The $100 Handshake

[joejlitz]

Here's a nice story about the Eagles recently drafted Fenuki Tupou.

FENUKI TUPOU had lunch last summer with a guy who worked for an agent. He said the guy picked up the check for his part of the meal, which was only $10 - not a big deal but not exactly permitted under NCAA rules, either. He was an offensive tackle at Oregon, flattered at the interest being shown to him and, well, it was only $10.

At the end of the lunch, Tupou said, the guy shook his hand - and buried in his palm were five $20 bills. It was like something out of a bad movie, a hundred-dollar handshake. Tupou was getting ready for his senior year - he had no idea the Eagles would end up drafting him in the fifth round in 2009, no idea about a lot of things - and, suddenly, this.

He said he knew it was wrong, that he tried to give the money back but that the guy wouldn't take it. He also said he didn't know what to do. Five $20 bills.

"I just threw it away in my underwear drawer, under a bunch of stuff," Tupou said. "I felt too guilty to do anything with it. It just didn't feel right."

July became August and the football season beckoned. Tupou was looking to excel, to get drafted into the NFL. But he said there was this ache that he could not shake.

http://www.philly.com/dailynews/sports/ ... lunch.html