Only in the South: Mama steals a Letter of Intent, then lawyers up! Say What?

There are things that you wish were made up, but aren't. This is one of those sad cases.

Alex Collins, 18, made a verbal commitment to play football for Arkansas next fall for new coach Bret Bielema. On Wednesday, when Collins was ready to sign his National Letter of Intent, and make it official, on national television, no less (ESPNU spent the whole day glorifying this once mundane rite of passage), said letter was nowhere to be found. Turns out, his mother took the letter and ran.

SAY WHAT?

What parent would be that dense, if not overprotective above & beyond the call of duty, to pull a stunt like that? Mrs. Collins wanted her son to attend Miami, ignoring the fact that Alex had already made a commitment, and was standing by his word. Real men do that. It's an honor thing. Today, a day later than planned, with his father present, Collins finally signed the Letter. Mother wouldn't attend. She was, instead, according to Yahoo!, meeting with.........lawyers. Specifically, a firm founded by the late Johnnie Cochran, which says that they're representing not only Mama Collins, but "the family interests".

Let me repeat myself.......SAY WHAT?

This case doesn't need lawyers, mediators, Dr. Drew, or even Judge Judy. Dr. Phil, maybe, but my money'd be better off having Steve Harvey, best-selling author, game-and-talk-show host, and busiest man on the planet at the moment, getting the two sides together on his talk show, not Family Feud. We know Mama Collins is all kinds of wack, perhaps scared that her son is leaving the nest a wee bit too soon, but all I know is that, all kidding aside, someone in that family has some growing up to do, and it ain't the college boy.

Let's face facts. Miami is trying to dig out from under another scandal. So is Arkansas, which has gone through two coaches in as many seasons, with Bielema becoming the third in three years, but what's a kid to do when he makes a verbal or handshake deal with a coach? Reneging is not an option, though something might come along later that might change that mindset. We've seen that happen before.

All Mama Collins has earned, besides becoming the laughingstock of her hometown, is a set of Weasel ears for spoiling her son's moment, delaying it a day, then spending the next day at a lawyer's office instead of sharing her son's joy. As a high school senior, Alex Collins has the right to decide where he wants to continue his education. He is obligated, however, to have a parent present when he signs his Letter, and I imagine he wanted Mama there, but his father was there for him today. If I find out Alex is an only child, then we've got the motivation for Mama's folly. There's nothing worse in sports or entertainment than a stage parent. One thing's for sure. Alex ain't getting any Chunky Soup for a while, even if he makes the pros.........