Busted Coverage has put together a rundown of the prices to fill the gas tanks of various athletes/celebrities, and the totals are gruesome; we suspect most signing bonuses are evaporated immediately.

Not that anyone has probably noticed. If you're Darren McFadden, do you even know who fills your gas tank, let alone how much it costs?

Athletes, Celebrities Deal With Rising Gas Prices [Busted Coverage]

McFadden came from a rough neighborhood. It was so tough that if they made a movie of it, Samuel L. Jackson would play every single character. Actually, they did make a movie about his neighborhood: the gripping documentary "Gang War: Bangin' in Little Rock." McFadden saw the film and knew many of the on-screen personalities, even though he was just a crumb cruncher when the film was made in 1994. Young Darren was one of 12 children to a drug-addicted mother, living in the kind of neighborhood 50 Cent drives through with the doors locked and the windows up.

McFadden grew up to become one of the greatest football players in Arkansas history. But he hasn't been able to totally transcend his childhood. There have been fights outside piano bars, broken toes outside night clubs, paternity tests and allegations that he's sown more seed than Burpee. Coaches swear he's a good egg (they always do), now-sober mom is proud of her son (they always are), and some of those early paternity tests have come back negative (which never happens on Montell). Still, no one knows if McFadden will become an inspiration to troubled youth or Goodell's Most Wanted, because no one knows what will happen once the signing bonus hits.

What we do know is that McFadden is a rare talent, a less injury-prone version of Adrian Peterson. The Razorbacks built their whole offense around him, designing the Wildhog formation (it was just a dressed up single-wing, but never mind) to exploit his running and passing ability. He's got great speed and instincts with the ball in his hands. He's big, fast, and troubled. A Raider!

And before you think that Oakland is the worst possible place for a troubled kid ... there were pre-draft rumors that the Cowboys would move up to take McFadden. McFadden, Pac-man Jones, and T.O. on one team ... nope, no way that could backfire. The potential for a Dallas douchegasm would be too terrible (or wonderful, for us Internet smart-alecks) to contemplate.

Of course, everything would be just hunky-dory because the Cowboys have Calvin Hill in their front office. Hill, the ex-Ivy League running back, is supposed to play Father Flanagan to all the reprobates Jerry Jones signs. Players are supposedly powerless before his soft-spoken charms. Now, Hill is a great influence, but if called upon to shepherd a flock like that he would need divine benevolence and a hundred arms, like some Hindu god. Not even the NFL's patron saint of perpetual sorrows, Dick Vermeil, dared to play mad scientist with such a combustible chemistry set.

The Raiders don't have Calvin Hill; they have Al Davis' brother, who is running the draft in New York. He's part Fredo Corleone, part Billy Carter, part undertaker. Of course, the Jets fans may just kill him before the first round is over.

Here's hoping this doesn't become a melodrama. Go get 'em, McFadden. Find the holes and steer clear of the piano bars. Leave Bangin' Little Rock in the past where it belongs.

Before this season, we heard the mother Mini Muhammad sorta deny that she ever said McFadden would declare for the NFL draft early. This weekend, his father jumped into the fun, refuting an ESPN.com report that he already filed the NFL draft papers:

Graylon McFadden would not confirm either report Saturday evening when contacted by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

"Well, I've been told to tell everybody 'no comment' and to get on the back shelf,"he said. "So, no comment."

McFadden's dad denies filing NFL draft papers [Democrat-Gazette]
Darren McFadden's NFL Draft Status Downgraded From "Yes" To "Probably Yes" [Some Stupid Website]

(Aside: How parents named Graylon and Mini settle on a normal boy's name of Darren is beyond me.)

Nothing major: Just another bar fight.

The fight involved one of the bar bouncers. Authorities say that one of McFadden's relatives was being escorted out of Ernie Biggs when McFadden and the people he was with got involved in a fight with Brant Hankins, the bouncer.

The argument went into the streets of the Rivermarket where the Little Rock Police Department put D-Mac in handcuffs for "agitated and provoking aggressive behavior." Once he calmed down the handcuffs were removed.

We will confess that upon first read of this story, we were confused who this "Ernie Biggs" was. It turns out, that's the name of the bar, and it's Little Rock's premier rock and roll dueling piano bar. Boy, and check out their stylin' piano players. Seems exactly like the type of place you'd find Darren McFadden after midnight, absolutely.

Darren McFadden In Fight At Little Rock Bar [Fox16]
Ernie Biggs [Official Site]

It appears someone has reported Darren McFadden's Cadillac — a Cadillac? Nice! — and now he could be in danger of missing the Cotton Bowl.

If D-Mac received the car as a payment for future services, he is then a professional and no longer eligible for college football. That would mean no Cotton Bowl. If he simply went in and bought the car, got a loan like any other shopper, with a delayed payment plan, he is still within NCAA guidelines and would be eligible for the bowl game. Razorback fans have to be hoping it's the latter case. Sports Information Director Kevin Trainor told us that the University is aware of the situation and that their compliance director is investigating.

Something tells us that if the unlikely happens, and McFadden misses the game, he'll sigh deeply, enter the NFL Draft and then take a big bath in a pile of money. He'll be devastated, we're sure.

Darren McFadden Could Have Ended College Career With Car Purchase [Sports By Brooks]

Muhammad cleared up her conversation with Forde, asserting she never said McFadden will necessarily declare for the draft. Mini Muhammad (I picture her being seven inches tall) merely said that McFadden would be done playing football this season in December.

She didn't mean to imply that he would stop playing college football altogether after December. So, rather than break draft news before the advent of the 2007 college football season, she was merely refreshing Pat Forde's mind about the college football schedule which was set in stone many months ago. Or maybe Muhammad was insinuating that there's no way Arkansas will make a New Year's Day bowl. Look out, Music City Bowl!

THIS JUST IN: ESPN is reporting that Bowling Green's football season will begin September 1 against Minnesota, according to wide receiver Corey Partridge's second cousin, and will likely continue for 11 more games after that. Personally, I call shenanigans.

McFadden's Mom: Not So Fast, My Friend! [FanHouse]
Darren McFadden's Mother Has the Chops to Be White House Press Secretary [Foul Balls]

"He wore dresses to school," says McFadden's favorite high school teacher, Leecie Henson.

Say again?

Yes, dresses. And not just on Halloween.

At times, McFadden would raid his grandmother's closet, and who knows where else, and wear the most hideous looking outfits he could find to school. "He has the ugliest legs ever," Henson says. "He would wear these dresses with tennis shoes, and after a while the teachers would get used to it. He just loves to make people laugh."

If he promises to wear a dress to the Downtown Athletic Club, I'll start my own "McFadden For Heisman" campaign right now.

Arkansas RB McFadden is one pig that can fly [USA Today]
McFadden Likes Dressing in Drag [Hawg Blawg]