Tee Martin's maternal grandmother told a Tennessee newspaper on Thursday that the former Volunteers' quarterback didn't need the $4,500 that he's said to have taken from a Mobile (Ala.) sportswriter.

"Tamaurice (Tee) didn't need to go to outside people for money when he had hardworking people in his family to help him," Parrish told the Tennessean in Nashville, Tenn. "He had too many other options open to him to be involved in something shady like that. We take this very personally, and we back Tee 100 percent.

"He's over there in Germany trying to make it in the NFL, and here our family's name is being scandalized. We'll just let them prove whatever they think they've got."

Martin, currently playing with the Rhein Fire in NFL Europe says he never accepted any payments. Martin has acknowledged having a relationship with Rowe, but said he attempted to distance himself from Rowe in recent years after Martin said Rowe attempted to broker deals for him with agents.

The Southeastern Conference is continuing its investigation into alleged payments from Wayne Rowe, who was suspended Thursday from his job as a Mobile Register sports writer. Rowe says he forwarded $4,500 to Martin on behalf of Mobile businesswoman Dianne Sanford in February 1999.

According to Rowe, Sanford said Martin needed the money after the engine blew in his 1996 Chevrolet Tahoe. Martin denies this.

According to the Tennessean, a source close to the Sanford family said the checks Dianne Sanford wrote to Rowe were to help him with financial matters with his home and not intended for Martin, who has called Dianne Sanford "a good friend of the family."

Parrish told the Tennessean she has discussed the situation with Martin's mother (Marie Marshall) and that Marshall had never heard of any payments to Martin.

"(Marshall) said the same thing, that Tee would have no reason to take $4,500," Parrish told the newspaper. "I know for a fact that his aunt (Sharon King) was paying for his car and his insurance. If he needed more money, there were people in his family who would have given it to him.

"And even if there were money given to him, he wouldn't have needed a middle man. They could have given the money to me or his mother. Why use Wayne Rowe? If she [Sanford] did write Rowe a check, maybe he used the money."

Parrish told the Tennessean that Martin was "hurt and angry" about the whole situation.

"It's true that Tee might have come from a poor background, but I can promise you that our family is hard working and has earned an honest living," Parrish said. "This would be totally out of character for Tee."