Why I can’t be mad at A.J. Green
I’ll be honest. My first reaction when I heard of A.J. Green’s four-game suspension was one of anger.
And it wasn’t because Green owes any of us anything. I want to see the guy play because he’s a great player. And when there is a big game like Saturday’s between Georgia and South Carolina I want both teams to have all of their weapons. I love college football and I want to see great players play. And we’ve got too many guys who are not playing right now because of NCAA rules violations.
No, I was angry at A.J. because it seems so unnecessary. Early next year A.J. Green is going to be a very wealthy man because he is going to turn pro. So the money was coming. A.J. is a smart kid and he knew that there is no level where selling his jersey for a lousy $1,000 bucks was not a rules violation. The risk/reward/punishment equation for doing this just didn’t add up.
If this NCAA ruling stands (three more games on suspension), and it shouldn’t because it’s excessive, what should be an unforgettable junior season for Green will be forever tainted with “Yeah, he was good but he missed four games.” That made me sad and, at first, angry.
But I learned a long time ago that it’s easy for us adults to wag our fingers and say “Hey, those are the rules. You gotta follow them.” We’re not in the kid’s shoes. We don’t have to watch while the schools fill the stadiums, accept millions from television and make more millions from selling his jersey (with his name on it) while the system pats us on the head and assures us that our day is coming if we’ll only be patient. We really only learn that kind of patience as an adult. Youth, by its very defintion, is not patient.
Understand that the NCAA makes these rules not to regulate what actually happens, like one kid selling a jersey for $1,000. The rules are in place to control what COULD happen–like a kid selling 500 jerseys (provided to him by an agent) for $1,000 each. The NCAA punishes the nickle and dime stuff in hopes of preventing something really big and bad from happening.
When Oklahoma State wide receiver Dez Bryant lied to investigators about his relationship with Deion Sanders, the NCAA banned him for the rest of his junior season. Bryant was not truthful but was his lie REALLY that bad? Well, no but the move sent a chilling message to other athletes: Lie to NCAA investigators and you’re done. That message was received and understood. Now before every interview with the NCAA the kid has the fear of God put in him. That was by design.
Yes, the financial end of college athletics is certainly to the benefit of the schools. It’s all one big double standard, we know that. But certain things are just a blatant slap in the face to these guys. The fact that A.J. Green may lose a third of his junior season for selling a jersey while the University Bookstore sells a bunch of them is a double slap. It’s the establishment telling these kids: We can make money off your talent and fame in every damn way we please. If you try it, though, we’ll use the rules to take you out and to keep you in line.
The NCAA enforcement people have been working overtime this summer trying to keep a lid on a bunch of these issues from Agent Gate to Hotel Gate. At the core of all of them is a system where the athletes realize on a daily basis that they are getting a raw deal. They get to the point where they don’t care any more. It’s “hey, if they catch me they catch me but I’m not taking this any more.”
We as fans wonder where the loyalty is to the institution. But through the eyes of a young kid from modest or poor circumstances, that loyalty street seems to only run one way.
I don’t have a lot of answers for you this morning but I would suggest this: A school like Georgia should be able to sell all of the No. 8 jerseys it wants. The jersey and the number belong to the school.
But when some schools–and I am told that Georgia is not one of them–start putting name on the back on the jersey then you have crossed an ethical line. What the kid did on the field made that jersey more valuable than a generic one. He created that extra value and cannot share in it. So the school shouldn’t share in it either.
So let’s just end that practice. Is it a little thing in the grand scheme of things? Absolutely. But it would be one less slap in the face to a group of people who are getting tired of being pushed around.
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847 comments Add your comment
seabass
September 9th, 2010
9:56 am
A.J. just stepped on my face with a hobnail boot. I can be mad.
Jdawg
September 9th, 2010
9:57 am
Green was wrong. 4 games is a bit excessive.
DDPO
September 9th, 2010
9:58 am
85dawg -
You hear of $100 handshakes all of the time at other schools. Maybe you or one of your trusted sources should get in touch with the NCAA?
G8R GRAD
September 9th, 2010
10:00 am
Sorry, but I have to weigh in on the side of the four game suspension being about right or too leient.
That jersey was in no way worth $1,000.
Green knew it.
The agent who proffered such exagerated remuneration knew it.
Is it fair?
Probably not, but as has been oft suggested herein, “Rules is Rules.”
GT Fan ...
September 9th, 2010
10:01 am
Barnhart’s “homerism” is really showing through this season. Hard to buy-in to Tony’s points/observations when you realize the bias. Come on Tony, you gotta come with some impartiality.
And how bout some score predictions (Fearless Friday) with a little flavor. Your 24-17, 35-10, 31-7, 21-20, 17-14 etc, etc, predictions are way too vanilla.
