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Hogan Says Jail Call Lacks Context

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By RAY REYES

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 11, 2008

Updated: 06/11/2008 12:22 am

TAMPA - Hulk Hogan was "desperately trying to keep my son from unraveling" when Nick Bollea was first placed in a Pinellas County Jail cell and their conversations were captured on tape, the famed wrestler said on the "Larry King Live" show Tuesday night.

"Did I say things wrong? Yes," said Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea. "Am I sorry? Yes."

During his first television interview since Nick Bollea was jailed in connection with a car crash that left family friend John Graziano severely brain damaged, Hogan listened to snippets of the recorded phone conversations as King played them.

In one, Hogan wonders what Graziano did to put himself in a bad situation, and Nick Bollea calls Graziano "a negative person."

The phone call recordings were released by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office after they were requested as public records by the news media. King asked Hogan whether he thinks releasing the conversations caused the Graziano family to turn on the Bolleas.

Hogan said he did not know, but said that "we love John. We pray for him. In no way would we ever hurt John."

King then played a conversation in which Bollea asked his father whether he could get a deal for a new reality show. Bollea told Hogan that he would like the show's crew to be there taping on the day he is released from jail.

Nick Bollea pleaded no contest in May to a charge of reckless driving involving serious injury and was sentenced to eight months in jail. Although he is 17 years old, he was tried as an adult. Initially he was placed alone in a cell, separate from the adult inmates. Complaining about the isolation, he subsequently was mixed in with other juvenile inmates.

Hogan told King that, with a son inconsolable about the initial jail conditions, he was a desperate father looking for any way to comfort his son, and that included talking about another reality TV show. The family is already the focus of the "Hogan Knows Best" show.

"I just wish someone would play the hour before or the two hours after," Hogan said of the tapes. "I was trying to help my son through this. I was trying to give my son hope."

Hogan said that portion was taken out of context; if it sounded "cut and dry," then "I apologize for that."

Ed Graziano, John's father, told News Channel 8 that the interview was an attempt at "damage control." Of Hogan's references during the interview to praying with Nick and praying for John, Ed Graziano said: "I never knew Terry Bollea was such a wonderful Christian."

George Tragos, a Graziano family attorney, said he would not issue a statement until a few hours before he is scheduled to appear on Nancy Grace's CNN Headline News show tonight.

On Larry King, Hogan said that his son was not racing another car that day, but rather Bollea and his friends were going to dinner that August night.

Hogan also mentioned a speeding ticket his son received in September 2006 when he was going more than 100 mph on Alligator Alley in South Florida.

It is not unusual for cars to go 85 to 90 mph on that wide-open stretch of Interstate 75, Hogan said.

Prior to the citation on Alligator Alley, Bollea was ticketed for speeding three times in Florida, according to a Tribune article published Sept. 6, 2007.

Reporter Ray Reyes can be reached at (813) 259-7920 or rreyes@tampatrib.com.

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