Todd Gurley whistleblower says he never meant to hurt Georgia

The man who paid Georgia running back Todd Gurley $400 to sign memorabilia said he never intended to hurt Gurley’s eligibility.

In interviews with ESPN and Sports Illustrated, Bryan Allen detailed his interaction with Gurley, which took place in a car in the parking lot of Gurley’s apartment complex.

In the interview, Allen told the media outlets he went to meet Gurley with a man named Shane Smith. Smith asked Allen to drive and to pony up $250 of the $400 they needed to pay for the autographs.

During the deal, Allen said he sat in the backseat while Smith and Gurley sat up front. Smith would hand Gurley things to sign, Gurley would sign them and they would end up with Allen in the backseat.

However, during the signing, Allen said he started to become suspicious as Smith started taking pictures of the car and of Allen and the memorabilia. Allen said he started to worry he was being set up.

"I'm kinda nervous," Allen said. "I introduce myself to Todd Gurley and sit in the backseat. He [Smith] tells me to hand him the stuff and bag it up. If you want anything special [personalized], tell him.

"They're doing their thing and Shane starts taking pictures of the inside of my car. We're in my car. I have all the money [Allen said Smith told him to put the $400 in his pocket]. Why would he ask me to hold the money? He's done this many times. He's taking pictures of my car. Am I being set up on this? Honest to God, that's what was going through my head. There's no proof of [Smith] being there and [Gurley] could identify me."

Allen said he took (and subsequently showed ESPN and SI) a nearly 5 minute cell phone video detailing the transaction as a way of protecting himself and proving his story.

Allen said six months later, he received a couple phone calls from unknown numbers asking about the transaction and he said that caused him to panic. He said a friend told him he should come clean before someone else tried to tell the story of what happened. So, Allen contacted a couple different Florida media members, Deadspin and ultimately got in touch with Georgia’s compliance department, which led to Gurley’s suspension.

Allen said that panicking and contacting various Florida media outlets was a terrible decision on his part and that if he could take it back, he would.

"I can't change any of that stuff -- any of those emails, me talking to the school, how it was handled -- I can't change any of that," Allen said. "If I could, I would.

"Because I never wanted to screw over Gurley. I never wanted to screw over their fans or anything like that. That was never my intention. I wish I had never even gone down there. It's not worth it."

For more Georgia news, visit UGASports.com.

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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter! Follow @YahooDrSaturday

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