A.J. Green: I sold jersey for ‘extra cash’ during spring break
ATHENS — Having served his four-game NCAA suspension for selling a jersey for $1,000, Georgia wide receiver A.J. Green on Tuesday told why he did it and how he got caught.
Green said he sold his Independence Bowl jersey to have “extra cash” during spring break and that the NCAA found out about it after asking him to turn over his bank records. He said he complied with the request.
“They had every bank statement going back to February ‘09,” Green said. “They looked and saw that [$1,000 deposit] and they were, like, ‘Hey, where did you get the money from?’ I told them. I’m not going to lie to them . . . and jeopardize my whole season.”
Green, eligible to play for the first time this season Saturday at Colorado, spoke to reporters in a UGA conference room Tuesday afternoon — his first interview since being suspended by the NCAA.
The star receiver did not deny knowing that selling the jersey was against NCAA rules, saying he “didn’t really think it through” and “everybody makes mistakes in life.”
“I broke the rule,” Green said, “and I paid my price. And I’m just ready to play again.”
He said he has never met the jersey buyer, Chris Hawkins, a former North Carolina football player, whom the NCAA considers an agent. Green said he and Hawkins communicated only through Facebook.
It also would be against NCAA rules to sell a jersey to a non-agent, but the NCAA’s designation of Hawkins as an agent might have added to the severity of Green’s penalty. Hawkins has denied that he is an agent and said that he bought the jersey as a collector.
Green said he was told the investigation started when the NCAA heard a rumor that he might have attended a Miami party sponsored by an agent (not Hawkins).
“I didn’t know anything about it,” Green said of the party. “When the NCAA told me about it, they said they heard it from [website] TMZ. [The NCAA] just heard it was a rumor, so they came down here and asked me.”
Green said he told the NCAA investigators, as he previously had told reporters and UGA officials, that he did not attend the Miami party. In the course of the investigation, he said, the NCAA asked for his bank statements, which led to the discovery of a rule violation — the jersey sale — separate from the Miami party.
“I guess when they couldn’t find [anything] on that trip, they went back and found this,” Green said.
He said the NCAA first asked him to explain the money about a week before Georgia’s Sept. 4 opener.
The NCAA declined to respond to Green’s comments Tuesday, and UGA has refused to turn over documents related to the case.
Green said the investigation was “a painful process, man. I’m not the type of guy who ever got into trouble here and stuff like that. Sometimes I couldn’t sleep just thinking about [it]. … I’m just glad that it’s over.”
Of the four-game suspension, he said: “I did something wrong. I deserve it, a penalty for what I’d done.”
Green said he had been approached about selling items before, “but I didn’t do it. But, like I said, it was spring break. So, you know, extra cash. I really didn’t think about it [being] a big deal, so I just did it.”
Georgia has lost three of four games without Green, who said the games have been “painful” for him to watch.
“I feel like . . . I caused a lot of people pain,” he said. “Because I feel like if I was out there some of the time we would have had a chance. . . . I beat myself up pretty much over that.
“But it taught me a valuable lesson. I’m growing up, and I’ve got to do the right thing.”
Georgia coach Mark Richt hopes the lesson spreads to Green’s teammates.
“I would think everybody saw what happened to A.J. and hopefully if they were in that position would not give in to whoever is trying to convince you that this is a good thing to do or that it’s OK to do,” Richt said.
Meanwhile, Green looks forward to his belated season opener Saturday.
“Now it’s about that time to show people what I was missing,” Green said. “I feel like I still got stuff to prove, that I’m behind and that I’m going to have a lot of catching up to do.”
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689 comments Add your comment
Reggie Bush
September 28th, 2010
4:44 pm
I did not shoot JFK…
Tech Engineers!
September 28th, 2010
4:45 pm
At Tech, Paul Johnson has control over the program and this would never happen! McGarity needs to crack down on all these arrests, payoffs, etc. or Ga’s problems will continue, even with a new coach.
