Lincoln Riley defends the brisket roasted around social media

The thing you need to understand is that it tasted really good. Promise.

It was five years ago this Easter that Lincoln Riley posted his infamous brisket, and he was immediately and throughly barbecued for it. To his credit, Riley never took the post down, and as of this writing it has nearly 3,500 quote tweets and more than 1,700 comments -- not a one of them kind.

As Riley explained to the Pardon My Take guys at Big Ten media days on Wednesday, the brisket lacked the signature smoke ring because an unidentified buddy advised him to bathe the meat in Worcestershire sauce before putting it on the smoker. 

"Brisket's phenomenal, but it rips all the pink out of it. When I take the picture I'm not thinking anything of it because the brisket's really, really good. People say it wasn't, they weren't there," Riley said. "Yes, it was." 

The next step of this investigation will be to acquire the testimony of the guests at the legendary 2021 Riley Family Easter Sunday Barbecue. Get some of them under oath, and then we'll know the truth.

In all seriousness, credit to Riley for being a good sport about the whole thing, then and now. After viewing his experience, I'd rather spend six months in solitary confinement than post even a bowl of cereal to social media.