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.
Please follow me on Twitter:
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
847 comments Add your comment
Thanks for the memories
September 9th, 2010
12:26 pm
hurt, hurt, suspended, probably hurt again, leaving early for the NFL. I’ve already forgotten you.
Dawglasville
September 9th, 2010
12:27 pm
Is it unfair to Peyton Manning? How much money was made off of him? Was it unfair to David Pollack? Do you know how many Pollack jerseys were sold? How bout Tebow? Is the Tennessee or U Conn womens basketball teams being screwed? They sell a ton of merchandise. How about the Arizona St. or the Miss State baseball teams? They sell a lot of stuff. I am a white guy who 75% of the time votes against the way I would be stereotyped but this time I think it is crazy. This only comes up when we are talking about young black men after they make mistakes. “Pay em!” That is not helping them. 80% of the guys in the NFL end up broke. 80%!!! How in the hell are you helping them by paying them? Money isn’t everything and that is the poison that gets many of us.
Delbert D.
September 9th, 2010
12:28 pm
EA does not put player names on their NCAA football game virtual players. Where the name would be, there is “TE #87″, etc.
That is in accordance with the NCAA’s rules on commercialism.
DIT
September 9th, 2010
12:28 pm
A little re-direct…… How many of you think that FSU will go into OU and beat them by 9? I do.
dogssmell
September 9th, 2010
12:28 pm
Ok, A.J sells a jersey to an agent for $1000.00 ? l wonder if this will be the same agent he hires when he goes pro ? Any chance the selling of the jersey was just to cover the fact he is being paid and that is why a 4 game suspension?
Its in front of your face Ga fans, cannot you not see the forrest because of the trees?
Dog Catcher
September 9th, 2010
12:29 pm
*
The big metropolis of Shreveport caused all this mess.
Richard
September 9th, 2010
12:30 pm
Did you forget about the scholarships these athletes receive to play football? That is the payment, in my opinion, and it often equates $100,000 after 5 years of college.
The NCAA Politburo
September 9th, 2010
12:31 pm
We just USC’d AJ Green! We will make an example of any who defies us!
takedowndawg
September 9th, 2010
12:31 pm
howard cozell, And, where did you move here from? We, who are part of families that have lived in state for over 200 years hate to see you soooo miserable to be exposed to such inferiors! Please, life is too short! Move back quickly to your home state where you are loved, you love it and its people and everything is in perfect “balance” and the discernment of its people is unbelievable. Please, move back for your OWN sake(not ours, chuckle, chuckle). We would not want you to be adversely influenced by such inferior people! Next.
matt
September 9th, 2010
12:32 pm
Starters get paid more? What about the other sports? Title 9? How much we talking here? We gonna pay high school players too? They bring in quite a bit of money to the athletic department. Where does it stop? Is there a flat rate? Who negotiates the price?
So they will get a free education at a University they would never have the opportunity to attend. Free room and board and books AND we are going to give them stipend?? If they are supposed to be in class, studying, practice or asleep when are they going to have time to spend this money?? They are already provided obsene amounts of apparell, tutors, you name it. GO PLAY AT SOME OBSURE D-3 SCHOOL IF YOU DON’T F’NG LIKE IT!!!!!
Chinese Manufacturers
September 9th, 2010
12:33 pm
Richard- $100,000 for 5 years of working for a multi-billion dollar business? Sounds like our kind of labor- nice and cheap!
wxwax
September 9th, 2010
12:35 pm
You’re an establishment guy, Tony.
So it does my heart good to read your column today. Nice to see you take on the hypocrisy of the NCAA and college football.
The disparity between the grasping greed of the schools on the one hand and the absolute prohibition on athletes making any money whatsoever on the other hand, is more than just ugly, it’s also unethical and punitive.
I have no respect for the university presidents and the NCAA.
DIT
September 9th, 2010
12:35 pm
Richard
Yes, the scholly could be around $100k. That’s just for school. These kids at ALL major football programs get paid under the table very well. If an Alum finds out a superstar needs money, heck you name it, it is his! I’ve seen it right in front of my face. There are a lot of the rich Alumnus that are just as bad as these agents. Kids will get into trouble for taking anything and nothing happens to them.