German Shepherd Dawg
September 28th, 2010
4:46 pm
MD,
OK, now I know you’re a faker. Any Bulldog with even a modicum of sense might complain and whine about the suspension, but never in their right mind suggest the most exciting offensive player since Knowshon Moreno quit the team in the middle of the season when most people already believe the reason we lost three in a row is because of his absence.
You, sir, are a liar and a pretender. You are no Dawg.
5150 P.O.A.D
September 28th, 2010
4:47 pm
I didn’t shoot JFK but I did get drunk on Billy Beer one weekend partying in Athens back in the 80’s.
In Shock
September 28th, 2010
4:47 pm
AJ owes CMR his senior year.
SadDawg
September 28th, 2010
4:47 pm
Everybody knows what institution is in Milledgeville. And we know now they put computers in the rooms . . .
JV
September 28th, 2010
4:48 pm
That is how Jimmy got sick going to Cleveland today-drinking Billy Beers.
German Shepherd Dawg
September 28th, 2010
4:48 pm
Tech Engineers! Know what else isn’t happening for Paul Johnson? Winning.
JV
September 28th, 2010
4:49 pm
Jimmy Carter that is.
Tech Engineers!
September 28th, 2010
4:49 pm
All we need for entertainment is hand cream and a Hustler Mag!
ARdawg
September 28th, 2010
4:50 pm
**YAWN** Tucker, thanks for the info but, can we now get back to BBQ’ing Richt’s derriere?
German Shepherd Dawg
September 28th, 2010
4:50 pm
And all you Bush bashers,
Obama has been in office two years now. It’s time to let go of the past and confront the present, which really sucks, I know. But it’s time.
OneNationUnderDawg
September 28th, 2010
4:50 pm
Excuses, Excuses. If this were a player from FL, Tech, or Auburn, we would be all over it and all for it. AJ made a mistake. A big mistake. The team is paying for it. And while I agree that AJ does not play defense, his playmaking ability on offense has the potential to keep offensive drives going and potentially scoring more points for UGA and keeping the other team’s defense on the field and our off the field. It certainly could have made a difference in the last three games. I’m very disappointed.
5150 P.O.A.D
September 28th, 2010
4:50 pm
GSDAWG Tech is 2-2 UGA is 1-3 what do you call winning?
Carson Thompson, III
September 28th, 2010
4:50 pm
I’m a student at UGA, my girlfriend is in a study group with AJ, Tuesday and Thursdays at 11PM in his apartment. Should I be worried?
dowhatnow?
September 28th, 2010
4:50 pm
Why did he DEPOSIT it??????!!!!!????????
JV
September 28th, 2010
4:50 pm
Jimmy does not read Hustler. He does use hand cream though.
dawghater
September 28th, 2010
4:51 pm
AJ could just use the ignorance plea with the NCAA!
murray county mystic
September 28th, 2010
4:51 pm
if UGA fanbase isn’t the most pathetic, it won’t take long to get to them on the “List of pathetic fanbase losers”…UGA is the Clemson of the SEC; usually pretty fair ballclub, sometimes better than fair, but not a consistent power. You are who you are; be happy with that. Let the big boys (FLA, BAMA, LSU) handle the tough job of winning National Championships…just win a bowl game for the SEC…PS: Coach Bill Oliver said on the Feinbaum show this afternoon that CMR was a fine-looking man, but, knew nothing about defense. Said he is straight out of the FSU/Bowden mold which you knew already…
Football Bat
September 28th, 2010
4:51 pm
@ Milledgeville Dawg: No, I am not kidding, I am giving the best advice I can regardless of the probable outcome. Just as if I said, “We are mathematically still alive, so HUNKER DOWN and win these games!”
If I was kidding, I would say something like “Coach Richt needs to smoke some angel dust just to get motivated and energized enough to walk past the bench, clap his hands and say ‘Let’s go, team!’.”
German Shepherd Dawg
September 28th, 2010
4:51 pm
Tech,
You guys are a cheap date, aren’t you?
