PETRINO TO HOGS NOT AS SINISTER AS SOME WOULD HAVE YOU BELIEVE

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Then again, maybe it wasn’t as much on the up-and-up as some others would have you believe.

For months, we’ve heard that Bobby Petrino escaped Atlanta in the middle of the season with little or no regard for Falcons’ owner Arthur Blank or his franchise. 

Just a week ago, Peter King of Sports Illustrated wrote that Petrino STILL hasn’t apologized to Blank for sneaking away.

But Wally Hall of wholehogsports.com puts forth a very different story.  In this column, that delves into the chain of events that landed Petrino in Fayetteville, Hall writes that Petrino went to Blank as soon as the Razorbacks’ job came open… and Blank was good with it.

Accoring to what Hall’s been told, Blank let Petrino know that he never believed in labor contracts, didn’t have one with the company he founded, Home Depot, and he actually wished Petrino luck.

According to this story, it was Blank and the Falcons who waffled on a commitment made to Petrino, not the other way around.

And maybe that’s exactly what happened.  Maybe there were simply more people shouting the other side of the story (you know, “Petrino’s a rat fink”) because they were upset that anyone would leave their team mid-season.

Or maybe this is simply the spin of the coach and his people.  Afterall, there are only so many months of national media abuse that a man can take before firing back. 

It’s an interesting read whether you choose to believe this version of events or not.

In addition, here’s a step-by-step timeline of how Petrino was hired.