Univ. of Texas AD DeLoss Dodds Thursday said that Texas A&M “could have been a partner with Texas in a lucrative television network but wasn’t interested,” according to the Jim Vertuno of the AP. Dodds said that he first met with A&M AD Bill Byrne “about the idea of an Aggies-Longhorns network about four years ago but Byrne didn’t seem interested.” Dodds added that Byrne tried to “re-open discussions about a year ago, but by then it was too late.” Dodds: “I said we were too far down the road. We had to figure out how to do it by ourselves.” Dodds said that Texas “has been unfairly cast as greedy for pursuing a network that has been blamed for shaking up the Big 12.” Dodds: “It’s not about what we did. It’s about what they didn’t do -- create their own network” (AP, 9/1). Dodds said, “We did it for the right reasons, and we’re still doing it for the right reasons. We feel good and make no apologies. Should we apologize for someone paying us for it? I say no” (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 9/2). Byrne on Wednesday wrote, “Three or four years ago we talked about doing a joint flagship channel. I liked the idea, but our fans should know me better than to think I would pass on a $150 million for Texas A&M. That never happened” (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 9/2).
