Auburn’s football program has been surrounded by controversy this week after an article by Selena Roberts, published Wednesday on her website, roopstigo.com, alleged that Auburn had covered up positive drug tests by players and allowed a former player to go to trial on a robbery charge to protect the program.
ESPN then reported Thursday that 12 Auburn football players had failed tests for synthetic marijuana and that the school had withheld the test results.
Roberts’ article suggests a connection between the drug tests and the upcoming trial of former player Mike McNeil on robbery charges. McNeil has maintained his innocence, and Roberts quotes McNeil’s grandfather saying, “Maybe there is a fear in Auburn’s mind that Michael knows too much. Their fear is that Michael will expose the family secret. It’s a way to silence him.”
SB Nation’s Jason Kirk picked apart Roberts’ and ESPN’s reports Friday, noting that although Auburn began testing for the drug in January 2011, the substance wasn’t banned by the NCAA until August 2011.
Kirk also points out that the ESPN report doesn’t make clear where the estimate that 12 players failed drug tests came from, and that the source could be Dakota Mosley, a player who will go on trial this summer for robbery charges and, by his own account, tested positive multiple times for synthetic marijuana.
Mosley’s attorney, Davis Whittelsey, has said he’ll argue in court that Auburn could have done more to help Mosley with his drug problem instead of covering it up.
Many of the players quoted in Roberts’ story have denied her account or claimed that their words were misrepresented in the story. Former Auburn coach Gene Chizik called the report “absurd” and “outrageous,” saying, “Unfortunately, Ms. Roberts’ story is long on accusation and inference, but short on facts and logic.”
