Paul Johnson: Ex-college stars should be punished for actions
Willis McGahee said goodbye to Miami years ago but if Paul Johnson had his way, players who took illegal benefits would pay a price.
If the claims of convicted felon Nevin Shapiro are to be believed, he gave money, cars and assorted impermissible benefits to 72 Miami football players and other athletes over a nine-year period (2002-10). The Hurricanes are expected to be hit with NCAA probation as a result of this.
But what happens to all of those former Miami players? Nothing. That’s why Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson believes there needs to be some type of legislation that follows an athlete and acts as a deterrent for those taking illegal benefits.
“In my mind it’s not going to change until you do something to the people who are involved in [receiving things],” Johnson said. “You can maybe smear their name, but what happens to them? They still get to sign big contracts. The guys who are left to get punished are the guys who didn’t know what was going on.”
This is a little bit of a sensitive topic at Tech. The Jackets were put on probation and forfeited their 2009 ACC championship (pending appeal) because the NCAA believed Tech obstructed the investigation into whether former players Demaryius Thomas and Morgan Burnett received extra benefits. It never actually was proven either player took something. But ultimately the program paid the price for an investigation stemming from the perceived actions of the two players.
The NFL recently made an example of former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor for five games prior to the supplemental draft, which is believed to be a carryover from the five games he would’ve missed at OSU. But in general, getting NFL and NBA teams to sign off on disciplinary actions for illegal actions committed in college will be be difficult.
Miami has declared eight players, including quarterback Jacory Harris, ineligible for the Sept. 5 opener against Maryland. There’s a chance the NCAA may reinstate some players. But Johnson’s issue is with programs paying a price for departed players. In the case of Miami, former stars Devin Hester, Willis McGahee and Antrel Rolle were among the players Shapiro claims to have given gifts to while they were there.
Johnson again: “If I’m a guy who comes up and I didn’t have a whole lot, I didn’t have a lot of money or possessions, you can see why kids say, ‘Well, they’re going to give me $2,000 and I needed the money. I had a kid or I had this or that.’ Unless there’s some deterrent, [why not]? If this goes back to 2002, nothing’s going to happen to those players. It’s going to happen to 80 percent of the kids who were there and didn’t know anything about it.”
He also believes that any coaches or administrators aware of improper benefits should pay a price but believes that’s usually not the case.
“As a head coach you’re ultimately responsible for everything that goes on, but at the same time how realistic is that?” he said. “You can watch to see what kind of car they drive or this, that or the other. But all you can really do is teach them what’s right and what’s wrong and ultimately you just have to hope what they do is right.”
Do you agree with Johnson? Should punishments follow former college stars into the pros?
By Jeff Schultz
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158 comments Add your comment
collegeballfan
August 29th, 2011
4:13 pm
The problem is the NCAA has rules which do not apply outside the NCAA.
The best way is to say that the coaches who cheat are banned from NCAA institutions for 5 years, 10 years or for life. But that only covers coaching misconduct.
For player misconduct Johnson is correct, the NCAA and the NFL, NBA and MLB could neogiate a contract between the four that would let penalties from the NCAA extend into the professional ranks. The colleges do serve as a farm system for the NFL and NBA more than for MLB, which has its own farm system.
Other than that you will never stop kids from selling a jersey or taking a free night in a cat house.
FairandBalanced
August 29th, 2011
4:15 pm
If you take money or gifts after signing a scholarship letter, you can assume you are violating that letter, which is in essence a contract. They could write the letter to state the violation as a theft of service, which is really what it is, and arrest violators. That said, they should give a small stipend to the revenue-sports athletes, as they are not allowed to work while school is in session. Give them laundry and pizza money from the billions that they bring into the schools. Stop pretending they are more student than athlete. Also, ban boosters from the field and from direct, unsupervised contact with the players. They can’t make it a law, but they can take their season tickets for life. Boosters and agents compound a coach’s already extremely stressful and difficult job. Oh, and UPS driver is a very respectable occupation.
Jacket Fever
August 29th, 2011
4:15 pm
Make scholarships worth 4 years instead of the current year to year, renewable ones. Then when the recruit signs the dotted line, have them sign where it reads “if I accept benefits, I will pay the ENTIRE value (plus inflation )of the scholarship back to the institution”.
ACC Champs: my T-shirt doesn't lie!