Rules are rules. Like them or not AJ got what he deserved. We are lucky that it is not for the entire season.
Matt's a bitter, bitter man
September 9th, 2010
12:35 pm
Did a football player steal your girlfriend Matt?
LESD
September 9th, 2010
12:36 pm
All those folks on here accusing Barnhart of bias are doing nothing but exposing their OWN biases. Tony calls ‘em like he sees ‘em. How do I know that? Simple, I’ve been reading his columns for years. When a player or coach deserves praise, Tony gives it to them…no matter what school they represent. Same thing for criticism.
Don’t take my word for it. Read his columns.
DIT
September 9th, 2010
12:38 pm
Oh come on LESD – that made too much like sense!
CLTdawg
September 9th, 2010
12:38 pm
Love AJ Green when he’s on the field…which unfortunately isn’t that often. No excuses this weekend if we pull an L just because he’s not running routes.
He must have lied initially to the NCAA, hence his extra 2 game ban. Or he sold to an agent. Either way it was a bonehead move on his part and he gets what he gets for it. Call the NCAA whatever you want but all schools are under the same restrictions so there’s no bias against the Dawgs.
Durham looked good on saturday, King is saying the right things, and Brown will have his opportunity in Columbia. I’m tired of hearing about Brown’s potential cause of some BS scouting report in high school…either step up this weekend or step off.
Play good D and feed Ealey/King and we should be able to take care of business. As a UGA grad I’d be embarrassed if Dawg fans blame the loss on the NCAA…blame it on the players who didn’t perform.
We couldn’t possibly play worse defense than we did last year against SC and even Cox was able to slice up the SC secondary, who might also have players suspended by the way.
Georgia will find out what kind of team they are on Saturday cause at this point it’s still a mystery.
DAWG07
September 9th, 2010
12:38 pm
Good article. No way to be mad at AJ. NCAA continues to issue arbitary punishmant. Differant rules for different folks. Hope AJ will consider returning for his senior year. Best of luck AJ and DAWGS.
Beat South Carolina.
wxwax
September 9th, 2010
12:39 pm
1eyejack, give your argument a little thought.
If a kid wants to play professional football, can he choose to skip college and still expect a pro career?
Of course not.
The system forces kids to donate 3-4 years of their lives in free labor so universities can make a disgusting grab for the cash while giving the kids zero money.
All this conference expansion talk is about money, plain and simple. The avarice displayed by the schools is almost biblical.
To squeeze free labor out of the kids while giving them no other avenue to exploit their talent is immoral.
Legend of Len Barker
September 9th, 2010
12:39 pm
@It really is NOT about college ball, anymore:
Forget 441. It’s been sanitized, with bypasses around nearly every town.
Drive down GA 15. Parts of US 1 are equally depressing. On the other side of the state, US 27. Or any highway that goes through Unadilla.
DIT
September 9th, 2010
12:40 pm
People take a crack at TB if they are not a UGA fan. TB can write about anything. If it’s not about their program he’s trash. If he writes about their program they call off the hounds for that day.
VaHiDawg
September 9th, 2010
12:41 pm
GARCIA HAS ALWAYS BEEN ONE TO GLOAT AND HE’S FLOATING SO HIGH AFTER THIS SO MISS PERFORMANCE HE’S GONNA OVERLOOK THE DAWGS. I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE HIM HIT THE GROUND MORE TIMES THAT MOXON DID AT BINGVILLE AFTER A NIGHT AT THE TITTY BAR.
KEYS TO THE GAME ARE UGA RUNNING THE BALL UP THEIR A$$ES LIKE WE DID VS. TECH IN 09 AND GRANTHAM TURNING OUR BOYS LOOSE ON GARCIA.
Coach Cool
September 9th, 2010
12:41 pm
@DIT:
OU stomps F$U
DIT
September 9th, 2010
12:44 pm
Coach Cool:
I’m not pulling for FSU, it’s just that OU has not played well against quality opponents past couple years. How about Miami at OSU? Personally, I’d love to see the caines go in there and wipe the floor with them, but I don’t think that will happen.
