direct cash payments to players and their families. This is more of a reality than we all want to admit. There was an interesting article about this a while back (http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2014/4/10/5594348/college-football-bag-man-interview). I'm not sure how much of it's true, but it seems completely plausible.

One great example that came to light is that Cam Newton's dad reportedly turned down $180,000 for his son to play at Miss St (http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/7190987/auburn-tigers-records-reveal-details-cam-newton-scandal) so he could go play at Auburn FOR FREE?! Doubtful. My guess is that some Auburn booster ponied up more than that.