There is no mystery here. There is no question mark. There is only one good reason that exiled Oregon star tight end Colt Lyerla is telling the world that he was once promised a house and a car for his family if he'd attend college in Eugene.

Lyerla wants to burn the house down.

Lyerla told a reporter writing a long-form piece on the rise and fall of his career that he wishes he'd stayed with his original decision and picked USC over Oregon out of Hillsboro High.

Grab a match. Strike it. Then, read the gasoline for yourself:

Their enthusiasm dampened when an unofficial adviser weighed in. Lyerla declines publicly to identify the man, a powerful University of Oregon booster known to the family. The adviser made the benefits of that decision clear. If Lyerla went to Oregon, "I was promised a house, a car, all these things."

Lyerla claims that this unnamed booster played him. Which is only to say that Lyerla is assuming the identity that he most frequently picked when things went wrong — victim.

Not his fault that he blew off team obligations. Not his problem that he ran late to workouts. He's not the problem, even if 32 NFL teams with draft picks tried to tell him on draft day that he wasn't worth the trouble. He was duped and innocent. Lyerla believes his tweet about Sandy Hook is why he went undrafted.

That cocaine-possession arrest?

Too much time on his hands in a college town, it turns out. As if time and his own free hands and a college town were the real culprits.

"It ruined my whole life," he told the reporter about that arrest.

No, Colt. You did that. Every bit of it. Also, you now have a chance to salvage your life, and turn this personal story of trial and tragedy into something better. There are so many people in Oregon who still wish and hope you'll find your way. There's even a name for those people: suckers.

Include me among them. Because with Lyerla's talent I still think he can be a star in the NFL. I had him pegged to make the Packers roster and end a success. I still think he's gifted enough to realize his dream, if only he can get out of his own way.

Mark Helfrich, Oregon's coach, believed in Lyerla, too. He gave Lyerla a wide berth, and watched him run wild. He then offered structure, only to have Lyerla dismiss the gift like a guy who wanted no part of the Ducks program without Chip Kelly around. Even Kelly, a coach who drafted and signed a long line of former Ducks wouldn't touch Lyerla as an undrafted free agent.

What do you do when you feel abandoned by your university? How do you respond when you see your former team talked about as a playoff contender while you struggle? What is your response when you've fashioned a reality that announces you as the victim yet again?

If you're Colt Lyerla, you burn it all down.

He is upset, allegedly, that his coaches weren't comfortable with him owning a shotgun. (Note to Lyerla: The coaching staff has been just as uncomfortable in the past with players owning pit bulls. It's not personal. They just didn't trust you.)

Lyerla said he was embarrassed by Helfrich's sarcastic response when reporters asked why he'd been suspended for that Colorado game.

"Circumstances," the coach said, over and over.

That chapped Lyerla. The stunt by Helfrich probably wasn't fair because it invited so much into the imagination. But as long as we're imagining, imagine what Helfrich would have said if he'd spoken his mind about Lyerla that day. Imagine if Helfrich had burned it all down instead of just saying, "Good luck," and parting ways.

So Lyerla wants the program in ashes now. Forgive me, but the act currently plays somewhere South of Jose Canseco when it comes to credibility. Name some names, kid. Tell us about this mystery adviser. We're listening. Produce some credible documentation that demonstrates that Oregon boosters really were breaking rules.

Oregon's athletic department absolutely must investigate Lyerla's claims. They must. These are serious accusations.

I believe that the Ducks lost their way at times, took their eye off the mission statement, and that they had no business engaging with some shady scouting-services characters. But a house and a car for his family? That sounds like Reggie Bush stuff. Sorry, maybe it's my time covering Jerry Tarkanian, but I'm not buying what Lyerla is selling without more.

Lyerla blames the Ducks — and not himself — for the fact that he wasn't a millionaire first-round draft pick about to start his first NFL game at tight end this weekend. So as long as we're talking about hollow promises, here's one: Lyerla was given a scholarship, fed, housed, coached, offered guidance and threw it all away.

If anyone should feel burned, it's Oregon.

--- @JohnCanzanoBFT