Former OSU Player Says His Story Was Left Out Of Sports Illustrated's Article

Cowboy fans have been criticizing the authors of a five-part Sports Illustrated investigation into the Oklahoma State University football program. The Pulitzer Prize-winning co-author George Dohrmann said he wrote every word on the page, while Thayer Evans conducted a lot of the interviews and played a substantial role in the researching of it.

Fans say Evans has a bias against OSU.

Former OSU running back Greg Gold said he was interviewed by Thayer Evans, but his story wasn't used. He said he didn't make the cut in because he didn't give Evans the answers he was looking for.

"It's very one-sided, it's fiction," Gold said.

Gold said he is one of dozens of Oklahoma State football players approached by Evans, but said his side of the story has yet to be heard.

"I think he was a predator, I think he was after players that he knew could build his entertaining story," Gold said.

9/11/2013 Related Story: Fans Criticize Co-Author Of Sports Illustrated OSU Investigation

Gold said Evans showed up on his doorstep in Houston at 9:45 on a Thursday night back in January.

"I knew something wasn't right. Felt kind of like I needed to take a shower after talking to him," Gold said.

The reporter said he wanted to talk about life after football, but it didn't take long for him to switch to life while playing football. That's when Gold said he realized there was a hidden agenda.

"Obviously, the guys that interviewed, or the sources, should I say, unfortunately they weren't smart enough to realize that and got caught into a trap," Gold said.

He said he told Evans the program ran a tight ship when it came to academics, and he denied that any player or recruit was ever paid for performance.

"The guys that are claiming to get paid didn't do anything to get paid," Gold said.

9/11/2013 Related Story: SI Releases Part Two Of Their OSU Investigation Dealing With Academic Improprieties

The same could be said for Gold. He came into the program as a top recruit from Texas, but didn't see the field as much as he would have liked.

So, after getting his degree at OSU, he left to finish his college career at Texas State.

"If there's anybody that's disgruntled here, or has the right to be, surely that's me," Gold said.

Turns out, Gold is anything but disgruntled, but he said Evans was targeting players who might have had it out for OSU.

He said the program as it is today was built on honesty, blood, sweat and tears.

Gold said he's frustrated more than anything, because he doesn't understand what the former players who made the allegations are getting from it 10 or more years later.

We reached out to Thayer Evans, by both phone and email, but he hasn't gotten back to us.