Auburn Officials Deny Claims by Ramsey

While Eric Ramsey spent virtually all day at his home answering telephone calls from reporters, officials within Auburn’s athletic department were trying to understand why he lashed out at the football program.
Ramsey, a two-year starter at cornerback who was selected in the 10th round of the NFL draft by the Kansas City Chiefs, wrote a term paper for a sociology class entitled, “Life on the Plains: A Non-fictional Account of One Black Athlete’s Experience at Auburn University.”
In that five-page essay, he accuses the coaching staff of perpetuating stereotypes of black players and encouraging segregation in Sewell Hall, Auburn’s athletic dormitory.
Black athletes at Auburn, he said, are encouraged to succeed in athletics – not academics. Ramsey will be one class away from graduation when he leaves for Kansas City on Friday.
He felt the paper was a fitting vehicle for him to finally express the problems he observed within the program.
“What happened was I just got tired of every time I try to get myself on my feet, somebody just comes around and knocks me down time after time again,” Ramsey said.
“And I’ve talked to other black players who talk about what all Auburn has done to their lives, crying and upset because they didn’t get a fair shake. Somebody had to finally say something and get this in the open.”
Frank McIntosh, who backed up Stan White at quarterback during his senior season, was one of those players who were surprised to learn of Ramsey’s accusations.
“The whole time I was here, I didn’t notice any real big problems with racism,” said McIntosh, who is white. “I always got along with everybody. You have a few disagreements here and there, but I don’t think there were any major problems.
“It was a shock to me that he would say those things. If he was unhappy, I hate to see it. I always thought Eric was the kind of guy you’d enjoy being around. He wasn’t around the team very much off the field. On the field, he was a very happy-go-lucky guy, but he pretty much kept to himself off the field.”
Athletic department officials insist Ramsey’s criticism is merely a case of an unhappy, young man venting his anger at authority. The coaches describe Ramsey as a prodigal son.
“I’m not going to get into a dispute over this, but we try not to stereotype anybody,” said assistant head coach Wayne Hall. “Eric evidently had something happen to make him feel this way, but we’ve had 400 kids come through here in 10 years, and probably some of them became unhappy. But the biggest thing is I want the best for Eric, and I want the best for this program.”
Auburn head coach Pat Dye was at home recuperating from liver and spleen surgery and was unavailable for comment.
“Every program has had unhappy players before and will have unhappy players again, both black and white,” said David Housel, Auburn’s sports information director. “You can’t measure an entire program by the players, who, for whatever reason, have been unhappy.”
Ramsey charges the coaches with writing him off after he married Twilitta Webb of Montgomery and moved off campus during his freshman year.
He also attacked the atmosphere in the dormitory, accusing the coaches of making housing arrangements on the basis of race. In the essay, he writes that there were no blacks and whites rooming together.
Rusty Deen, Sewell Hall resident counselor, says players decide who they want to be their roommates, and that there are some inter-racial rooms.
“I moved in here in 1970, and we signed one black that year, and there was already one on the team,” said Deen of his playing days for Shug Jordan. “That white chose to live with that black in 1970, and there have been blacks and whites living together ever since. There’s no basis to what he’s saying there.”
But Ramsey says his anger reached its breaking point when he was accused of cheating on a final examination two years ago.
“I had to talk to my coach (defensive backs coach Steve Dennis) and an academic advisor, and they were ready to end my career,” he said. “They tape-recorded our conversation and then tried to get me to say I cheated. A year later, a teacher caught (another player) cheating, and they didn’t want to do anything about it, so they wouldn’t jeopardize his senior season. In my situation, they tried to get me put out of school, but they were ready to sweep (the other player’s conduct) under the rug, just because of his name.”
Dennis refused to comment, except to repeat what he said on Tuesday.
“I just want what’s best for Eric,” he said.
Ramsey seems to feel the opposite. He said he believes the coaching staff didn’t like the fact that he was married and had a family. He also said he was mistreated because he was trying to earn a degree, which will be in criminal justice.
In his term paper, Ramsey wrote that he was treated as an “outcast,” because he was independent.
“I just felt like they were out to get me, and I’ve talked to a lot of other blacks who played there,” he said. “Everybody knows how many blacks are on team, and we’re the ones who bring in the football revenue. I have nothing against the white players because it’s not their fault their parents brought them up in the good schools.
“But Coach Dye goes into the rough neighborhoods and gets players from low backgrounds. He manipulates us and then, when we’re through, sends us back into the world to dig ditches.”
Ramsey also accused Dye of trying to hurt his chances of pursuing an NFL career.
“I know some negative stuff went to the pro scouts,” he said. “My scout at Kansas City told me that Coach Dye told him that I didn’t want to play pro ball. Coach Dye himself told me to forget about playing pro ball, that I wouldn’t have the chance. But that only made me want to work harder to get the opportunity to get drafted.”
When Ramsey wrote his paper, he was merely trying to earn a grade and express some of the frustration and anger he had built up inside of him, he said. Now, he says he’s said all he wants for the time being, but also added that much more damaging information could be forthcoming.
He is also concerned about his career and threatened to tell the rest of his story if anyone from Auburn tries to sabotage his chances of making the Chiefs or attempts to hurt his family.
“I’ve been drafted by an NFL team and can’t even get a $1,000 loan because they (Auburn coaches) make one phone call,” he said.
“But what I’ve said is just a small part of it. I haven’t even talked about the illegal things. There are a lot of other things to be said. If anything happens to jeopardize my life in Kansas City, or they threaten me or my family, the story will be told. If I have to be the Martin Luther King of this generation, I will be.”
As a former player, Deen said he couldn’t understand Ramsey’s motives or what could have turned him against the Auburn program.
“There are so many things that (Dye) has done for former players that for someone to turn their back on him is a shame,” Deen said. “You play for a coach, and you’re around him for that period of time, so he’s like a father.
“It’s one of the most impressionable times of your life when you’re away from your mom and dad. You lean on him. I’m sure it hurts Coach Dye for some of these things to come out of one of them. This is just a black eye on us. It’s a black eye on him. I’m just sorry that Eric made those comments and hope that he will be sorry later.”