STARKVILLE — The open records request that brought a rapid, unceremonious end to the Hugh Freeze era in Ole Miss football was the product of an accidental miscommunication.
Steve Robertson — a sports blogger and one of the investigative players in unearthing Ole Miss’ alleged NCAA improprieties — has worked with Thomas Mars, the lawyer representing former Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt in his federal lawsuit against the school, throughout the process.
Nutt is suing the school, in part, for crediting his tenure for the bulk of NCAA infractions in the football program.
As Mars was looking for more to boost his case against Ole Miss, Robertson said he suggested the attorney request the phone records for the weekend of Jan. 20-22, the weekend in which news of Ole Miss’ notice of allegations from the NCAA was expected.
Mars inadvertently asked for records from a few days prior, ultimately unearthing Freeze’s Jan. 19 call to an escort service. The call was reported in July and led to Freeze’s resignation.
Robertson said as much when he spoke to the Starkville Rotary Club Monday afternoon. Robertson was also promoting his book, “Flim Flam: The Truth Behind the Blind-Faith Culture that Led to the Explosive NCAA Investigation of Ole Miss Football,” due to be released in a matter of weeks.
“If we had written it on time, it would just be a pretty good book,” Robertson said. “Because of the fact that things kept happening and the story kept unfolding, I’m not going to be bashful. It’s a great book.”
Robertson then pivoted back to his working with Mars, a happy accident in itself. A friend approached Robertson about speaking with Mars, an offer that didn’t strike Robertson positively at the time.
“As litigious as our state has become, I don’t even like talking to my own lawyers, much less somebody else’s,” he joked.
As Robertson relented, Mars could tell he was reluctant. So, as Robertson told it, “(Mars) said, ‘I can tell you’re reluctant, so in a show of good faith, we’ll give you the proceeds from all of our open records requests on Ole Miss. If there’s anything of value in there that is useful for your book, you have my permission to use it.’ I’d have been a fool not to take it.”
The relationship eventually led to the phone records request that unveiled what Ole Miss later labeled a pattern of conduct it found unacceptable, prompting its asking Freeze to resign. Robertson had a personal message about that day.
“One of the things I think is important for people to understand is how much I agonize over all that,” he said. “A lot of people have taken a lot of glee in this. When I first found the calls, I explained to Mars that one thing that’s important to remember is that there are three girls in this deal that are never going to look at their daddy the same way again. You’ve got to be right. You can’t push this stuff in the national media and be wrong.
“This isn’t a kid getting an extra piece of cake on an official visit, this is real life stuff,” he added.
That said, Robertson also made it clear, “I don’t have any sympathy for Hugh Freeze. None whatsoever.”
Robertson spoke just minutes after reports broke that Mars offered Ole Miss a settlement in the suit: an apology for inaccurate statements about Nutt and a donation of $500,000 to create a state commission on sports ethics.
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