Former Texas Football Star Accuses Urban Meyer of 'Pay for Play' – Sports Illustrated

In the 2000 recruiting class, the Texas Longhorns landed one of the best wide receiver classes in program history, and perhaps even college football history, when they signed Roy Williams, Sloan Thomas, and B.J. Johnson.
The trio would go on to set Texas records before also moving on to the NFL, cementing their status and forever linking them together as three of the best receivers to ever do it in Austin.
However, the Longhorns had to fight off some serious competition to land the three star pass catchers. And as Johnson revealed in a recent podcast interview with On Texas Football, he revealed a crazy story about then Notre Dame wide receivers coach, Urban Meyer, in which he accuses the now national-championship winning coach of a pay-for-play offer to sign with the Irish.
"Hell, Urban Meyer locked me in an office in my school, and no bullsh*t, asked me straight up," Johnson said during the interview. "He was like, 'BJ. How much?' And this was when he was at Notre Dame at the time. And, it caught me off guard because I just thought we (were) talking football. And he was like, ‘Nah, how much?' So, it's been going on."
"That's the unfortunate part about this. Think about the guys who didn't get the chance to have a career because they decided to take some money. Now you look up now and guys are making a couple million dollars, and you're like, 'I still don't have a degree, because you wouldn't let me play football.'"
Obviously, Meyer's plea didn't work, and Johnson ended up in Austin, where he would go on to haul in 152 catches for 2,389 yards and 16 touchdowns, averaging 15.7 yards per reception.
What makes that even sweeter for Texas, is that, according to Johnson they were able to bring him in on their own merit, without offering the same kind of deal that he alleges Meyer to have offered.
"In all honesty, I never got offered anything from UT," Johnson said. "Coach (Mack) Brown was a straight-up guy."
MATT GALATZAN
Matt Galatzan is the Publisher of LonghornsCountry.com, AllAggies.com, and the Managing Editor of BuckeyesNow.com and TheGroveReport.com He is also the Editor-In-Chief of RamDigest.com and TexansDaily.com. Galatzan graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration.  Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry under Mike Fisher at DallasBasketball.com in 2014, which at the time was part of the 247Sports network. He also spent two years covering the SMU Mustangs for PonyStampede.com on the 247Sports network.  When DallasBasketball.com and CowboysCountry.com moved over to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, Galatzan followed suit, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of LonghornsCountry.com and AllAggies.com a year later.  Through the years, Galatzan has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, former Longhorns players Dan Neil and Phil Dawson, and many other recruits, and current/former players for each of the teams he has covered.  Galatzan is also a full-time employee in the digital media department for Audacy and KRLD FM's 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, which is the official radio home of the Dallas Cowboys.  You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan For any inquiries, please email matt.galatzan@gmail.com
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