August 29th, 2011
4:15 pm
Mr Wax, did Coach Johnson even talk to the nzaa investigator?
beebee
August 29th, 2011
4:16 pm
Johson, just SHADDUP!
Yes, I’m a Tech fan. The tiny little bit of glory (from 2009) is about to be messed up because perhaps you and your AD failed to practice due diligence.
Get your butt and this team READY for your opener and the rest of the season, and especially UGA!
bee
Always a Jacket
August 29th, 2011
4:19 pm
I agree with CPJ. Hold individuals accountable and punish the guilty. If the school is guilty, then punish the school. But CPJ was referring to the student athlete. Why should any school be punished for something they did everything reasonable to prevent, but a 19 year old kid decided to break the rules anyway.
While OSU is not the perferct example (it was more than a student athlete breaking the rules), The NFL suspension of of TP appears to be the first step in the right direction (until the players union objects).
If the athlete is not NFL bound, then kick them out of school and/or withhold diploma and dont let them jump to another program without some punishment. If they are NFL bound, then suspend them on that end. dont punish the kids that followed the rules by hurting the school.
The current system punishes the schools that self report minor infractions that many schools would overlook. UGA has to sit their a player for selling a jersey, but TP drives a new Nissan every year and gets to play and compete all season. The system is broke.
Concerned Parent
August 29th, 2011
4:22 pm
Players should be paid in college along with their Tuition and then you woul dnot have this problem. They work and play as hard as the coaches so you don’t have to give them a lot but give them enough as if they had a part time job. They can’t work because they are either doing school work, working out, playing or tyring to catch up on rest. Just pay them across the board.
bill
August 29th, 2011
4:26 pm
The NCAA is operating in an system originally drawn up in the early 1900’s before college sports became the big business it has now become.
They are enforcing outdated laws and inherently don’t address the special issues that the athletes that come from limited means are seeing.
Here’s some possible pieces to the solution:
1. Since the players are essentially ambassadors of the university, pay them as you would pay any employee of the school, (including benefits,etc) or at the very least, pay the players more than the monthly stipends they currently receive.
Also, include a athlete/school split of the gate receipts, merchandise, etc…
2. Put into any scolarship:
A timetable for the scolarship given to be open for degree completion.
(7-10 years, negotiable). So if the player gets hurt and can no longer play, at least he won’t be put out in the streets.
A morals clause in the scolarship.
If the athlete is out of school and it is discovered that he knowingly broke this clause for taking “improper” benefits , any money amount will be payable back to the university for x number of years. (negotiable)
If the athlete breaks the law x number of times (negotiable), he’s out.
If the athlete flunks out of school, he should be treated as any other student would be in this manner.
Not a complete solution, but a least a couple of ideas to get the NCAA up to speed with the times from a former student/athlete from the late 80’s…
bill
August 29th, 2011
4:28 pm
Oops.
scolarship = scholarship
FairandBalanced
August 29th, 2011
4:30 pm
Well said Bill.
Tech Fan Since 1950
August 29th, 2011
4:31 pm
The BCS plays under the NCAA umbrella, but guess what? The BCS ignores the NCAA and makes up its own national championship with duel citizenship teams (BCS and NCAA—of course the great folks at ESPN sponsoring it) getting credit on their win-lost records by beating up on non BCS teams. The NCAA is just weak and not consistent in so many ways. Tech is primarily at fault for allegedly not cooperating to the apparent degree the NCAA wanted. If they are going to reinstate Miami players or whomever at some other schools, then their actions against Tech should be null and void. On the surface I blame Tech for letting this situation get out of hand, but I do think the Athletic Director was within his rights of informing his head coach of a situation that needed to be corrected or acknowledged. Tech’s compliance attitude and communications seemed to be the real problem.
bill
August 29th, 2011
4:32 pm
Thank you, FairandBalanced
Tekkie
August 29th, 2011
4:41 pm
Wrong, Coach!!
Last time I checked, this is not illegal under the statute of law. It is only against the rules of the NCAA.
1Jacket7
August 29th, 2011
4:42 pm
Here is how you stop these things from happening. 1. Athlete signs contract that informs he/she that taking monetary gifts from an agent or booster will result in an immediate ban from college sports for themselves and and any child or children that they have. 2. Suspend the Agent from conducting business with the Pro system for life. 3. If the institution is involved. The involved parties will be required to pay hefty fines and firings. Players not involved will not lose games or championships or wins. You can’t take back a game already played so that notion has always been silly. The penalty should be in the present and future. These things target the source and make people reconsider violating the rules.