Woody Allen once said that masturbation is sex with someone you love.
Tough to dispute.
ARdawg
September 28th, 2010
4:52 pm
Bush basher’s? Is it true they really are going to give Reggie’s Heisman to Obama?
JV
September 28th, 2010
4:52 pm
AJ deposited it since he did not want to get mugged in Athens with money on his person. He needed it for Spring Break.
In Shock
September 28th, 2010
4:52 pm
UGA Friend. Please Please tell me who the talent you are referring to is ?
Mike
September 28th, 2010
4:53 pm
Furthermore … why does the NCAA get to search these cats bank records??? If they saw a $1000 deposit on Drew Butler’s bank account, it wouldn’t matter since his dad played in the league … but you see 1K from on this guy’s statement and it’s grounds for an investigation.
I can only SMH. Lesson of the day young athletes … only accept cash.
dawghater
September 28th, 2010
4:53 pm
AJ needed $1000 for Spring Break Spendng money. What kind of drugs are you buying AJ!
Old Dawg
September 28th, 2010
4:53 pm
The NCAA is trying to be the IRS. Good grief! What a bunch of crap! Take a good kid and make him pay for something he didn’t even know was against NCAA rules. How about Pete Carroll? He does stuff and gets his school in trouble and walks away free as a bird to coach in the NFL with no punishment at all. What a crock! NCAA, is it needed?
5150 P.O.A.D
September 28th, 2010
4:53 pm
Jimmy uses Peanut Butter and the underwear ads in the Farmers & Consumers Market Bulletin. Those girls are prettier than Amy for damn sure.
ARdawg
September 28th, 2010
4:54 pm
Obama gets Reggie’s Heisman but, Kim Kardashian said he could keep the herpes
German Shepherd Dawg
September 28th, 2010
4:54 pm
5150,
Beating NC State at home. At least MSU was on the road, and Arkansas was ranked.
I’m not worried about you at the end of the season, but I need to see something next week to think we’ll be okay against the Gators and Auburn. I wasn’t worried about Auburn until they spanked SC with 45 points. That bothered me.
dawghater
September 28th, 2010
4:55 pm
Hey Mike, guess you don’t deposit Cash AH. Yea, defend the act not accept the fact it was wrong. It’s against the NCAA rules and if you and AJ don’t like then don’t play!
German Shepherd Dawg
September 28th, 2010
4:55 pm
This is really degenerating into total inanity.
Sourgrapes
September 28th, 2010
4:55 pm
Tech fan here – I find the NCAA’s actions in this matter abhorrent. Do they paw through everyone’s trash, too?
SadDawg
September 28th, 2010
4:56 pm
He’ll put it on the mantle, right beside the Nobel Peace Prize he “earned” after two months in office . . .
59bulldawg
September 28th, 2010
4:56 pm
It seems to me the kid was extremely cooperative with investigators and still got nailed to the wall.
JV
September 28th, 2010
4:57 pm
According to the IRS “All accretions to wealth constitute income from whatever source derived.”
5150 P.O.A.D
September 28th, 2010
4:58 pm
GSDAWG TECH beat Miss St the last 2 years in a Home and Home series.
JV
September 28th, 2010
4:58 pm
Maybe now AJ will be audited to see if that $1000 appeared on his 1040.
judge
September 28th, 2010
4:58 pm
He knew it was wrong but he didnt ask the coach or anybody else—he aint that good—kick him off the team and lets start over —-ok? If one guy makes that much of a difference this is really sad. I knows dat it was wrung but Ayezz did it anyways====please man–get real. Man where do they dig these guys up at anyway? Guilty. Go back to the fourth grade and start over and then you can go play for Florida. See ya wouldnt wanta be ya.
dawghater
September 28th, 2010
4:59 pm
Hey 59bullpup – No nailing him to the wall would be a season suspension. I don’t think AJ came to the NCAA out of guilt and reported his $1000 sale. He got caught breaking a rule and was punhished. That’s the consequence. Just because he admitted it after he was caught doesn’t give you a free pass. That’s part of UGA’s problem and the 10 arrests YTD. No one agrees with punishment and half the time there is no punishment unless your not playing!
