Texas Gov. Bill Clements said that when...

Texas Gov. Bill Clements said that when he headed SMU’s Board of Governors, he and other board members were aware that payment commitments had been made with SMU football players.

He said they had discussed whether to honor those payments.

It was the first time that any member of SMU’s governing body had acknowledged knowing of cash payments, which were cited last week when the NCAA hit the school with the stiffest penalties ever imposed against a football program.

Clements said the decision to phase out the payments was made in August of 1985, but he did not say over what period of time the phasing out of payments would be made.