Big Jim
September 9th, 2010
12:48 pm
Once again Barnfart, TITTY BAR makes it online but my comments don’t.
RamblinWrecker
September 9th, 2010
12:48 pm
Tony,
How can my institute play a kid that was busted in an FBI drug sting (and again last year after he ran from U.S. Marshals for beating a woman at gun point) and we currently have another kid that should be rotting in jail right now for raping a young girl, yet Green can’t even sell something that was GIVEN to him?
Heels Rock and Rule
September 9th, 2010
12:49 pm
Give me a free ride and let me emulated by thousands. It’s sure better than my job at the Safeway which pays my way to school. What u say?
reasonable
September 9th, 2010
12:50 pm
To the two “people” who responded to my “rant.” So facts are a rant – what don’t you try disputing the facts? Oh, that’s right I made a mistake and assumed that some followers of college football might actually have gone to college and been able to deal with facts, my mistake. Brief enough for you now or does reading comprehension escape you no matter the length?
SEC lunch links | SportsTalk South
September 9th, 2010
12:50 pm
[...] Tony Barnhart of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes that fans shouldn’t be mad at A.J. Green. [...]
James
September 9th, 2010
12:50 pm
Thank goodness for Kris Durham!!! Keep in mind, even the yechies will admit, we don’t need AJ, nor even Kris, to put a whooping on a media created titan of football.
Delbert D.
September 9th, 2010
12:51 pm
The Sooners opened as a 10 point favorite. Today they are 7-1/2. The people who put their money where their mouth is prefer the Seminoles.
Delbert D.
September 9th, 2010
12:55 pm
reasonable – I went back and read your post again. As for Point #5, do you have a solution?
Dog Catcher
September 9th, 2010
12:55 pm
`
The Evil Genius is smiling in Columbia.
angle
September 9th, 2010
12:55 pm
I guess it’s safe to say the guy AJ sold it to wasn’t even a freakin’ agent. Just someone that could fall into their own warped “definition” of an agent. The NCAA is saying anyone who could promote or market a player (so anyone wearing a shirt with his picture or name on it) is therefore an agent. This reeks to the high heavens!!!!
GT Alum
September 9th, 2010
12:56 pm
Ramblin Wrecker which Institute are you referring to?
KR
September 9th, 2010
12:57 pm
For the people who shout “Pay the Players!”, I suggest you do the following:
1. Find your school’s on the list that ranks athletic departments by profitability.
2. Write down your athletic department’s profit or loss from that year.
3. Add up the total number of players per team (scholarship or not, men’s and women’s sports)
4. Take the total number of players and multiply that by $12,000 ($1K/mo. As suggested earlier)
5. Subtract the dollar amount of #4 from the dollar amount in #2.
6. How does it look for your school?
For probably 95% of you, the athletic department would be losing money from such an arrangement. What do you do then? Raise ticket prices? Raise minimum donation amounts? Force your coaching staffs to take pay cuts? Cut out some sports?
It really isn’t as simple as “pay the players.”
Dog Catcher Catcher
September 9th, 2010
12:57 pm
Will he be smiling after he’s humiliated by UGA without their best player even being on the field? I doubt it. Ask Paul SMALL Johnson and the nerd nation about that…..
RamblinWrecker
September 9th, 2010
12:59 pm
The finest institute in the nation of course
SILLY UGA FANS
September 9th, 2010
1:00 pm
Tony that has to be the weakest argument you have ever given to support one of your beloved UGA players. I will agree that from what we know the punishment seems severe considering what other players are receiving, but we may not know the whole story. As far as paying the kids they do get paid, it’s called a free college education and the chance to showcase their talents for the NFL. I guess if I were a UGA fan I would like to pay players simply because they have the money and could build a super team and forget anything about the student/athlete part. Hell I say don’t even use students hire pros to represent your school that way those darn classes and NCAA rules just simply would not apply at all.
