8 Years Ago Today, Bobby Petrino Conducted the Most Ridiculous Press Conference In College Football History
Who could possibly forget Bobby Petrino's infamous post-motorcycle crash press conference which eventually led to his firing after the emergence of the fact he was with his mistress whom he had hired to work in the Arkansas athletic department just days earlier?
College football in the South, man. Ain't nothing crazier.
For those who may not remember, Jesica Dorrell was hired as a Student-Athlete Development Coordinator at the University of Arkansas on March 28, 2008. Just a few days later, on April 1, she was involved in the motorcycle crash with Petrino. The above press conference occurred on April 3 and Petrino was fired on April 10.
And not that there's ever any good way to get caught in an extramarital affair, but I don't believe I've heard one worse than a police report publicizing your mistress was on the back of your motorcycle which you crashed — causing you to be in a neck brace — after you had just finished telling the media and public that nobody was with you. And if that wasn't bad enough, the affair and lying about it was enough to get Petrino fired with cause, so he also lost out on an $18 million buyout.
And it's easy to forget, but Arkansas was coming off a combined 21-5 record in the two seasons prior to Petrino's firing. The Razorbacks haven't topped eight wins and have had just three winning seasons in the eight years since.
What a wild story. Other sports are great and all, but there will never be anything that compares to the sheer absurdity of SEC football.