G8R GRAD
September 9th, 2010
10:01 am
sorry. “lenient”
LarryDawg1
September 9th, 2010
10:02 am
catlady, I am a REAL SCHOLAR. In a Master of Divinity program, and I am so tired of defending wrong! But, the reason I find myself on that side all of the time is because of people like you. A real scholar knows that what I have learned, no one can take from me. Even when the university keeps my work as their product, which is the same thing that’s being done to A.J., my mind has the ability to continue to produce at that level. So then, an institution has not the ability to claim my work, and you are not happy about them trying to do it to you, or you wouldn’t have mentioned it. So don’t get mad when the guy wants some credit (profit)! You would take it for your hard work as well.
One Big Joke
September 9th, 2010
10:03 am
I cannot believe all of this crap being spewed out…the kid got paid by an agent is the bottom line and there is no telling what else he has received! He got a 4 game suspension because he dabbled with an agent so stop all the crying. These kids get a free education and all the perks that normal students don’t get so don’t start with the poor pitiful me junk. I heard the senile Fran Tarkenton on 680 this morning admitting that when he was at UGA he and other players got all kinds of cash payouts and that this was just another case of the Athens police having it out for the team…what the hell is this world coming 2 that we have to support criminal behavior? No wonder that Cesspool is on the police blotter every day because they have no institutional control and recruit kids with no moral character. Keep up the good work…you are making our state so proud!
Palladin
September 9th, 2010
10:04 am
It’s okay to be mad at AJ. He has no excuse for knowingly violating the rules. Many on this blog have declared the punishment “too severe” without knowing the facts involved.
Did the NCAA “carefully word” their description of the buyer as “meeting the definition of a sports agent” just for the purpose of being deceptive so as to mete out an extraordinarily harsh punishment against the University of Georgia?
Perhaps… Then again, perhaps 9/11 was an inside job?
Miles
September 9th, 2010
10:06 am
Mr. Barnhart, you’re right when you state, “Hey, if they catch me they catch me but I’m not taking this any more.” Interestingly, implicit within this statement is that the consequences of being caught are accepted as well.
Be honest. The majority of college football have no place in the university system, i.e., low SAT scores, poor academic records, criminal history, etc. The fact that they’re being allowed into a university is unethical. There are numerous “young kids from modest or poor circumstances” that are good students, but because they can’t catch a football, they aren’t given the opportunity to excel in a university’s academic environment.
In contrast, Green was given an opportunity he didn’t deserve and rather than taking advantage of his opportunity, he blew it. Green knew what he was doing. He got caught. Now he is paying the price.
Mr. Bsrnhart, advocate for that which is right.
Does anybody have any idea why ESPN Gameday is in Tuscaloosa this week? Isn’t the big game of the week in Columbus? I suspected ESPN Gameday would visit Tuscaloosa on October 2nd when Floida came to town.
JasonSwain
September 9th, 2010
10:06 am
Well, at least we get AJ back for Tech this year. You guys can sit up on that pedistile of yours and judge all you want but the fact of the matter is that these kids get screwed in college and it is akin to slave labor. The NCAA is out of control, and it would have been the same if a UF or GT player would have got caught doing the same thing. I’m glad to see you all on here casting so many stones because what goes around comes around, and we’ll hear you bellyaching about losing the monday after Thanksgiving like always. Your program is a joke just like your offense. Nesbit for Heisman? Yeah, right the day they give an option QB with zero passing ability the Heisman in today’s game is the day you let your subscription to World of Warcraft lapse. By the way, I don’t need to post under some fake name so I can talk crap about a 20yr old kid. You guys are all cowards who deserve to get your comeuppance! And mark my words “Your uppance WILL come!”
82Dawg
September 9th, 2010
10:06 am
One Big Joke …I am sure who ever “your school” is also recruited the same kids that you say have “no moral character”. Sounds a little bitter to me.
Hal
September 9th, 2010
10:07 am
Tony, What could be bigger than the Reggie Bush deal? The entire team on the take? Rules are rules
Tony Blowhard
September 9th, 2010
10:09 am
Why I can’t be mad at AJ Green?- I’m an SEC homer and an apologists for the guilty.
82Dawg
September 9th, 2010
10:09 am
should be …has recruited
Ace
September 9th, 2010
10:09 am
If you break the rules, you are cheating.
Mike Shula
September 9th, 2010
10:13 am
Tony:
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.
Richard Tardits
September 9th, 2010
10:15 am
Great column, Tony. Good thoughts, I agree with what you’re saying
evonne goolagong
September 9th, 2010
10:15 am
let he who hasn’t erred in their college days toss the first pigskin at his nads…….
5IML
September 9th, 2010
10:17 am
Miles,
GameDay is in Tuscaloosa because BAMA is the hottest thing going right now, and this might be Joe Pa’s last go round. If the Gators don’t pull it together, there will be no need for GameDay to be in T-town for their game with BAMA.
