Who believe's Ronnie Harmon got paid...

No one ever offered conclusive evidence of a fix but the signs all pointed in that direction. He was generally very good at protecting the ball. If memory serves he fumbled more times in that one game than he did in his college career. I remember he only fumbled once during that season before the Rose Bowl.
 
Interesting question here. If you watch the replay and watch how Harmon almost throws the ball at UCLA when he fumbled on the GL certainly made me suspicious and then the inexplicable dropped pass which was another odd one.

Yes someone had their hooks in Ronnie Harmon.
 
OldAlum said:
You need to read the book "Playing For Keeps" by Chris Mortenson. Harmon was on the take from agents who were connected guys. One of them got wacked out in a San Diego hotel room if I recall. Maly's article and the HBO piece cover the mob angle pretty clearly. No one has direct evidence that cash was handed over specifically in exchange for four fumbles - just evidence that Ronnie was on the take from the agents who presumably would cash in when he went pro. You can draw you own conclusions. Terry Donohue also has suggested that they identified a ball security issue with Harmon on film and coached up his guys to strip it that day. I have my own opinion and I've read enough to be comfortable in it but I suppose unless there is "definitive proof" no one can know. I've moved on but I don't think UCLA was the better team that year - hardly.
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Ball security issue or not there was at least 1 fumble where he never got touched...so unless AIR was scouting and could make a play on the ball I'd say Donahue is full of BS.
 
I believed that for the longest time and had dreams where I asked Hayden what he thought even though Hayden would never say anything ever I'm sure...

Then I watched a show 5-8 years ago where the UCLA Coach said when they watched film they noticed a fault on how Harmon carried the ball and exploited it.

I still can't honor this guy as a Hawkeye, but I've put it away.
 
It's hard to say for sure if he threw that game, but I remember seeing Ronnie Harmon in Iowa City bars that season. I remember one night in particular when he walked into the Fieldhouse or some place and was all decked out in white leather jacket, white leather pants, no shirt, gold chain and sunglasses.

This was about the time that Hayden had brought up the need for comepensation for players because they couldn't even afford to buy a hamburger for their girlfriends. I think Ronnie was able to afford that cheeseburger. :)
 
HawkAttack said:
I tend to believe where there is smoke, there is fire.
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Agree.
That Rose Bowl game (and Harmon) broke my friggen heart. I was a junior at the time, life was fantastic, great season, riding high, and then...thud. :mad:
 
Are all of you the same people who ardently hold on to the words "grassy knoll"? You chase your imaginations instead of trusting what evidence there is. C'mon!!! You make for great fiction. And I can make you believe that a Christmas tree has magic. Anything can be what you want to make it be. Not everything in life has 100% evidence. But that isn't reason to believe the contrary about it. (I will say that it makes great fun reading these threads, though.)
 
Assuming that what is being said here and before is true (I'm also right there agreeing) would you, as an Iowa fan, be willing to forgive if he copped to it?

I'm on the fence if that would be the case, but it would make me like Ronnie much more.
 
As much as I want to believe he did NOT throw that game, I am convinced that he did after talking to some of his teammates. I can't remember the details now but I don't think he had much of a choice. IE, threats were made if he DIDN'T throw the game.
 
Just some things to think about...

UCLA just lost to USC before playing Iowa in the Rose Bowl...their RB coughed up the ball on the goal line

Out of everyone associated with the crooked agents, I believe Harmon's claimed 54k in earnings recieved was much higher than anyone else had gotten. Maybe it was the 25k he received to lease a Benz?

Agent was connected to all of the "five families" for a long long time.

Mob ties claimed that they had already rigged several basket ball and base ball games leading upto the Rose Bowl

'86 Rose Bowl had the highest sports tv rankings for almost 20 years

Related rumor was that the agents had run up some debts of their own while shelling out money to prospects and needed to counter those by betting against Iowa in the Rose...they held Harmon in their pocket

UCLA and I believe Iowa both admitted that the Iowa defensive calls were being given away during the game by an Iowa defender. UCLA's highest point total of the year backs that up I guess
 
That team deserved a much better effort than they got from Ronnie Harmon in that game. Much better. Yeah, something was definitely very wrong.
 
To answer the OP's question...

I do, and there is really no doubt (in my mind) about it. I don't need to read or watch anything produced 25 years after the fact either.

Happy New Year!
 
I remember watching the game in a hotel in Puerto Vallerta, Mexico with a bar full of 'Fornians, whom the great majority agreed with me at the time that something was up. It was a shame to the rest of the team for sure. We were a much better team than UCLA. After all the articles and post game stories years later about Norby/Walters, there is no doubt in my mind that something was up. Those Harmon boys were sure always decked out in their chains and Mopeds (before mopeds were the rage) back in IC!
 
We'll probably never know for sure. It's certainly a possibility - if the recent scandals around college FB have taught us anything, it's that the game has always been closely tied to hijinks & shady dealings. Plus just the statistical improbability of someone who had fumbled only once in the regular season fumbling 4 times in a single game has to make you wonder.

I've watched all 4 fumbles (and the dropped pass) and I will say that, if the rumors are true, Harmon is a damn good actor because - in isolation - they all look very believable. IMHO the people saying the fumbles themselves look suspicious are misguided - it's when you consider they all happened within the same 60 mins of play that you start to question it.

On the other hand, and I'm saying this having never actually been a ball carrier in a contact football game, is it possible it could be pretty easy to artificially generate fumbles simply by loosening your grip on the ball? Seems like if I were going to throw a game (or coach a kid on how to throw a game), that would be some of the advice I would have to offer - just hold the ball with a light touch similar to how you would setting up for a bball jumper rather than the death grip you would normally keep on a football.

It would be impossible for anyone to tell you were not gripping as hard as you should. At game speed, it's unlikely even the defender performing the strip would really notice.

As far as the dropped TD pass goes, I do have to question what his motivation would have been considering Iowa was down 38-17 at that point...it would seem like it would be pretty safe to score one at that point.
 
I was just discussing this with a buddy a few days ago. As I recall, Harmon admitted to receiving $54K from his agent during his senior year, so for me whether he got paid isn't in doubt. As to throwing the Rose Bowl, my opinion is that he did. Not that I don't believe UCLA was trying to strip the ball, but the the dropped passes and some of the fumbles were just too outrageous for RH's talent. There was a little swing pass to the right that just clanked off his hands that was the tipping point for me.

ISTR RH telling somebody a couple of years later that he feared having his legs broken if he didn't cooperate. I don't remember where I read that or who he was talking to, and I can't find any other reference, so faulty memory is a possibility.

As for Hayden Fry sticking up for RH, he really doesn't have a choice. If he even concedes the possibility of RH throwing it, that opens up a big, messy can of worms, and he's just too savvy to go there.

For the "let it go" crowd, try telling an Illinois fan to let the Bruce Pearl/Deon Thomas thing go. :)
 
I don't know... I ran into Ronnie Harmon and asked him for his autograph, but he kept dropping the pen. He also didn't do too well in the NFL. I think he was a product of the environment and it just happened. I don't think he was paid to fail, I think he just failed.
 
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