Gene Jelks Reflects on his decisions to seek Revenge on UA

selmaborntidefan

TideFans Legend
Mar 31, 2000
38,308
33,437
287
55
From the body of the article:

Blinded by hatred, Jelks spilled his guts to Larry, a man he later learned had ties to Auburn University. Jelks said several Auburn supporters pressed him to report Alabama at the time, providing him with a home, cash and anything else he needed. Jelks said he stayed in a townhouse in the suburbs while lawyers spoke to the NCAA.

END

Gee, when we pointed this out nearly 20 years ago, we were called delusional.
 

selmaborntidefan

TideFans Legend
Mar 31, 2000
38,308
33,437
287
55
Article is misleading - it implies we were punished for Jelks.

In fact, Jelks' allegations fell out of the statute of limitations. It was the Langham thing that did us in.
 

selmaborntidefan

TideFans Legend
Mar 31, 2000
38,308
33,437
287
55
OK, I've read it all the way through now, and while somewhat sympathetic to certain points of it, I hate to break it to Jelks, but this is called "life."

Bill Curry moved Jelks to defense.

He did not make him snort cocaine.

He did not pay him money.

He did not offer him money to make charges against Alabama.

He did not make the man do a single thing he didn't want to do.

The notion Curry "took" something from the man is borderline insane. Jack Tatum
destroyed Darryl Stingley's life on a legal hit. And I don't want to sound cruel,
but that's part of the game. Player after player leaves injured and never plays
again.

But "took something from me?"

All of us experience loss and disappointment in life. Very little is to be gained by
still blaming people for it. Things happen to folks that are no fault of their own.

Dealing with it - that's called life.
 

Bamabuzzard

FB Moderator
Staff member
Aug 15, 2004
33,149
27,813
337
49
Where ever there's BBQ, Bourbon & Football
For Jelks' sake I hope he ultimately forgives Curry. If it still "irks" him then he hasn't truly forgiven. But hopefully one day he will.

In general, life brings enough problems to our doorstep to last us the entire time we're on this earth. It makes even worse when we create more problems to add to those already being dealt to us from the outside.
 

Ldlane

Hall of Fame
Nov 26, 2002
14,249
398
202
For Jelks' sake I hope he ultimately forgives Curry. If it still "irks" him then he hasn't truly forgiven. But hopefully one day he will.

In general, life brings enough problems to our doorstep to last us the entire time we're on this earth. It makes even worse when we create more problems to add to those already being dealt to us from the outside.
Great Quote!

Have we forgiven Curry? :)
 

CHATTBRIT

Hall of Fame
Dec 3, 2003
5,802
527
237
Falling Water, TN
I have sympathy for Jelks. As a young man he made some stupid choices. He still can't see that Curry helped him make it to the NFL as a corner. All he sees is his moving from RB to corner. It's sad that he can't see past that even today.

I just see a wasted life. A lot of what could have beens. Of course, Jelks is the only one to blame for much of his problems, but as a Christian I can still feel sympathy for the man who has made a lot of mistakes in his life.
 

CapstoneTider

Suspended
Dec 6, 2000
7,453
6
0
This is the quarterly hit piece and shows me that Jelks is not concerned about healing when concerning his ties within his home state. If so, he would not be communicating via ESPN. I believe the comments:

"It was Curry's decision to move him from running back to corner his junior year at Alabama, a choice Jelks feels pain about to this day.'I tried to medicate with cocaine. I tried to medicate with alcohol,' Jelks said he told Curry. 'I said, 'I became homeless.' I said, 'Coach, it's not fair. You took it from me.'"

Sums up that Jelks was a ticking time bomb that would have exploded at any school or with any coach.

This story, like many stories these days is disingenuous. ESPN wants the reader to believe they are caring and trying to help Jelks in his recovery by setting up this reality show type meeting. Their intent is putting Bama into proper perspective, in case people have forgotten our painful past, and $'s with a good Bama hate piece. Look at the timing? Our NC angered a lot of people no doubt. So their is a big audience for a Bama perspective piece.


Who is Jene Jelks these days, and why is he worthy of such concern? But we all know, that Alabama is the real subject matter here.
Lots of other schools have had scandals over 20 years ago, but you won't see them.

ESPN is so transparently disingenuous it's scary that they can get away with it.
 
Last edited:

mittman

All-American
Jun 19, 2009
3,942
0
0
Whether every Alabama fan forgives him or not, it really doesn't matter. I am glad to see the man moving in the right direction. I think he is seeing his part in it.

What Kerry Goode said has a lot of truth in it. When you believe for a long time that someone "ruined your life" it has to be hard to let that go if it was the case, or see that it was not the case.

As for ESPN and possible motives. I could care less we are the reigning national champs :smile:
 
Last edited:

RTR_UA#1

All-SEC
Jun 16, 2008
1,104
33
67
Meridian, MS
Gene Jelks BETRAYED the Tide not thinking about what he gained from his BAMA experience. The only thing he gained from his betrayal was monetary. As a person.... he is forgiven but how can he expect history to forgive him? How can history be erased?
Gene.......... you dug your own grave my friend...... now lie in it.

ROLL TIDE!!!!!
 

BigEasyTider

FB | REC Moderator
Nov 27, 2007
10,029
0
0
This one is a big "meh." Sure, it happened, those who denied it were obviously wrong in hindsight, and you're just being naive if you don't think this type of thing occurs in big-time college football.

That said, who cares at this point? It's ancient history at best and from where I'm sitting the scoreboard still reads 21-0. Just let it die.
 

Im_on_dsp

All-SEC
Oct 10, 2007
1,330
796
137
Canton, GA
Coach Curry did not keep Gene Jelks from making it in the NFL as a running back. Bobby Humphrey did. Humphrey was just a better running back than Gene Jelks and Jelks was never going to get enough touches to make it to the NFL as a running back. However, he was pretty darn good defensive back and he got his shot at the NFL and blew it. Not many people even get that far.
 

CapstoneTider

Suspended
Dec 6, 2000
7,453
6
0
Coach Curry did not keep Gene Jelks from making it in the NFL as a running back. Bobby Humphrey did. Humphrey was just a better running back than Gene Jelks and Jelks was never going to get enough touches to make it to the NFL as a running back. However, he was pretty darn good defensive back and he got his shot at the NFL and blew it. Not many people even get that far.
He also blew out his knee and that was all she wrote as far as I remember. With a couple of years in position, if healthy mentally and/or physically he could have excelled at RB or CB to play in the NFL or USFL. This was so long ago, I wouldn't be surprised if the Birmingham Vulcans were still around.

Coach Saban doesn't force players to switch after getting looks at another position, but you'll be sitting on the bench most likely........but that's not a guarantee, you could prove him wrong. I like his method.

I wonder if ESPN paid Jelks in any way. Even transportation or a per diem. Considering how juicy (used word twice in a day) a Bama in bad light story would be right now with the LSU, OSU and the other fans that that feel they were overexposed to us and the SEC this year, it makes me wonder if they just seeked him out, offered a little dough and wallah.
 
Last edited:

im4uainva

All-SEC
Jul 3, 2011
1,080
39
67
Charlottesville, Va
If you can't make it at a particular position at Bama, how can you expect to make it at the next level? And I think there are players currently on the roster that may be facing this same situation shortly. Hopefully, they will listen to the people they trusted enough to choose Bama in the first place.