Paul Finebaum’s regular caller on The Paul Finebaum Show, Gary “Legend” Wilson, was ejected from the main floor at SEC Media Days in Tampa, according to a report by AL.com on Tuesday afternoon.
Wilson is also a host of a Saturday morning show on WJOX out of Birmingham, Ala., but that hardly mattered to SEC staff and hired security, who reportedly ejected Wilson from the main floor at Media Days on Tuesday.
The famous caller happens to be a diehard Alabama fan who is best known for his long rants to Finebaum on the show of the longtime ESPN college football analyst. But Wilson wasn’t given a credential for Media Days. However, there he was, seated on the second floor of the Tampa Marriott hotel that’s hosting SEC Media Days from Monday through Thursday.
Despite being seated in an area where credentials are not required for the week-long event, AL.com’s reporting says SEC staff and hired security decided to take action and kick Wilson out. Wilson was seen conducting interviews in that area of the hotel on Monday and then early on Tuesday.
His presence at SEC Media Days wasn’t deemed appropriate though, as late Tuesday morning SEC director of communications Craig Pinkerton told Wilson that “he needed to leave the floor,” according to the AL.com report.
After Wilson protested the SEC’s decision, Pinkerton reportedly had security take Wilson off the floor. Wilson was allowed to stay in the hotel lobby though.
“There were like 30 people out there without credentials,” Wilson told AL.com later on Tuesday. “He just came and singled me out and started yelling in my face.”
Pinkerton had no comment on the matter, according to the AL.com report. The report also says AL.com staff witnessed a portion of the incident and says Pinkerton did not raise his voice “in any notable way” at Legend.
While things get sorted out at SEC Media Days in July, there is an SEC title to be won in December. Here is what the Kalshi market is currently saying about the teams with the best chance to be holding the conference hardware when the dust settles later this year:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