Mark (another one)
August 29th, 2011
4:43 pm
Here are the existing contracts:
School to the NCAA. We will follow your rules and pay your membership dues in exchange for particating in your programs.
School to players: You get a full-ride scholarship to our University and in exchange you will play football for our team and abide by all NCAA and school rules.
There is no contract between the NCAA and the player, so the NCAA can’t sue the player for breach of contract. The NCAA has to penalize the school.
The school and the player have a contract, and the school is not asking the courts to enforce it. Their decision. Their mess. When a player breaches the contract with the school, the school should take the player to court and ask the court for the appropriate remedy. That should include the cost to the institution of the scholarship and any losses assoicated with the breach such as a bowl ban or loss of additional scholarships and TV money.
So what if some of these players don’t sign professional contracts. Many do and almost all of them want to, especially the ones that can get money to play.
MiamiJacket
August 29th, 2011
4:47 pm
How about this? Any player caught receiving impermissible benefits while in college won’t be eligible to be drafted until the 4th round of the NFL draft (day 3). That should do the trick. That would possilby equate to millions of dollars in the value of the first contract for any player who is caught.
Any player caught receiving impermissible benefits after they were drafted and already in the league will then lose the guaranteed portion of their current contract. Therefore, the player’s entire current contract would automatically become fully non-guaranteed.
cdog
August 29th, 2011
4:57 pm
Best answer-Athlete and school agree to scholarship. If the player accepts illegal gifts, help, or cheats on exams etc., Player is subject to paying back scholarship. On the School side, scholarships need to be honored, and not dropped b/c a much better player is available to the coach the next year. If players commit to a school to play FB, or Basketbal, that coach/school should not be able to pull the scholarship if the player is getting grades, going to practice, and keeping his nose clean. If the school recruits a player and the player isnt as good as the school hoped he be, well do a better job recruiting.
Tax Nerd
August 29th, 2011
5:00 pm
Jarvis,
Gifts are nontaxable up to $13,000 per donee. So if Player A gets gift from Agent V of $12,000, Agent R of $7,000 and Agent Q of $10,000, none of those gifts are taxable as they are each below the annual exclusion amount of $13,000. There is also no filing requirement by either party. In the IRS’s eyes, anything less than 13,000 is just a small present not worth their time.
Things like cars, jewelry, and other possessions are value based on their fair market value.
So, their could be some IRS following, but for the most part, gifts given to athletes are well under 13,000 and therefore not taxable or not a gift in the eyes of the IRS.
ACC Champs: my T-shirt doesn't lie!
August 29th, 2011
5:02 pm
This certainly would help with the employment of lawyers and investigators trying to prove some something difficult to prove…etc…etc
I like coaches…but some things are just politically incorrect.
GUNGA DIN
August 29th, 2011
5:08 pm
schools need clause in the scholarship agreement that allows them to file suit against player for actual damages if they knowingly violate the NCAA rules. a couple of million dollar plus lawsuits against the players would make others think twice about screwing around with the rules.
The Producer
August 29th, 2011
5:10 pm
That’s right coach, you can make all your millions on the backs these young athletes and then suspend them as soon as they get an ice cream sandwich from a booster. You got your side hustle with the TV/Radio contract along with the other endorsements and these players can’t get a free shirt from the same people you endorse. Pimping ain’t cool, it’s a hustle. By your comments, I think that you, the school and the ncaa are pimps. Why punish the athletes and why not the coach.
Love Sports
August 29th, 2011
5:10 pm
I love college sports, but the pursuit of these kids are going too far. Most of these kids are very poor, and their families are poor. The colleges get an indentured servant and the kids in a lot of cases get nothing in return. Everyone on the sideline including coaches, assistances, and press are getting paid, but the people the fans actually pay to see; the students, are not. A college president can go out to a fancy dinner paid for by the money received from people whom pay to see these kids, but if a kid take a sandwich or have his mom light bill paid he is vilified as if they are common criminals. The system needs to be abolished.
northern neighbor
August 29th, 2011
5:12 pm
JJ is right – “It is not illegal, it is just against the rules of the NCAA.”
