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Cash Grab: ESPN’s Emmanuel Acho says Texas players offered money for INTs in 2010 BCS title game
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Odell Beckham Jr.’s hundred-dollar handoff after Monday’s national title game has been a major topic of conversation in the days after LSU took down Clemson 42-25 to claim a national title. Some argue the NFL receiver made the night about himself, while others don’t have a huge issue with his actions.
ESPN analyst Emmanuel Acho is one who didn’t have a big problem with what Beckham was doing on Monday night at Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. In fact, he says that something similar happened when he was at Texas.
Acho, who played linebacker for the Longhorns from 2008-12, says that he and his teammates were offered $1,000 for every interception during the BCS National Championship Game in 2010 against Alabama.
“We went to the national championship game in 2009 and … it was public to the team, for every interception the defensive back got, they were going to get $1,000,” Acho said on Get Up. “For every pick y’all got against Alabama in the national championship game, you’re going to get $1,000. Now, the difference is we just didn’t do it publicly on the field.
“What my problem is, though, everybody masquerades Odell Beckham as a guy who thinks, ‘Oh, I plotted this out. I’m going to go out, hand this money and they’re going to talk about me on Get Up. That’s not what he’s thinking. That’s not what he’s thinking.”
It’s interesting that Acho would bring that up on a national stage, but he made the point to essentially say that Beckham isn’t the first to do something like this. Acho did admit, however, that the $1,000 reward for interceptions was behind closed doors.
Whether you believe it’s a big deal or not, it has certainly stolen the headlines over the last few days.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB