Texans RB Arian Foster admits to taking money while in college

The subject of paying college athletes continues to be  a hot topic. In the new documentary, “Schooled: The Price of College Sports”, Houston Texans running back, Arian Foster comes clean about his college program and the help he received.

Foster attended the University of Tennessee, and while he said he never took money from coaches, he said there were always people around the campus to help out. Foster hopes his revelations will help change the rules about amateurism in the NCAA.

“I just feel strong about the injustice that the NCAA has been doing for years,” Foster said Friday. “That’s why I said what I said. I’m not trying to throw anybody under the bus. … I feel like I shouldn’t have to run from the NCAA anymore. They’re like these big bullies. I’m not scared of them.”

Foster said he received extra payments so he could afford rent and food while playing at Tennessee. An excerpt of the documentary was obtained by and posted on SI.com.

“I don’t know if this will throw us into an NCAA investigation — my senior year (2008), I was getting money on the side,” Foster said in the video. “I really didn’t have any money. 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.

Foster went on to describe a situation in which he had no food or money and called a coach.

“Either you give us some food or I’m gonna go do something stupid,” Foster recalled telling him.

The coach brought Foster and three others 50 tacos, Foster said in the documentary while chuckling at the thought that that the action constituted an NCAA violation.

Foster played at Tennessee from 2005-08 under Hall of Fame coach Phillip Fulmer. Foster said Friday he never took money from coaches, but there were always people around the program willing to help him financially.

Andrew Muscato, a documentary producer, says Foster didn’t specify how much he received.

While I understand Foster’s thought process, is it fair that the current students might have to pay the price for him? Obviously the NCAA model is broken and needs to be adjusted, but if Foster feels so strongly about it, why did it take him five years to make a statement about it.