juice sourcer
September 9th, 2010
1:00 pm
As I have said a 1,000 times these kids should form a union and go on strike. It would be awesome to see a walk out on game day when the networks are there and 100’s of 1000’s of fans are there and the players don’t show up. This is America not some communist country….screw the establishment.
tootrue
September 9th, 2010
1:00 pm
Not mad at green but NCAA should take better action toward agents who stalk the kids and make them pay
NCAA Marketing Rights
September 9th, 2010
1:01 pm
The NCAA doesn’t give a rat’s a$$ about a player’s contrition. Cooperation is another matter. The UNC boards are saying that when the whole mess dies down, the truth will be that when Phil Fulmer, I mean, Marcel Dareus was rumored to have been at the party, Bama jumped the gun and worked a deal with the NCAA. That’s why the NCAA issued such a sappy “this kid was the most honest, blah, blah” quote. That’s why he only got 2 games. And that’s why Green’s appeal will NOT result in less games. Dareus is a snitch
Amateur= not paid
September 9th, 2010
1:01 pm
Sure lets pay them!! Just a few questions.
How much?
Every athlete of every sport gets the same?
Title 9?
What about schools whose basketball players are the most popular?
Starters v.s. 2nd string v.s. walk ons?
Are we going to pay high school athletes too since they make a lot of money for the athletic dept? WHere does it stop?
THese kids are getting an opportunity they would never have as a non-athlete. Free room and board, free college experience, free school. Everybody knows how it works when they are getting recruited. If you don’t want to get taken “advantage” of then go to some obscure D-3 school where nobody comes to your games!!!!
rEuBeN hOuSt0n
September 9th, 2010
1:02 pm
IfF oNleY Aj HaD hEaRd mEe I cUdDa HelPeD!! MaH LaWyA NoT oNlEy kEpT mAh aSsS oUtTa jAiL, bUtT hE eVaN mAdE sUrE I bEe StIlL aBeL 2 PlAy!!!!
Randy
September 9th, 2010
1:04 pm
How funny is that!!! One UGA jersey gets a cool grand. While Tech’s overall jersey sales don’t even come close to a thousand bucks combined!!! Classic!!!
takedowndawg
September 9th, 2010
1:06 pm
reasonable, Pretty funny response. Do you really want us to critique your “facts” closely? As I mentioned earlier, you are not alone in the “long winded” area. State you main points, and move on. By the way, appreciate your brevity at 12:50! You do realize that somewhere after the first or second paragraph that most people skip the rest of your dialogue. We may find something more interested to read below from others, so, we move on.
court
September 9th, 2010
1:06 pm
It’s always been my understanding that the players receive an allowance?? Is this not correct?
DawgNation
September 9th, 2010
1:06 pm
[b]5IML
September 9th, 2010
12:11 pm
All these arrests and suspensions are depressing. Can we discuss this week’s games? They are uplifting and will be exciting.
Who else thinks UT loses by 17 to Oregon?[/b]
I agree. Time to move on. This is so old news now. I think 17 is a good bet.
AtlantaNative62
September 9th, 2010
1:08 pm
Tony,
You are simply the best writer – not just sportswriter – that I’ve ever read. Your opinions are colored with your thoughts but also with pertinent and relevant information. I loved this article and even though I’m a Tech grad and a die hard Tech fan, I think this jersey punishment is absolutely absurd. Does AJ deserve to be punished? Yep. But to take away four games is absolutely stupid. No one disagrees with the NCAA’s mission. We don’t want cheating and we do want a level playing field. But how they go about their mission is as patently STUPID as anything I’ve ever seen. Has ALL of education had their “common sense” chips removed?
GT Alum
September 9th, 2010
1:10 pm
Ramblin Wrecker
I suppose you’re referring to Tarrant on the Rape, and the case was dropped. Are the Duke lacrosse players still guilty in your mind as well? Do you know how many girls in college cry wolf for some attention or other bogus reasons..As for the Rueben Houston Case.. the Judge ordered that he continue to play football, but has not played for Tech since 2005. The Tarrant situation occured in 2008. Are you kidding me.. Can we compare these two cases to the countless crap piling up at UGA (who you obviously are defending with these stretches for arguments)