While college football may not boast the same level of popularity as the NFL, it still attracts significant attention nationwide. With recent changes allowing players to earn money through NIL deals, some college athletes are already making NFL-level money. However, there are concerns that young players may also be receiving enormous sums through illegal channels.
Advertisement
Former Vanderbilt quarterback Mo Hasan recently discussed these experiences on his “Momentum Podcast“, sending shockwaves through the football community. Hasan, while recalling his playing days in college, shared an experience he encountered while he was out with his friends at Jason AlDean’s bar in Nashville.
He revealed that while he went to order drinks; he was approached by a member of the Italian Mob, who openly asked him to fix football games. That’s not all; he even offered $300,000 for the job, leaving him stunned.
The mobster even mentioned that his clients typically paid from $250,000 to $300,000 per game to manipulate the outcome. He stated that they (the Italian Mafia) often target players playing important positions, implying that such manipulation is more common than one might think.
“He named guys in the SEC. Who I don’t want to say their names — because they’re in the NFL right now and that’s a bad deal. But University of Alabama I will tell you that,” Mo Hasan claimed. “He said that almost every game in the SEC is rigged”
Hasan was taken aback when the mobster began naming specific players from the SEC and the University of Alabama, who were involved in such game-fixing schemes. Hasan disclosed that many of those players are currently playing in the NFL. The former quarterback refrained from taking names, but he alleged that the stranger in the bar suggested that almost every SEC game was being rigged.
Football Fans Doubt Mo Hasan’s Mob Encounter
Mo Hasan’s claims caused quite a stir among football fans, with many refusing to believe the former college athlete’s words. While some fans didn’t outright reject the idea of rigging, they raised doubts about Mo Hasan’s claim of being approached by the Italian Mob. They pointed to his sub-par college stats and the program (Vanderbilt) he was playing for, which wasn’t very shiny.
A fan stated,
Another one wrote,
A football enthusiast expressed,
A social media user mentioned,
Someone else said,
Mo Hasan spent two seasons at Vanderbilt University as a backup quarterback, where he threw for only 158 yards and one touchdown across seven games. He then transferred to USC, where he remained for his last three seasons but didn’t play any games.
Additionally, in the offseason of 2023, he announced on social media that he had joined the Tennessee Titans, likely at a practice-squad level, ahead of the rookie minicamp, as per Titans Wire. Currently, no NFL team is affiliated with Mo Hasan, and he has not played any games in the league.