Frank
September 9th, 2010
10:18 am
I can’t believe I spent the time to read this blog. What a homer. The rules may suck, Tony, but they are the rules and you have to play by them. AJ knew what he was doing and broke the rules. He’s lucky he’s not suspended longer.
One Big Joke
September 9th, 2010
10:19 am
Great job, 82Dog…avoid the point as usual because you know i am right…the proof is on the cover of the AJC sports page every week…your coach has no control over his team and after all the times the Rev Richt preaches to his kids that they should do the right thing they take the other fork in the road…admit it, your school has no control over the asylum…sounds like you are very proud of your Fulmer Cup championship…if you’re lucky they will roll over the latest points you are accumulating for next year and give you a leg up on repeating!!!!
jj
September 9th, 2010
10:21 am
its funny to me…tony relished, loved and smiled heavily when USC and Reggie Bush got a stupid penalty for something that happened 5 years ago, but now that “one of his sec boys” gets in trouble he crys like a little girl…IN YOUR FACE UGA!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Greenbacks
September 9th, 2010
10:21 am
LarryDawg1 – CVS called, your meds are ready.
Tech Sucks
September 9th, 2010
10:22 am
The NCAA is a hypocritical joke.
LOL
September 9th, 2010
10:24 am
AJ “Green-back”
HA HA
Palladin
September 9th, 2010
10:25 am
@Miles: Does anybody have any idea why ESPN Gameday is in Tuscaloosa this week? Isn’t the big game of the week in Columbus? I suspected ESPN Gameday would visit Tuscaloosa on October 2nd when Floida came to town.
Yes. Most folks who know anything about college football know why ESPN chose the Alabama vs. Penn State game as their Gameday event. It is a game of historical significance, even if it has no bearing on the eventual outcome of this football season.
No. The “big game” of the week is not in Columbus. the game in Columbus is about as significant as tonight’s game in Starkville. That’s why it is the early game on Saturday, rather than a prime-time game.
You Georgia fans need to wake up and smell the coffee. You can’t correct the problems with your football program by refusing to acknowledge that they exist.
Ginger
September 9th, 2010
10:26 am
Tony—-I see what you are saying….seems unfair that colleges can make big money off the player and that the players, particularly from modest means, cannot not share in it. The player gets an education which is valuable…but it would be nice if they could get a monthly stipend—for spending money—not huge dollars–but say 500 to 1000 per month to buy things or go on dates etc. Just money to have a few things…….
Now I am going to disagree with you some—–A.J. and all the players must learn respect for the rules…..Just because you don’t agree with the rules and just because the rules are unfair does not give you license to break the rules….They know what the rules are when they go to college and they have to play in college some and develop their skills..NFL does not draft HS players….so college is essential for them…it is also essential because most players will not play in the NFL and they need an education to succeed in life……
So, in my view, the biggest lesson here is “Learning respect for authority—learning respect for the Rules”……. A person will have a lot problems in his or her life–if they don’t respect authority or rules. Work to change the rules if they are unfair, but abide by these until they are changed…..I respect people who play by the rules……and believe me this is an essential lesson of life if you want to have a good life.
.A J clearly did not have respect for authority or the rules of the NCAA. He let his teammates, coaches, UGA and the fans down….Because of the UGA football system–he has the chance to be drafted very high and become a millionaire—there again–he would not be in this position without the college experience. So in the end–barring injury Mr. Green will have his payday…He just has to be patient……Sorry that he made a bad decision…hope that he learns from it…..I wish the colleges had mentors for the players and classes on decision making.
G8R GRAD
September 9th, 2010
10:26 am
Oh, thanks, 5IML!
No need to add to my already exacerbated seasonal anxiety disorder!
McDawg
September 9th, 2010
10:27 am
yes angry mad disappointed and tired of all the nonsense including TV contracts, Conference expansion, BCS/playoff bull, player suspensions, Athens police and their scooter festish, and the dweebs at the NCAA
GO DAWGS play your hearts out win or lose I’m with you
HugoStiglitz
September 9th, 2010
10:30 am
Im not mad at him but then again im not a UGA fan like Tony. He chose to knowingly break the rules and he got caught. Its hard to feel sorry for him or UGA or college football when people who think they are above the system find out they are not. He should be thankful its only 4 games.
LOL
September 9th, 2010
10:30 am
Enter your comments here
evonne goolagong
September 9th, 2010
10:30 am
don’t hate the player, hate the game….
5IML
September 9th, 2010
10:31 am
G8R,
While watching your game last Saturday, I was probably as shocked as you were. Especially, after the reports coming out of Gainesville saying that Pouncy was all-world at center. I guess we know why practice has been closed.
