Todd Gurley autographs snitch attempting to clear his name

Back in October, Georgia running back Todd Gurley was suspended for breaking NCAA rules after allegedly signing autographs in exchange for money. We published an e-mail we received from a man who was attempting to get the story of Gurley’s autograph signing out in the media. We elected not to run with his story, as Spencer Hall put it, because “the purpose of this website is not to enforce the NCAA’s insane bylaws.”

That man was Bryan Allen, a Florida fan and sports memorabilia dealer who paid Gurley for autographs and proceeded to out him after allegedly being angry that the autographs lost value when Gurley made the same deal with other dealers. Allen has now taken to the press again, telling Sports Illustrated’s Andy Staples and ESPN’s Brett McMurphy that he did not intend to hurt the Georgia running back.

I never wanted to screw over Gurley. I never wanted to screw over their fans or anything like that. That was never my intention. I wish I had never even gone down there. It’s not worth it.

Let’s contrast that with comments in an e-mail allegedly sent to Deadspin by Allen!

I spent a few grand on the signing and Gurley has since kind of screwed me by doing this with about 30 other guys. The stuff has lost a ton of its value. Just wanna recoup some of my money.

Allen admitted to Staples and McMurphy that he sent an e-mail to Deadspin, but denied sending that one, a follow-up to the initial correspondence, after being shown the content of the message. He also seems to believe people are angry with him for getting Gurley to sign in the first place, rather than his actions following the signing.

“I never brokered any deal. That’s the huge part I want out there,” Allen says. “I never called a player. I never tried to set a signing up. Nothing. This guy came to me and asked me, ‘Will you help me with this?‘ You can’t just put the blame on one person because everybody’s equally to blame. All I had to do was tell him ‘No’ and none of this happens.”

Allen claimed to Staples and McMurphy he was just trying to be “open,” when he attempted to alert media members to Gurley’s actions, but in his e-mail to SB Nation he said he wanted “someone to leak this story that’s deserving.”