Tee Martin said Wednesday that he took money from former Mobile Register sportswriter Wayne D. Rowe on numerous occasions, including in February of 1999.

"I asked him to give me some money and he gave it to me, like always,'' Martin said. "He's a guy who, when I came home, we went out and ate and he gave me money.

"We didn't break any rules.''

That will be up to the NCAA and SEC to decide in the coming weeks as compliance officials sort out a complex web of relationships and conflicting testimony.

Martin's past dealings with Rowe -- and his relationship with Mobile insurance executive Dianne Sanford -- have been under investigation since May.

Rowe has known Martin since the former University of Tennessee quarterback was in junior high. Martin would go to Rowe's house to play with his son.

Sanford said she met Martin before he was 14 years old. Sanford and Martin's mother, Marie, are also friends.

Both Rowe and Sanford maintained their friendships with Martin throughout his playing career at UT, from 1996-99.

Rowe and Sanford also knew one another since the early 1990s. Rowe was a friend of Sanford's late husband, Paul Sanford.

The current investigation was triggered in May, when Rowe told his former newspaper employer that he had been interviewed by the IRS and SEC investigator Bill Sievers about two checks totaling $4,500 that Sanford had written to him in February of 1999.

The checks turned up as part of a $200,000 embezzlement lawsuit involving Sanford and her former employer at the AARCO Insurance agency.

Rowe claims that Sanford asked him to forward $4,500 from the checks to Martin, and he complied via a Western Union wire transfer.

"I just heard Tee needed the money for a blown engine in his car, and I didn't even give it a second thought,'' Rowe said in May. "There was no intent to hurt anyone.''

If Sanford did indeed use Rowe to funnel money to Martin, it would constitute an extra benefits (second) violation at the very least, which would mean a loss of scholarships.

Sanford didn't attend UT, but her first husband did. Although she has not made donations to the school, she freely admits she is a Vols' fan.

Sanford, however, said that shouldn't matter because she didn't do anything wrong.

Sanford said Rowe asked to borrow the $4,500 to make a house payment. She said she had no idea the money she gave to Rowe would wind up in Martin's hands.

"My husband, Paul, had loaned Wayne money before,'' Sanford said Wednesday. "When he asked me for the first check, I called the mortgage company to make sure there was actually an outstanding balance.''

According to the Mobile Register, court records show that Rowe had an outstanding loan of $4,500 at that time.

Martin said he had asked Rowe for money in February of 1999 because he was "going through a situation with my family that I won't talk about, and I needed some money at the time.' "

Sanford said Martin never asked her for money.

"If Tee had asked me for money, I'd have probably just given it to Marie to give to him,'' Sanford said Wednesday. "Or, I could have just sent it to him. I had his address. Tee likes motivational sayings, and I used to send him cards.''

Sanford said she has been open about her friendship with Martin and his family.

Sanford said when she spoke with Sievers two weeks ago, he was interested in establishing when her friendship with Martin began, and how it changed during the recruiting process and his collegiate career.

Dr. Malcolm McInnis, UT's associate athletic director for compliance, said that the origin of the relationship is pivotal in extra benefit violation cases.

"The relationship must pre-exist prior to athletics, and whatever benefits are provided have to be consistent with the benefits provided prior to the athletic prowess,'' McInnis said, explaining how a student-athlete can legally receive benefits from a friend.

Rowe, who had friendships and dealings with many Mobile athletes that went on to play a various Division I-A schools, would seem to have an acceptable pre-existing relationship.

Rowe, one of the few minorities in the Mobile media, was extremely popular with coaches and peers. He was treated as a celebrity in the inner-city community. Rowe's co-workers jokingly referred to him as "The Godfather.''

Martin's relationship with Rowe soured after Martin was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2000 NFL Draft.

According to Martin, Rowe was representing himself as Martin's agent and charging fees without his consent or knowledge.

Martin and his agent, Fletcher Smith, met with SEC investigators in Pittsburgh last month to discuss Rowe's agent activity.

"You're talking about a guy who has done numerous things to athletes,'' Martin said. "I mean, I'm just waiting to hear what they have to say.''

Likewise for Sanford, who said it was common knowledge that Rowe arranged payments for Mobile athletes Keith McCants and Jason Caffey while they attended Alabama.

"One of his game plans was to make sure he was a friend of whoever was going to be a major athlete,'' said Sanford, whose late husband, Paul, was Rowe's friend. "I think he was trying to play Tee along so he'd get money when Tee was drafted.''

But there's more to the ongoing investigation than just the Rowe-Martin saga.

In October of 1999, UT athletics director Doug Dickey accompanied McInnis on a trip to Mobile to investigate allegations that Sanford had purchased a vehicle for Martin and provided him with improper insurance coverage.

Dickey interviewed Sanford, Martin's mother, and Martin's aunt, Sharon King. He also checked into the vehicle's paperwork at a local bank.

King said she co-signed for Martin's sport-utility truck. Martin's mother said she made the payments while Tee was in school, as her son used much of his money to make child support payments.

Dickey, however, refused to go on the record with all of the details.

"Dr. McInnis and I went to Mobile, did a follow-up on some allegations that had been presented to us at that time, and did not file a violation with the NCAA based on our findings of the situation,'' Dickey said. "We interviewed several people in Mobile -- including Tee Martin.''

If the NCAA decides that Dickey's investigation wasn't thorough enough, it could constitute a lack of institutional control, which is a major violation.

Contact Mike Griffith of The Knoxville News-Sentinel in Tennessee at http://www.knoxnews.com.