I’ve always believed that no matter how long you hang around sports, something is bound to happen that you’ve never encountered before, or in very special cases something you have never remotely conceived of.

I’ve seen someone fouled while shooting at the wrong basket. I’ve seen a right fielder make a putout at first base. We’ve all seen someone score a touchdown in a rivalry game while maneuvering through a marching band.

But a college broadcast color man giving direct aid and comfort to the enemy, and not just once but multiple times in a three-year period? This is indeed virgin territory.

By now you must have heard about the goings-on at Wake Forest, a proud Baptist institution of higher learning. It seems that a man named Tommy Elrod, who once played quarterback for the Demon Deacons and who later coached there for many years, is accused of giving various sorts of inside information to Wake Forest foes. As the radio color man, and also as a trusted alum and former coach, he was allowed access to every practice and meeting he wished to attend. This meant he was privy to both the playbook and individual game plans. Exactly how often he imparted the information to upcoming opponents is still being determined. The first school confirming that indeed Mr. Elrod had contacted them with information about specific plays is Louisville, whose head coach, Bobby Petrino, is himself one of the least-trusted people in all of college sports.

Now among the annual opponents of Wake Forest is Atlantic Coast Conference comrade Boston College. I must say I’m amused at the thought that either team had access to inside info on the other in advance of the 2015 meeting, a 3-0 Wake victory that probably ranks among the 10 most-unwatchable games in college history. For the record, BC prevailed this year by a 17-14 score. As an alum, I certainly hope this triumph was on the up-and-up.

Elrod’s motivation remains unknown. A logical theory is sheer revenge, because he lost his coaching job when a regime change was made and Dave Clawson replaced Jim Grobe as the head man at Wake. But it is very difficult to understand an alum sabotaging a staff and innocent athletes in this manner. It just is. Until we hear from Elrod, this thing makes zero sense.

Oh, yes, gambling. That’s the theory with the clubhouse lead for many people. But if there was serious money being moved on Wake, wouldn’t you think this would attract attention? We’re not talking Alabama or Ohio State here.

Tommy Elrod is a devoted football man. I can testify to his insight and imagination because by an odd circumstance I happened to have seen a copy of his own prep prior to the Oct. 29 game against Army. I was in Salisbury, N.C., on behalf of the National Sports Media Association and I had lunch with Dave Goren, the executive director of the NSMA. Goren also works on the Wake Forest football broadcast, and he showed me the amazingly detailed notes and tidbits put together by his partner, whose name I didn’t even bother to learn. But I can assure you no one at any big-time program in America could possibly have come up with anything better than this stuff. It was page after page of stats, notes, and observations. Well, the guy who had put this thing together was Tommy Elrod.

Hang around long enough . . .

My concern is not limited to the motivation of Elrod. What is equally interesting to me is the other side of the equation. Am I being terminally naive in the year 2016, knowing what I do about how cutthroat a business big-time college sports can be, to ask how a foe being offered his information could lower itself to accept it? Is there not at least a teeny shred of integrity left in this enterprise? Shouldn’t a coach being contacted by Elrod want to let the Wake Forest mentor know there is a fox in the henhouse? What if the tables were turned? I truly don’t understand how a coach accepting this information can feel comfortable shaving on any given morning.

One thing we do know is that Louisville didn’t just hang up. Louisville has admitted there was contact between Elrod and Cardinals offensive coordinator Lonnie Galloway, who spent two seasons working with Elrod during the Grobe era. The shaky explanation coming out of the Louisville athletic department is that Elrod gave “a few plays’’ to Galloway, but that “none of the special plays were run during the course of the game,’’ which was a 44-12 Louisville triumph. Are we supposed to feel good about that? With the storm clouds brewing on Friday, Louisville did announce the suspension of Galloway.

Wake Forest was 6-6 this year. The Demon Deacons defeated Tulane, Duke, Delaware, Indiana, Syracuse, and Virginia. They lost to North Carolina State (33-16), Florida State (17-6), Army (21-13), Louisville (44-12), Clemson (35-13), and BC (17-14). Did Tommy Elrod have the slightest thing to do with any of those losses? It will be necessary to ask the Wolfpack, Seminoles, Cadets, Cardinals, and Tigers. Boston College coach Steve Addazio said the Eagles had no contact with Elrod. I’m sure they’ll be totally pleased to be involved in conversations of this nature.

Wake Forest plays Temple on Dec. 27 in the Military Bowl. Tommy Elrod won’t be there. But his evil spirit hovers over the entire season.

Bob Ryan’s column appears regularly in the Globe. He can be reached at ryan@globe.com.