“We can’t have you sharing the videos with the NCAA and possibly the public. If that happens, I guarantee you will do jail time.”
“Instead of us tossing threats back and forth, why don’t you go with us to the NCAA meeting? We play the tape of Stewart’s threat, and you look menacing. If they reinstate our eligibility, I won’t have any reason to go public with what I have,” I said to show I wasn’t backing down.
“Is he serious? He’d risk jail time?” Special Agent Bryn asked Ms. Addison.
Dad jumped right in.
“First, I doubt you could get it to stick. My son has been forthcoming with the FBI throughout all this. And we haven’t mentioned the FBI to the NCAA at all, so the NCAA has no knowledge of the FBI’s involvement to this point. Nor, to our knowledge, does the NCAA have plans to disclose its investigation to Southwest Central State or to the shoe company.
“So, I have no idea how the NCAA’s having knowledge of their minion’s attempted extortion would obstruct or jeopardize the FBI.
“If anything, the FBI’s presence would make the NCAA more cautious regarding how it goes about its own investigation. Unless, of course, the FBI is also investigating the NCAA …” Dad said.
As he said that, Dad got a surprised look on his face. Now I knew where I got my acting gene from.
Special Agent Bryn’s look of disgust and the negative shake of his head were enough for me. I realized the FBI investigators didn’t wish to take on the NCAA if they didn’t have to. But they also didn’t want internal misconduct within the NCAA to screw their investigation up for them, either. The existence of the tapes made a big difference, I realized.
Dad continued with his reasoning.
“All David is asking for is your help to make this right. If you do the right thing, and if the NCAA is convinced to do that as well, then you have nothing to worry about.
“But let’s say David gets pushed into a corner, and someone tries to force him to wreck his career and go somewhere that makes zero sense to anybody. In that case, what does he have to lose?” Dad asked.
“I agree, there’s no need for this pissing match,” Ms. Addison added. “You’re here, anyway; why not make sure we don’t say anything we shouldn’t when we meet with them, and why not make sure they don’t do anything rash?”
Special Agent Bryn didn’t look happy, but eventually, he nodded and left to make a phone call.
◊◊◊
“Maddie, would you happen to be the ‘little birdie’?” I asked once the door had closed.
“I’m so sorry. As it happens, I had a meeting at the FBI offices about another case and ran into Special Agent Bryn, and I mentioned that we had this meeting today. I had no idea he would show up. It was a total rookie mistake on my part,” she said, falling on her sword.
“I don’t know what to say. You potentially have put our client in a position where he could be facing obstruction charges. If this goes south on us …” Mr. Morris said.
“As the client,” I said to remind Mr. Morris that I was in the room, “I think it might have been a lucky break.”
“How can you say that? Personally, I suggest we may want to cancel the meeting,” Mr. Morris said, showing his worry.
I had a moment of clarity. If the FBI agent scared my sports attorney this bad, what would he do to the NCAA guys?
“He came in here to shut us down, but why? Consider the evidence. As far as we know, the FBI can’t show a direct link between the shoe company, the university, and/or me. It’s all just smoke and mirrors until they can prove it.”
“You heard him. He said that he couldn’t comment on an ongoing investigation. For all we know, they’ve uncovered the link,” Mr. Morris said.
Ms. Addison disagreed.
“They haven’t followed up with any inquiries to us at all. Usually, if they’re after someone, they do the initial interview, and there are a bunch of follow-ups. At the very least, you would expect them to have pulled Wolf Tams and Tim Foresee in to make statements, especially if they’re that close to making their case.”
Some pieces of the puzzle came together for me.
“From what you’ve said, and from the way he’s acting, I don’t believe we’re the primary focus of whatever investigation the FBI is involved in. His primary focus is keeping this from going public and keeping it quiet. Still, the FBI doesn’t seem to be focused on going hard after Southwest Central State. There has to be something else going on that the FBI doesn’t want anyone to twig to. But at the same time, the FBI’s worried about either me or the NCAA going public with what we know.
“If that’s the case, he’ll want to do everything he can to keep a lid on this. All we have to do is convince him that the best way to keep it quiet is to attend the meeting with us. He can let the NCAA know that messing with my eligibility would be really bad for them, in the FBI’s view,” I said, looking Mr. Morris in the eye.
I glanced over at my dad, and he nodded his encouragement.
“How much do you trust Special Agent Bryn?” Dad asked Maddie.
“I trust him to do his job. I don’t trust him to be an advocate for David.”