Football needs to do what baseball does and what soccer does. Let a kid turn pro out of high school. The NFL needs to pony up the money for a minor league system. There is no sense in making a kid go to college just because he wants to be a professional athlete.
The next best option is to tax the NFL or each drafted player to fund a pool for paying the ’student’ athletes on some scale that includes grades and attendance, plus a bonus for graduating.
NCAA Critic
August 29th, 2011
5:13 pm
The sad truth is that we are addicted to college football. As long as we so willingly part with billions of our dollars, there will be scoundrels aplenty to grab as much coin as possible. The only thing that I have seen that shut down college football was 9/11, and that interruption lasted for a single week. Blame the NCAA, blame the ADs, blame the players, blame the coaches, or blame the NFL. How come the fans don’t take some blame themselves? We are the ones financing this fiasco, and we show no incination to send college football the message that the current state of affairs will no longer supported.
northern neighbor
August 29th, 2011
5:14 pm
Oh, I forgot, tax the coaches, too.
And then the reality is....
August 29th, 2011
5:19 pm
Bill and Concerned Parent – two problems with your logic and then two HUGE legal problems:
First who exactly do you think is gonna pony up the money to “pay” all these players. Only one or two big time athletics programs (which are routinely the only ones with these issues) actually turn a profit over expenses and 90% of them are STATE funded universities. You think I’m gonna watch my tax dollars go to paying kids who are already getting $25,000 – $30,000 year on average for a free education and room board and books Get real… if they just need money – be a non-sports playing student and go get a job. If they are gonna play A FRICKIN’ GAME in exchange for a taxpayer funded education then play by the rules.
Two, the reason you don’t have these problems in baseball like you do football is a kid can sign for money and go straight from high school to the minor leagues. In basketball a kid can go straight pro but the market for them is so much smaller most do not. The LeBrons/Kobe’s Dwight Howards are the exception. SO you do get a little in basketball who feel like they should be entitled to “get something” for staying in school. In football you can’t go pro until three years after high school eligibility is up or three full years of college football (hence why so many “redshirt” sophomores go pro). Football is the issue — courts have ruled the age requirement is a valid eligibility rule. I think it’s bunk – makes no sense. If an 18 year old race car driver wants to get out on a track and risk his life at a young “immature” age they don’t tell them no. In my opinion it’s age discrimination and some court should have the cajones to say so.
Now the Legal issues – first the students already get “paid” or don’t you understand that. They get a free education and equipment, and apparel, and, etc. etc. If you then pay them something on top of that it’s a violation of federal labor laws in other students eyes because many of them work jobs for the university as well and they aren’t getting fringe benefits or an equal pay scale.
BIGGER legal issue — you can’t pay just football players, basketball players, those that “financially support the rest of the athletics programs” because you’ll have a disproporationate number of male athletes then getting much more benefit from the school and every school would get sued for Title IX violations and rightly so.
The only solution — if they wanna go pro let em go pro and throw their bodies out there and use them up. If they want an education they sign agreeing to be bound by the scholarship and follow the damn rules. Period. If a school gets slapped on probation because of something the school had responsibility for you automatically deem all scholarship players eligible for full release and immediate eligibility elsewhere – “innocent pay the price” problem solved. If a school accuses another and it’s proven untrue THE FALSE accuser gets the penalty and suffers the consequences.
There is an actual sensible, realistic, preserve the integrity of the amateur nature of college athletics resolution that would work in 98% of the cases…. the NCAA is just too proud to admit it and doesn’t want to lose the best football players to the NFL 3 years earlier.
Boss
August 29th, 2011
5:35 pm
The guy who lied and cheated and had his lieing cheating teams title stripped from him thinks players should be punished when they take unallowed benefits?
I guess cpj aka cheater mcliealot does have a few scruples. Of course that’s only because he doesn’t have any players that anyone would offer benefits to so it was easy for him to make that call.
Najeh Davenpoop
August 29th, 2011
5:41 pm
Pay. The. Players.
BiggdawgK
August 29th, 2011
5:44 pm
I am tired of all the people who whine about the players getting nothing for playing college football. I’ll even ignore the fact they get a free college eduacation that cost other students a lot of cash.
Where else could these kids get free access to coaches, trainers, equipment, facilities, nutritionists, etc… that allow them to reach their full potential so they can go on to the nfl?