I know you guys will work it out. Urban is quite stubborn but, maybe he needs to move Brantley under center.
LOL
September 9th, 2010
10:31 am
AJ Greed
Gratefuldawghead
September 9th, 2010
10:31 am
We beat the ACC Champion without Green and we can beat South Carolina!
GO DAWGS!
Paul in RDU
September 9th, 2010
10:31 am
Palladin – You know that the game in Columbus is between Miami and OSU, right?
UGA is playing SC in Columbia.
Game Day is still in the right place – PSU with JoePa in his last road game against ALA
jj
September 9th, 2010
10:31 am
shut up about paying football players…they r getting a freakin good free education, playing for an awesome school and playing the game they love
76-DAWG
September 9th, 2010
10:32 am
For every student athletes like Green there are many , I wouldn’t even have a good guess, that will never contribute to UGA , but because of different reasons , usually injury, will cost uga in excess of $200,000 in the form of a scholarship. So schools need a AJ Green to off set the others that literally get a free education. If you don’t allow the stars to get exploited then you need to set all college sports up like the IVY League where no one gets a scholarship, and the student athlete has to pay for his own education. Also where UGA now has probably over 10 men and women sports teams , that will be reduced to 4 men’s teams and 2 women’ s teams. For the exploitation the school benefits 3 years, maybe 4 then for the rest of his life he gets everything. That’s a pretty good trade off for the exposure the star gets and his increase in value because of that exposure.
Alphare
September 9th, 2010
10:33 am
The reason Green was not paid bucks?
because he was not qualified as a UGA student but admitted. There are thousands qualified candidates that are rejected because of people like Green. What’s Green’s SAT score? does anybody know?
MrGreggo
September 9th, 2010
10:34 am
First of all at his age he IS an ADULT. Second and this is an age old problem…These are college students. Therefore they should be smart enough to know the rules, how to read the rules, understand the rules, or at least be dumb enough to ask for help, but noooooooooooooo….
I say make an example of him and kick him to the curb for the year…
Yes schools make money off of these kids as you call them, but they get a FREE college ride….but if you want to sing these sad songs then when these kids leave early they should have to repay EVERYTHING if they go before their four years are up….
Palladin
September 9th, 2010
10:35 am
@Paul in RDU
I stand corrected. I need another cup of coffee!
Miami vs. OSU IS one of many big games this weekend, but Gameday can only be in one place on any given Saturday. I’ll be watching the Georgia vs. SC game as well. It is a much more important game this year than it usually is — especially if Florida doesn’t come around.
404
September 9th, 2010
10:35 am
A “free” education in a joke major
like “Housing” or “Recreation & Leisue Studies”
is meaningless
But WE ALL KNOW it aint about “the education” for recruits at UGA.
BAMA Dude
September 9th, 2010
10:37 am
I can’t figure out why anyone would have a problem with any of these punishments.
Just in Division I FBS, there are roughly 10,000 scholarship football players.
In the NFL Draft, 210 of these players are chosen every year.
Using simple math, assuming that the 10,000 are evenly divided among Fr., So., Jr. and Sr. players, about 8% of FBS football players will get drafted.
Every school fights over these 8%, allowing stuff like this would tend to send more of these 8% to schools with the richest alumni (or those willing to spend the most).
The other 92% of the kids are more than happy to play football for a free education that many of them would never have been able to afford… or qualify for academically. These kids who end up not quite good enough for the NFL but better their lives hardly feel exploited.
Those 92% are the reason players must stay amateur. The 8% will get their paychecks soon enough.
76-DAWG
September 9th, 2010
10:37 am
Enter your comments here
suwaneedawg
September 9th, 2010
10:38 am
I love all the Dawg haters on here. It must truly suck to be you. We have enough talent at wr to get through the next 4 games and just like defense wins championships, it also gets you through 4 games without your #1 receiver.
GO DAWGS!!!
UGA Propaganda Machine
September 9th, 2010
10:38 am
Tony and the AJC: Mouthpiece for the Georgia bulldogs. Total suckups!
Jake
September 9th, 2010
10:38 am
Time for a reality check, Barnhart. Scholarship athletes get room, board, tuition, books, health care and the opportunity for a college education, all of it free. That’s an opportunity of a lifetime. Whether they choose to take advantage of it or not is their business. Your business is offering the perspective of an impartial, clear-eyed adult. You seem to have forgotten that.
Palladin
September 9th, 2010
10:39 am
A free college education in any field is far from “meaningless”.
Maybe the best solution would be to shut down the NFL and make these “kids” work for a living after they finish their game-playing career?
LOL
September 9th, 2010
10:39 am
UGA vs USC
U – U
G – Get
A – Arrested
versus
U – U
S – Stay
C – Cheap