Friday, February 26, 1999
Gambling addict gives UK athletes insights
Lundy fumbled to beat spread
BY TIM WHITMIRE
The Associated Press
LEXINGTON, Ky. — A former Northwestern University running back told Kentucky student-athletes his decision to intentionally fumble in a 1994 game was a direct result of his addiction to gambling.
“I knew that I had a couple of hundred dollars on the game,” Dennis Lundy said Thursday night. “Gambling itself, that overrode. I was not thinking logically at the time.”
Mr. Lundy spoke at the University of Kentucky's on-campus gymnasium, Memorial Coliseum, during a seminar on sports gambling conducted by UK athletic department. It was Mr. Lundy's first public appearance since pleading guilty to one count of perjury in federal court in Chicago this month.
“You just don't think logically,” Mr. Lundy said of his decision to fumble near the goal line during a 1994 game against Iowa. “You're going to do whatever it takes to win that bet.”
Mr. Lundy's fumble kept the Wildcats from covering the point spread in the game and allowed him to win a $400 bet.
A teammate subsequently accused Mr. Lundy of intentionally fumbling to protect a bet and the school launched an investigation after an assistant coach overheard the charge. Mr. Lundy was suspended for the final game of the 1994 season.
Federal authorities ended up taking over the probe, eventually indicting Mr. Lundy and three other former players on charges they lied to a grand jury investigating the case. In pleading
guilty to the perjury charge, Mr. Lundy also admitted he bet on Northwestern games against Ohio State and Notre Dame.
Mr. Lundy said he started gambling for fun. “It's kind of like football, when you're out there and you've got the adrenaline flowing,” he said.
He said negative media coverage of his case in Chicago forced him to confront his gambling addiction and quit, which he said he was able to do without professional help.
“I'm very well known in Chicago,” Mr. Lundy said. “I got a lot of bad press.”
Gambling “is going to compromise your values, you're going to do things you never thought you'd do,” he told the students. “It's rough. You should get help before you get caught, and that's the key.”
Also addressing the students was Mitzi Schlichter, ex-wife of former Ohio State and Indianapolis Colts quarterback Art Schlichter, who is in jail for forgery and theft he committed in an attempt to pay off gambling debt.
“Gambling has cost Art his career, his family and his two daughters,” Mrs. Schlichter said, describing how the couple's 4-year-old has learned to hold her arms out for the metal detector when she visits her father in prison.
Mr. Lundy is scheduled to be sentenced in May. His appearance at Kentucky was part of a plea agreement under which he also must cooperate with authorities. In exchange, prosecutors say they will recommend he be sentenced to less than the normal six months to a year for the perjury conviction.
“Right now, I'm trying to recoup my life, get my life back together,” he said.
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