COLUMBUS — A tell-all book is now out about a former Buckeye Quarterback whose gambling addiction and schemes led to broken lives and scandal that made headlines for years in Central Ohio. The author of the true story "Quarterback Sneak", Dublin widow Anita Barney, said she befriended Art Schlichter after his first prison stint because he helped her son 30 years prior.
Barney's then husband was killed in a plane crash and her young son Alan was critically hurt. Barney said it was Schlichter who visited Alan and prompted him to get past his sorrow. "A neighbor girl brought Art to see my 10-year-old son Alan, brought him things, Ohio State items ,got him out of his depression and I never saw Art again for 30 years. He did not have to come over and help my son that day and bring those things but he did, as a senior at Ohio State he was a busy guy, but he took the time to do that and I was very appreciative."
Mrs. Barney herself was well connected and highly thought of in central Ohio social circles.
Schlichter was the starting Quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes and had played for the NFL. The football legend admitted he was involved in gambling and, much to the surprise of the Buckeye Nation, was convicted of criminal activity. Art was released from prison the first time in 2006 after he served time for fraud, theft, and receiving stolen property.
Barney re-married a man named Bob Barney, who became CEO of Wendy's. As cancer claimed his life, Bob told his wife she would be financially secure, but left her with chilling advice, "Don't let a man take all your money."
Then a widow, Anita reconnected with Schlichter at a church where he said he was starting a non-profit gambling prevention organization. Barney gave him large amounts of money, but said it was never enough. "I would ask him what are you doing with the money , are you gambling? 'No I have not gambled in five years,' and he would tell everybody that , well a lot of people were scammed."
Barney said Schlichter then started asking her to call her friends for money. "He was making me lie and would be sitting outside waiting and he would say if you don't get that money , I am gone, and you will never get your money back , nobody will get paid and your children will be upset and harmed."
The widow denies an intimate relationship with Schlichter. Barney said Schlichter was abusive, so she began working with federal investigators to escape Art's hold on her. "He was trying to get me to love him so I wouldn't turn him in."
The 448-page book can be purchased through Amazon and copies can be found at the Morgan House in Shawnee Hills. Barney, 73, said she hopes it may help others understand what she has survived, and those who are trying to recover from adversity. Barney admits she attempted suicide three times, but is convinced God had a plan for her life. "If they just hang on for one more day, one more day it will be okay because look where I am now , I just tried to tell myself one more day --it works, it works."