Brenda Tracy having 27 phone calls over 30 minutes long with Mel Tucker invites Fox Sports radio host's opinion
Mel Tucker has been suspended without pay from coaching the Michigan State Spartans. Facing accusations of sexual harassment levied by Brenda Tracy, he has maintained that the two had a consensual personal relationship.
The rape survivor and sexual assault prevention advocate has accused him of sending unwanted sexual advances, including masturbating on a phone call, without her consent.
Clay Travis of Fox Sports and OutKick discussed Tracy's allegations, voicing his opinion that Tucker may be innocent of any wrongdoing. On his podcast, Travis focused on the 27 calls between the two, which was reported by USA Today:
"We know some of the details because of the Title IX investigation. Twenty-seven phone calls between the two. The average length of those phone calls over 30 minutes, many of them late at night. So, let me just start here. How many people, if you are watching and or listening to me right now, how many of you have made 27 phone calls lasting over 30 minutes in length to any person in America so far this year? I have not.
"I do not believe there is a single person that I have called 27 times and had the average length of our phone conversations be over 30 minutes. My wife, my mom, co workers, my kids, there is no one in America that I have called 27 times and had the average phone conversation last over a half hour.
"I bet most of you watching or listening to me as well would say the same thing. An over 30-minute phone call average on 27 different phone calls. That means you've spent over 14-and-a-half hours on the phone with someone else. To me, OK, on its face, that does not sound like a work relationship.
"When I'm having work relationship phone calls, they aren't going on over 30 minutes every single time. It just doesn't happen. I don't talk to my kids that long on the phone. I don't talk to my own wife. I don't talk to my own mom that long on the phone. OK? I just don't."
Check out Clay Travis' full comments here.
Travis said that Tracy appears to be seeking vengeance after Tucker ended their relationship. He said that no crime has been committed and that the suspended coach's hefty contract could be the reason for his suspension.
Mel Tucker has claimed that Brenda Tracy initiated his actions on disputed phone call
Mel Tucker has been adamant that he is not guilty of any wrongdoing in his relationship with Brenda Tracy.
The suspended Michigan State Spartans coach released a statement on Monday in which he claimed that Tracy was responsible for initiating the actions on the disputed phone call:
"It was an entirely mutual, private event between two adults living at opposite ends of the country. She initiated the discussion that night, sent me a provocative picture of the two of us together, suggested what she may look like without clothes, and never once during the 36 minutes did she object in any manner, much less hang up the phone."
Check out Mel Tucker's full statement here.
Tucker was interviewed by Title IX investigator Rebecca Leitman Veidlinger in March. In July, she ruled that there was no finding of fault. However, a hearing is planned for October.