Fake News before it became a hash tag

In continuing the reflections on my nearly 20 year career covering college football recruiting, I couldn't help but remember one of the most trying times of my professional career.

One recruit accused me of "making up quotes" for a story.

Yes, I was accused of pushing fake news long before Donald Trump emerged as the Pinocchio of modern times.

The incident occurred early in the tenure of Charlie Weis. I had contacted a recruit who had drawn scholarship offers from most of the elite college football teams, including Notre Dame. The Irish hadn't had much luck recruiting in this state. Located in SEC country, most of the top talent stayed home and played for the in-state powerhouse or traveled to one of the adjacent SEC states.

In talking with this prospect he told me he loved Notre Dame and Charlie Weis and he was ready to commit to the Irish, all he needed was a phone call from Weis himself.

I asked about the in-state school and another SEC powerhouse program, where his brother played. He said he wanted to leave the state and he couldn't follow his brother because the coach there didn't treat his brother well.

The next day, the story is posted and all hell broke loose.

The publications that cover the in-state school immediately reached out to the prospect for comment. They couldn't believe this elite prospect would leave the state for Notre Dame! One publication called me out personally after hearing from the kid that I had made up the story.

Of course, my bosses contacted me to find out what had happened. I explained to them and shared the audio of the conversation. Technology was on my side.

To make matters worse, this happened shortly after the Stinky Feet episode, so even some Notre Dame fans were skeptical of my work after I was accused by another publisher of stealing his information. 

Later that day I reached out the prospect, who told me he no longer wanted to talk to me and he gave the phone to his brother. I explained to the brother that I had audio of the conversation that I would release if necessary.

I also talked to one of the in-state school publishers, who worked for the same network (Rivals.com). I explained to him that I had audio of the call and he should call off the dogs.

Some time later, a few days or so, the prospect backed off his claims that I made up the story.

In the end, he committed to the same school where his brother had played, despite his comments about the head coach and how his brother had been treated.

That was the single worst day of my professional life. There is nothing worse than having your integrity and professionalism questioned.

Even to this day I record all my phone calls, work related or not. I have an app on my phone, Total Recall, that kicks on when I make or answer a phone call. The recording is saved and automatically gets uploaded to my Google Drive folder. I keep most phone calls for several months, just in case.