Current Houston Texans running back Arian Foster, a former player for the Tennessee Volunteers, has never been shy about his feelings for the NCAA or the benefits he received while in college. Back in 2013, Foster said he was "getting money on the side" during his senior season in Knoxville, though he didn't really go into specifics about how much.
That changed on Thursday. Foster appeared on the Dan LeBatard Show and said he received between $40,000 and $50,000 throughout his career at Tennessee.
"You have people help you out here and there," Foster said. "Boosters and alumni and ex-players, they all know how it is, man. It's hard living check to check when you don't have enough money to go out to the movies or any kind of leisure activity. And you're not allowed to get a job. Especially when I was in college, they were a lot more stringent on those rules, so at any given chance I got the opportunity, I took a free handout. Absolutely."
As you'd expect, Foster's comments created quite a stir, even if it wasn't the first time he admitted to taking money in college. This time, it was the startling amount of money he claimed to receive, but Foster backtracked on the comments on Friday, taking to his Twitter account to say he was only joking.
Vol fans, it was a joke. I didn't get no where near 50k.
— Feeno (@ArianFoster) January 30, 2015
Joke or not, you can be sure Tennessee doesn't really enjoy hearing Foster saying these things publicly.
Of course, even if Foster was only joking, you'll notice he didn't say he was joking about receiving money, only about the amount.
