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Former Alabama offensive lineman Korren Kirven found himself on the wrong end of a funny, yet probably scary for him, prank on Wednesday night during the Tampa Bay Bucs’ annual rookie dinner in Jacksonville, Fla.
Kirven and fellow rookie offensive lineman Cole Gardner were presented with an astonishing $26,000 bill from Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse after the meal.
Typically, rookies of each position group are expected to foot the bill on the group meal, according to ESPN’s Jenna Laine.
Before revealing the joke, the rest of Tampa Bay’s offensive line told the rookies they had to front the bill. The dinner ended up costing a mere $3,000, the report stated, and the veteran linemen ended up paying for it. Starting left tackle Donovan Smith sent out this tweet:
Thank you for using your head it’s a fake bill we tricked the rookies. Didn’t take much for someone to logically think about this
— Donovan Smith (@DSmith_76) August 17, 2017
“We didn’t have to pay for anything,” Kirven said in the ESPN report. “We were shocked at first when we saw the bill. We thought we weren’t gonna make it. But at the end, knowing they paid it was pretty cool of them.”
Apparently, the restaurant was in on it, too.
Cody McClure is an SEC Football Writer for Saturday Down South. He lives in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he also co-hosts a midday sports radio show for FOX Sports. Cody previously worked for Athlon Sports.
