."


When the unnamed player first tested positive in the spring of 2011, "spice" wasn't a banned substance by the NCAA. The parent said the players were notified of the substance and told that while the NCAA hadn't banned synthetic marijuana, coach Gene Chizik had.

"They had already talked to the players and told them they were going to put it on the list," the parent said. "The next time they tested, they tested for that. But it was a trial period so they couldn't do anything at that time."

After being told about the quotes from former player Dakota Mosley, his attorney, and Kimberly Harkness, the mother of former player Shaun Kitchens, saying no parent was notified and placing blame on the Auburn program, the parent took exception.


 "That would be highly unlikely they weren't notified," the parent said.

A second parent wishing to remain anonymous also refutes the allegations in the ESPN story.

"Absolutely, 100 percent I know parents were notified in that time period," the second parent said.

Aegis announced on Jan. 24, 2011, that it was prepared to begin testing for the presence of synthetic marijuana. Auburn began using the new test three days later.

Still, there was a problem.

The initial tests simply indicated the presence of "spice" in the bloodstream. It couldn't discern the levels of substance, meaning a single use could trigger positive tests for a period of up to three weeks.

Auburn didn't feel comfortable punishing athletes without the ability to know if use was a one-time experimentation or a serial behavior. The department continued to educate athletes about the risks of using "spice" and waited for a better test that would help identify changes in usage.

The second version of the test, one that was capable of discerning levels of the substance, was added to Aegis' array in August 2011. Auburn began using the new test immediately and still tests all athletes randomly throughout the academic year.

[AUownsU]

Good to see lots of folks not buying into ESPN's bullshit this time around. Ralph Russo and Greg Doyle are just a few examples. Also been some quality article written as well.

Deadspin‏ @Deadspin
Horseshit ESPN "investigation" reveals drug "epidemic" at Auburn: http://deadsp.in/9D0fcrz

and one from SB Nation.
http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2013/4/5/4185058/auburn-football-spice-synthetic-marijuana-espn

[AUChizad]

http://www.al.com/auburnfootball/index.ssf/2013/04/documents_support_jay_jacobs_r.html

[Tiger Wench]

Good to see lots of folks not buying into ESPN's bullshit this time around. Ralph Russo and Greg Doyle are just a few examples. Also been some quality article written as well.

Deadspin‏ @Deadspin
Horseshit ESPN "investigation" reveals drug "epidemic" at Auburn: http://deadsp.in/9D0fcrz

and one from SB Nation.
http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2013/4/5/4185058/auburn-football-spice-synthetic-marijuana-espn

The SB Nation article is awesome.  I love the reference to "bringing down Auburn is the journalistic equivalent to the sword in the stone.". Kind of supports the "ESPN egg on their face" theory. 

[AUChizad]

http://www.oanow.com/sports/college/auburn/football/article_5103b8a6-9e51-11e2-87ec-0019bb30f31a.html

Phone records indicate open lines of communication between Auburn and Mosley, Harkness

Posted: Friday, April 5, 2013 7:34 pm | Updated: 9:09 pm, Fri Apr 5, 2013.
Ryan Wood
Opelika-Auburn News
Twitter
Auburn had extensive telephone contact over 13 months with parents of former football players reportedly dissatisfied about communication they received from coaches, according to phone records obtained by the Opelika-Auburn News.

In an ESPN story published Friday, Harrison Mosley, Dakota Mosely’s father, said coaches never informed him of his son’s abuse of synthetic marijuana. The report found Dakota Mosley failed seven straight weekly tests for the drug, commonly known as Spice.

Dakota Mosley was one of four charged with armed robbery in March 2011 and currently awaits trial, joining former receivers Shaun Kitchens and Antonio Goodwin, as well as safety Mike McNeil.
Current head coach Gus Malzahn promised Harrison Mosley he would follow up on his son’s troubles, according to the ESPN report.

More than 100 calls — 107 — from members of Auburn’s athletics department were made to the number listed for Harrison Mosley between May 1, 2010, and May 31, 2011, according to phone records. Malzahn, then the offensive coordinator, placed 88 calls in that time frame, according to records.

A message for Harrison Mosley at that number was unreturned Friday.
Also in the report, Kitchens’ mother, Kimberly Harkness, said her son’s drug abuse problems were never mentioned before the 2011 robbery.

"I knew something was wrong but I couldn't put my finger on it," Harkness said in the report. "I feel like Auburn betrayed me."

Members of Auburn’s athletic department made 30 calls to the number listed for Harkness, according to records. Six came within two months of the robbery.

The final call to Harkness’ number came March 22, 2011, according to records. When the Opelika-Auburn News called that number Friday, a male answered and said it was no longer Harkness’ number.
The report found Dakota Mosley tested positive for marijuana and the prescription sleeping drug benzodiazepine Dec. 20, 2010, and his father was aware of that result. A late-afternoon call the next day from director of sports medicine Joe Petrone informed Harrison Mosley of his son's positive marijuana test, assistant director for public relations Cassie Arner told the Opelika-Auburn News.
Auburn was unable to release results of tests for Spice because it was not yet on the school's list of banned substances, Arner said. The drug was also not illegal in the state of Alabama in the fall of 2010, when the tests happened.

Without being on the banned-substance list, Auburn did not have a signed waiver from students allowing it to inform parents of a positive test.

Arner said the drug was added to the school's list of banned substances March 14, 2011. At that time, parents of students could be notified if their child tested positive. Penalties for the use of Spice were implemented at the start of the next academic year, in August 2011.

[djsimp]

Can someone in the know get this article out there, PLEASE!

[Tiger Wench]

Spencer Hall from EDSBS is a Gaytor fan and hates Auburn.  And even he is bashing the bitch.

https://www.google.com/reader/view/?tab=my#stream/feed%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.sbnation.com%2Fauthors%2Fspencer-hall%2Frss

[AUChizad]

Spencer Hall from EDSBS is a Gaytor fan and hates Auburn.  And even he is bashing the bitch.

https://www.google.com/reader/view/?tab=my#stream/feed%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.sbnation.com%2Fauthors%2Fspencer-hall%2Frss

Link sucks.

[Tiger Wench]

Link sucks.

Then fucking fix it.  What am I, your innerweb mother?  Posting from my phone sucks.  So sue me.  Or have the Hobbit do it.  Whatever.

EDIT:  I swear, the boy can illegally download 500 pirated movies a day but he can't do a sister a solid and fix a damn link with his amazing mod powers.

http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/2013/4/5/4186910/there-is-another-problem-with-that-auburn-story

[AUChizad]

In case you didn't already hate Colin Cowherd,

@ESPN_Colin
Auburn fan--Bama has better HC, tradition, facilities, academics and town.  That's why they generally out recruit you.  Get better not angry

[Townhallsavoy]

Cowherd's a troll.  I don't really care if he makes statements like that because I think most people know he's a troll much like Skip Bayless.

It's when ESPN puts its journalistic integrity on the line for a flimsy story about Auburn that bothers me. 

[dallaswareagle]

Cowherd's a troll.  I don't really care if he makes statements like that because I think most people know he's a troll much like Skip Bayless.

It's when ESPN puts its journalistic integrity on the line for a flimsy story about Auburn that bothers me.

That left on the train along time ago.

[jmar]

I can't wait for Kill Auburn II which is expected to be released by early fall. Nothing like a good ol' baseless hit piece as the leaves begin changing colors to get the season started off right.

[WiregrassTiger]

In case you didn't already hate Colin Cowherd,

Same thing can be directed toward Cowterd. He's got a lot of room for improvement before he can reach his idol's, Jim Rome, level. The shock jock sports talk gig.