Like It Is

Razorbacks' Garner guilty only of being human

WALLY HALL
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

No matter what you hear or read about some self-imposed sanctions, Randy Garner is a very special person.
A good person with a conscience and character.
When the Arkansas Athlete Outreach organization needs a Razorback, Garner always makes himself available.
A year ago when Carlos Hall was having problems, it was Garner who went to him, reached out a helping hand and said, "I got your back."
They are now best friends who go to Bible study together.
In fact, Garner spends almost as much time reading the Bible and praying as he does practicing, and everyone knows what a force he is on the football field.
What Garner is guilty of is one thing. Being human.
He made a mistake.
A $72 mistake.
He received a $100 check from J&H Trucking but was owed only $28 (before taxes) for 31/2 hours work.
The only way he could get his money was to cash the entire check (and he has repaid the overpayment).
He wanted, needed his money.
That was why during the Cotton Bowl he passed on the trip to the Book Depository Museum, the site from where Lee Harvey Oswald reportedly shot John F. Kennedy.
He would have enjoyed the trip or some free time, but he needed to work, which is legal by NCAA rules.
He and D.J. Cooper moved desks at the trucking company.
Ironically, the next day a Dallas television station did a story with Carrie Harrod, who was in divorce proceedings from Ted Harrod Jr.
Carrie Harrod claimed hundreds of thousands of dollars had been given to athletes from the University of Arkansas for work they didn't perform.
Those allegations were not proved, but it was enough to bring Southeastern Conference investigator Bill Sievers, a retired FBI agent, to Dallas.
Of course, he interviewed every Razorbacks athlete who was on the books for having worked, and when he asked Garner how many hours he had worked, it never occurred to Garner to be anything but honest.
Garner told him 31/2 hours. Sievers even asked Garner if he was sure, and he said, yes, he was positive.
George Washington, our first president, cut down a cherry tree and when he was honest about it was not punished. We've all been taught honesty is the best policy.
Garner was honest and he will be punished. He'll sit out one football game.
For his part, Ted Harrod Sr., who has been a booster of the UA football and basketball programs since 1980, has been banned from all Razorbacks events for five years.
For a $72 violation that seems harsh, especially if the rumor of losing two scholarships next season proves true.
One UA source said, "This is a backlash from the basketball investigation. I don't think they were ever satisfied during the 1996 investigation."
When Harrod was in the asphalt and concrete business he routinely hired Razorbacks athletes, but mostly basketball players during the summer.
This time around Harrod simply no longer had the records Sievers wanted to study and when the NCAA called to follow up on the SEC's investigation, Harrod, as most businessmen would, told them to talk to his attorney.
That did not set well with the NCAA or the SEC, who invoked Harrod's suspension.
Harrod and his wife, Linda, are personal friends of Frank and Barbara Broyles and have traveled all over the world with them.
According to another source, Broyles has been really stressed out about the situation.
Just as Houston Nutt has been about any shadow falling on the reputation of Randy Garner (and the possible loss of two scholarships next season).
When all of this began to be a problem weeks ago, Nutt said: "I can't believe Randy is involved in this. He's one of the finest young men I've ever been around, and I don't say that lightly.
"He's the kind of young man you hope and pray will have everything go their way because he has worked for everything he has gotten and he's never forgotten where he came from."
Now, Garner is going to have to sit out a game -- because he was honest -- and suffer a little embarrassment.
Then it will all be over because Randy Garner is a good person.

Join Wally, Keith Jackson and Marcus Elliott live at 6 tonight, Comcast Cable channel 18.

This article was published on Sunday, August 27, 2000

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