Scandals & Feuds ·
Texas Player Left Before Sugar Bowl Amid Identity Allegation
In December 1995, a newspaper reported that the reserve known as Ron McKelvey was 30-year-old Ron Weaver. He denied being an impostor; Texas declared him ineligible and planned to give its information to the FBI.
Before Texas could play Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl on Dec. 31, 1995, its officials were trying to establish the identity of one of their own players. The reserve known to the Longhorns as Ron McKelvey had been accused of being someone else: Ron Weaver, a 30-year-old with six seasons at two California junior colleges. By the morning before the game, the player had left the team.
The allegation came from The Californian newspaper in Salinas, California. It reported that Weaver was playing under McKelvey’s name; Weaver’s mother and a former teammate identified the man pictured in the Texas media guide as Weaver. But when the Associated Press contacted the player late Friday night, he denied being an impostor.
Texas officials questioned him as they investigated. “It looks like he did provide false information,” associate sports information director John Bianco told the AP. After a second meeting Saturday morning, Bianco said, the player left. “His roommate said he packed his bags and left.” The team learned of his absence when it tried to locate him.
Texas then declared the player ineligible and removed him from the team. Coach John Mackovic described the possible criminal implications conditionally: “If, in fact, he’s not Ron McKelvey and he used Ron McKelvey’s identity and social security number, that lends itself to criminal violations.” School officials said they intended to give information gathered during their investigation to the FBI.
The story also carried a disputed explanation for why someone might undertake such a deception. The Californian said Weaver intended to write a book about college football scandals and had disclosed the scheme in a telephone interview from New Orleans. A 2015 VICE retrospective said Weaver rejected the book explanation.
In the later account, Weaver’s own description of his attachment to football was simpler. Speaking to Sports Illustrated, he put it this way: “My lifelong dream was to play football, and I wanted it to last forever.” Before the Sugar Bowl, Texas was left with questions about the name on its roster—and a room from which the player and his bags had gone.