More money than God: Full audio of Gordon Gee’s comments

A full audio recording of Ohio State president Gordon Gee’s comments has been posted, courtesy of Sports Illustrated. Gee came under fire after he made some critical comments about Notre Dame, the SEC, and a whole list of other topics surrounding college athletics. Have a listen:

Not included in the original quotes of his comments was this gem:

“[The addition of Maryland and Rutgers to the Big Ten] gives us 40 to 50 million more viewers, makes the BTN worth more money than God. I did say that. It’s a very powerful instrument for us.”

Not sure how Gee could possibly know how much money God has, but maybe he has some inside info. I mean, the Big Ten makes a lot of money from the Big Ten Network, but if that is the standard we’re using to define “more money than God,” there are an awful lot of folks out there who happen to have more money than God.

But hey, let’s just make sure the athletes responsible for generating all that cash don’t get a piece of it.

Oh, and he referred to former Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema as a thug:

“Someone was saying to me, well, you know, Bret Bielema leaving … that was a blessing for Wisconsin and they knew it. Because he was under tremendous pressure. They didn’t like him. Barry Alvarez thought he was a thug. And he left just ahead of the sheriff.”

I have to imagine Mr. Gee would not say that to Bielema’s face.

Gee has since sent an apology letter to the Ohio State community. Since this is not the first, second, or third time Gee has made statements that have drawn criticism, the Ohio State trustees have instructed Gee to hire a “coach” to help him keep his statements inside the lines, according to the Columbus Dispatch. The trustees have also made it clear that if something like this happens again, it may cost him his job.

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