Get a clue folks
August 29th, 2011
5:47 pm
The NCAA has no power to go after players after they leave – they don’t even have subpoena powers. They are a self serving toothless tiger. The entire system needs to be blown up and started anew.
KINGDAWG
August 29th, 2011
5:47 pm
I’ll repeat my statement from a previous related article. Do what hurts each party the most…players immediate loss of eligibility; coaches banned for life; and hit the universities with multi-million dollar fine. There’s a new sheriff in town, and his name is KINGDAWG.
Hairy Dawgs
August 29th, 2011
5:51 pm
Perhaps the NFL should start a system where all College players are actually compensated by the NFL owners thus stopping the incentive for payouts by agents and boosters. The NFL admits the college game is a stepping stone to their league and thus has a hand in compensating these players. the pay would be equal among the college ranks regardless of which school they attend.
Casual Observer
August 29th, 2011
5:52 pm
Devils advocate here; Can anyone tell me how many schools are actually on probation currently for NCAA rules violations? I understand that it seems to be a broken system but in reality i would argue that less than 5% of institutions are in trouble. Sure the troublemakers make the loudest noise but are we to blow up a system that technically doesn’t have a problem.
my research may be flawed but I count 7 out of 120 FBS institutions currently on probation.
Kingdawg is naive dawg
August 29th, 2011
5:54 pm
What you propose sounds great – but it’s against the law. You need to go here and read
http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/public/ncaa/enforcement/index.html
Ted Hendricks' Ghost
August 29th, 2011
5:55 pm
Key here is that all of this is “alleged” …. nothing has been proven yet folks like Paul Johnson and his holier than thou attitude have become Judge, Jury and Executioner! There are going to be some very surprised folks when the NCAA rules on the 8 players Suspended by Miami. The lil’ Hustler Nevin Shapiro made a lot of claims and the boys from Yahoo! Sports did some very sloppy investigative reporting. The FACTS supporting the claims are very very weak!
The quote of the FBI agent in-charge of the case against Mr. Shapiro; Michael B. Ward, the special agent in charge of the Newark FBI operation that nailed Shapiro for his $930 million ponzi scheme, recognized the same Shapiro tendencies in the UM scandal. Emphasizing that that he was not stating the FBI’s official position, Ward said that a “reasonable person,” familiar with Shapiro, “could even see the university as a victim here.” And, to further quote the article and the judge in this case; The judge, refusing to depart downward from a 20-year sentence, noted “While you certainly have pled guilty, it appears to be this desire to, I don’t know, perhaps blame others, soil others, the reputation of others….”
The guy is a hustler and he has hustled Yahoo! Sports, Sports Illustrated, many media sports “talking heads” and a lot of football coaches, including Paul Johnson. He led all of the folks down the pathway they wanted to travel … one that causes havoc to a very proud football program at the University of Miami! Why? Because he wants to write a book to help offset the $83 million the court has ruled he must repay as restitution to his hustled investors. Anyone know a better way to do it? He has gotten a ton of free advertising from all of the “sheep” that willfully followed the poorly investigative Yahoo! Sports so called reporting!
They get a free education = BS NCAA rhetoric
August 29th, 2011
6:00 pm
Some of you folks don’t get it. Do you realize a kid on a music scholarship can, without penalty, sell songs or sing in a band for pay. How about a journalism major writing / selling his stuff for some spending money? The NCAA is screwing these kids and making BILLIONS under the guise of helping them – total BS.
KINGDAWG
August 29th, 2011
6:02 pm
@Kingdawg is a naive dawg. One thing that you might not have taken into account is that participation in college athletics is a privilege not a right. Players, coaches and schools must meet criteria established by the NCAA.
Hughes Threlkeld, Vidalia, GA
August 29th, 2011
6:13 pm
Yes, & the ideal way is the IRS! Not reporting income over the basic level of ?/qtr or year; I don’t remember.
They will be tagged & watched as crooks for the rest of their lives.
Good article.
Thankx
GT71
August 29th, 2011
6:27 pm
Since this is about money – something you can count, hold, spend – why not just admit that college athletes are actually minor-league players ‘hoping’ to get to the ’show’. You can’t enforce laws about morals anyway (see Prohibition, the underground drug biz and prostitution).