Dachosenone
September 28th, 2010
5:00 pm
If the NCAA would actually either pay student athletes are real stipend or allow them to actually work, you wouldn’t have 18, 19, 20 year old students making these kind of decisions.
5150 P.O.A.D
September 28th, 2010
5:01 pm
People when a kid signs to play a college sport they sign up to be investigated by the NCAA whenever the NCAA wants. If the players don’t like the rules then don’t play the sports.
It does sound a little like Driving While Black in the NCAA going through AJ Green’s checking account.
James
September 28th, 2010
5:02 pm
Sure, you sold it so you can buy those diamond ear rings that you sport on the side lines, so cool for such a fool.
Concerned
September 28th, 2010
5:03 pm
You know, I’m not a Georgia fan, but what a classy response from AJ Green. He did something wrong, he acknowledged it, came clean and wants to move forward. Good for you young man. In life we spend too much time reacting to adversity instead of meeting it head on. AJ, you did the latter and you should be proud. Good luck this Saturday.
Sam Robards, Dawg Fan
September 28th, 2010
5:04 pm
He did the crime, he paid the price.
The main thing I’m concerned about here is, if true, AJ’s account of how the investigation went. They went there asking about the party and believed him when he said he didn’t go. That should have been case closed. That was the intent of their investigation and they found out what they needed to know.
How ON EARTH does the NCAA then have the authority to then go through his PERSONAL CHECKING ACCOUNT and say, “What’s this charge? Where’d this money come from?” They aren’t a governmental body and, even if they were, had NO PROBABLE CAUSE at that point to seize his banking records since the matter they were investigating, the party, had been resolved.
Is this not a COMPLETE VIOLATION of his Fourth Amendment rights?! Am I taking crazy pills?! Since when can a NON-GOVERNMENTAL BODY SEIZE your PERSONAL PROPERTY/INFORMATION simply because they feel like snooping around?
If that’s how the “investigation” went, I’d sue the NCAA for a BLATANT violation of my civil liberties and, in addition, invoke the 13th Amendment since college football players are treated, in some ways, like slaves.
These players bust their butts, bringing in BILLIONS of dollars annually through ticket sales, TV contracts and merchandise and they can’t sell their own PERSONAL PROPERTY because the NCAA won’t get a slice? And yes, they get education and living accommodations, but that doesn’t even come close to equalling the amounts that these student bring in.
Yes, I am in favor of giving college athletes a stipend (not contracts and exorbitant salaries but a SET AMOUNT determined by the NCAA so that schools don’t get into price wars over recruiting HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS). This might also help keep students in school through graduation because they wouldn’t feel they have to run to the NFL as soon as they can in order to make a living.
Think about it.
ozzfest
September 28th, 2010
5:04 pm
HMMMM….I CAN THINK OF ONE VERY GOOD WAY TO MAKE IT UP TO YOUR TEAMMATES AND FANS………..2011.
judge
September 28th, 2010
5:04 pm
these players get scholarships—-and then they act like idiots—I say kick em all off the team start over for Gods sake—what is the big deal—whats with this one game suspension —two game suspension————what is that? What a joke. If you dont want to go by the rules–then leave!!!!! Please.
5150 P.O.A.D
September 28th, 2010
5:05 pm
STOP with the school paying the players.
How much are you going to pay the girl that Barrel Races on the Equestrian team as compared to the Star QB? If you pay one you have to pay them all.
Nacho Daddy
September 28th, 2010
5:05 pm
Give Reggie’s Heisman to D. Evans, he can hang his red panties on it…
sthgaboy
September 28th, 2010
5:06 pm
C’mon you righteous folks. He paid his penalty. Unfortunately, it cost the team. Let’s move on and get behind the team and A,J. It is still GREAT to be a GA Bulldog!!!