Fake letters aimed at Ohio State recruit

[buckeye21]

Friday, February 8, 2008 3:06 AM
By Ken Gordon
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Before signing a letter of intent, Willie Mobley dealt with letters falsely sent.

In November, the defensive lineman from Eden Prairie, Minn., committed to play football at Ohio State. Despite continuing pressure from other schools, Mobley signed with the Buckeyes on Wednesday.

But not before he received two letters, on Ohio State letterhead and postmarked Columbus, allegedly signed by coach Jim Tressel. The first one showed up in early January, and the second one Wednesday.

They informed Mobley that his Ohio State scholarship offer was being withdrawn and wished him luck wherever he ended up.

Mobley wasn't fooled, mainly because of the amateurish presentation.

"I looked at them like, 'What the heck? This is fake,' " Mobley said last night. "There were all these misspellings, and you couldn't even read the signature, it was like, 'Jim, scribble-scribble.' "

Mobley said he called Tressel to tell him about the hoax, "and he told me a whole bunch of stories about these letters going around, that (quarterback recruit) Terrelle (Pryor) got one, too."

Through a spokesperson, Tressel declined comment.

Mobley just laughed it off.

"I sure hope the person who did it wasn't 30 years old or something, because it's embarrassing," he said.