COLLEGE STATION – This whole Sean Salisbury supposedly mentoring Kenny Hill concept is off to a rugged start.
On Wednesday, Salisbury, a former NFL quarterback turned ESPN personality turned radio show host, said on his two radio shows he’d been asked by the Hill family to mentor Kenny Hill, the sophomore Texas A&M quarterback who was suspended last week from the A&M program for the second time in nine months.
On Thursday, a Dallas Morning News blog post cited a source close to the Hill family claiming no “agreement was solidified” with Salisbury, and that the Hill family was “comfortable with the guidance Hill is receiving at A&M.”
Kenny Hill will not play Saturday at Auburn due to suspension. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
I asked Salisbury via Twitter if perhaps the family didn’t expect him to immediately begin advertising the planned union with the troubled quarterback – his first suspension was for public intoxication, the second for the ever-dreaded violation of team rules and athletic department policy – and he responded that he’d been given the OK to discuss as much.
He also said on his afternoon radio show in Houston on 97.5 FM that the family considered it “good” that he’d announce his planned mentorship of Hill. Salisbury, who left ESPN amid controversy, also used a chunk of his radio show to address the sudden hubbub surrounding the odd Hill Mentoring story. A few of his quotes, and with Hill serving his second game of his suspension with the Aggies at No. 3 Auburn on Saturday:
* “We didn’t sign a contract, I’m a handshake guy anyway. We agreed to it over the phone. … I was supposed to talk to him today. And then last night they were ‘taking a hit’ on social media. … I said I’m not going to walk on eggshells every time somebody says something about me …”
* “Truth of the matter is I have plenty of clients. I’m doing this because I care about Kenny Hill. I got two really good jobs, I train plenty of quarterbacks and teach at plenty of camps. I added another guy because I care.”
* “I took enough of a beat down for eight years. Kenny Hill will never take the beat down I’ve taken, on and off the field, for that matter. I’m here to help the kid because I’m a fan.”
* “… When I’m told I can announce it on the radio, I think the pub I gave Kenny Hill was better pub than what he’s got in the past three weeks, I can sure as heck tell you that.”
* “… I’m still downplaying how much they wanted me to work with their son. Hell, I’m the one who had to see if I had availability this weekend. Is that an exaggeration?”
* “If they decide to go in a different direction because of a social media thing from eight years ago, that’s OK, too. … Over a stupid pic in a drunk bar – you know what, they knew that going in. I think you’d want someone who’s been in those life experiences, at least that’s what I was told. And I’ve been in that type of experience, but I can’t control that somebody is sitting in College Station who writes a blog doesn’t like the hire. OK. That’s why that person is writing a blog and I’m coaching and teaching.”
* “(Critics) don’t know me. They don’t know the crap I went through to get back to what I’m doing. Hell, I damn near wanted to jump off a bridge myself back when I was going through that. It sucked. Walk a mile in my shoes and find out where I’ve been before you start judging what I’m all about.”
* “… I can take your punches, that I do know. And I got news for you, I can throw them back, in a major way. … I’m talking about the perception on social media. … I hope I get to work with the Hills as agreed upon Tuesday. No exaggeration there. … Kenny Hill is going to do great things with or without me, I just hope I can be a part of it.”
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