Pay them! But not much – a stipend – during playing days and a big payoff later…
Install a profit-sharing plan – a college athletic 401k-type deal. Apportion a percentage of college’s lucrative money intake to the athletes’ accounts (and yes, make it a meritocracy with the ’stars’ getting a heftier share, but all get a share – Milo Minderbinder would love it!). And pay them upon GRADUATION – yep, that’d help keep them in school and at least being exposed to an education. Like an IRA you get when you ‘retire’ – as most will as most do NOT get the gazillions we read about. No graduate, no big pay.
Still working out the details, but it could work.
BigDawg
August 29th, 2011
6:27 pm
Seems to be some ignorant brethren under this thread. I believe the GT coach was referring to NCAA legislation not Congress. LOL Sure are some lower IQ types on here. I am all for it but how would you get the NFL to play along. Solve that issue and I’m on board. Would serve as a great incentive if the NFL would agree to NCAA rulings. Imagine a case where Reggie Bush had to forfeit his signing bonus and not play for several years as a result of the hundreds of thousands of dollars he received while at USC. This alone would go along way toward cleaning up the college game. Of course Auburn QB would have been treated differently if this was already on the books.
Old Gold and White Fan
August 29th, 2011
6:27 pm
Lots of great ideas listed here. Lots more folks missed the point….which was: do you agree with CPJ or not. Question was NOT: how to enforce or implement or anything else. But, many suggestions here that seemed good for that question too. I DO agree w/ CPJ. Players that broke the rules ought to pay the price and NOT the players left in the system. Don’t care if they’re in the NBA/NFL or not, THEY should be the ones to pay. As for the Dog fan wanting to know where he can find a job paying $20 an hour…..first he might have to learn the difference between “would” and “wood”. Typical UGA fan/grad. I’m just sayin’…….
))
And then the reality is....
August 29th, 2011
6:28 pm
They get a free education = BS NCAA rhetoric …. except for one critical distinction there – that student, outside of their participation in journalism/music classes is selling their own intellectual property/creation, created on their own time, that is completely independent of the participation that is required to qualify for or participate in the school activity. A football player is perfectly allowed to go do the same thing with whatever work, creation, invention, etc. that they choose and it violates nothing. Until you stop trying to convince players they should be treated differently than everybody else just because they are good at a game you ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM… not the solution.
GT71
August 29th, 2011
6:28 pm
OK, the meds are starting to kick in…sorry for the post.
earthworx
August 29th, 2011
6:31 pm
Why shouldn’t college athletes be allowed to sell possessions such as jerseys as long as they own them? I was fortunate to attend college on a scholastic scholarship that paid for my tuition, books, lab fees, and paid a modest monthly stipend. At the end of the semester I was allowed to sell the textbooks I used and keep the money, even though I didn’t directly pay for them, without any worry of penalty. The NCAA operates an archaic system that in no way reflects the economic realities of today. The NCAA needs to realize this and change their policies.
mtraininjax
August 29th, 2011
6:35 pm
CPJ,
JUST WIN, GET OFF the soapbox and play the game. When you win a BCS game you can waste the AJC beat writer’s time.
Go Jackets!!!
davidinloganville
August 29th, 2011
6:40 pm
the goal of the NCAA is not to punish the kids that were not guilty of anything, their goal is to punish the school and their fans for running rouge programs, That is really the only thing legally they can do.
BIG BEE
August 29th, 2011
6:54 pm
wxwax, WRONG, Rad was told not to discuss with CPJ, Rad did not tell Johnson not to talk with the players. wawax, get your facts straight before you spout off.
Anon
August 29th, 2011
6:54 pm
It is ridiculous to suggest that the NFL should be the enforcement arm of the NCAA, because one is a professional league for players who wish to play a sport for a living, the other is suppose to oversee an amateur league of college players who are playing for fun while getting an education. (If the above isn’t true, then stop treating college football as an amateur sport.) If you want the NFL and NCAA football to be intertwine, then officially call it the minor league of the NFL and stop treating the players as amateur athletes, and until that day comes, then the NFL should not be intertwine with the NCAA at all.
Hillbilly D
August 29th, 2011
7:01 pm
Everybody is making a killing off Division 1 football except the players. Drop the student athlete charade (when do these guys have time to go to class anyway, what with spring practice, summer camp, the season, etc) and pay the players. Let the NFL fund its own minor league system, like baseball does.
GIVE ME A BREAK
August 29th, 2011
7:32 pm
A student athlete should have to refund all expenses for their scholarship and lose all grades. A coach is under a contract and should prosecuted.