Cope

August 5th, 2013 at 10:41 AM ^

When I was a student at Michigan just over ten years ago I remember the football players mentioning the monthy stipend they got. Unfortunately, I can't remember what it was (although it's probably public record), but I do remember I was shocked they could complain about that money. It surprised me as a lot at the time, to a guy who was paying through college and covering all of his own food and fun himself. And the summer jobs they were set up with for additional money paid more than I was making. A free degree at a premier university, plenty of spending money, and the greatest developmental program for the pros an athlete can have. I don't care how much athletic departments make in return. The players whose likeness they make money off of are the ones who make millions a couple years later, and the ones who don't get all the above free even though they aren't cut out for the top level of the sport.

Joined: 10/07/2010

MGoPoints: 2648

Profwoot

August 4th, 2013 at 5:40 PM ^

What's Manziel's motivation here? His family is already loaded, and he was surely aware that the action was against NCAA regs.

On the other hand, how does the NCAA confirm this? Do they just accept the testimonies of those supposedly there? It's not like they have any authority to subpeona bank records or anything. If such testimony is sufficient, it seems like it'd be easy for a couple people to invent a story about any player they didn't like.

Joined: 10/12/2010

MGoPoints: 155

NOLA Wolverine

August 4th, 2013 at 6:00 PM ^

From what I can see on the NCAA's website, violating the "cooperative principle" has pretty vague consequences. I'm not sure I've heard of a case where a player lost eligability for telling the NCAA to take a hike, or if that has come up to date. 

I would also be interested in seeing how it would play out if the bank account was a joint account with his parents (which based on what's been said about the family's wealth I would imagine is the case). All he would need to make a case that he is "fully cooperating" and not have to turn over the statements is have his parents tell the NCAA off.

Joined: 09/01/2009

MGoPoints: 7308

Follow Thy Fullback

August 4th, 2013 at 5:41 PM ^

...or is Manziel the new Tebow? I'm tired of hearing about him on ESPN 24/7...I absolutely didn't want Manti to win the heisman but at least we wouldn't have to hear about him all the time if he woulda won...Rant Over

Joined: 09/11/2012

MGoPoints: 4878

WolverineHistorian

August 4th, 2013 at 6:06 PM ^

I wouldn't be so sure about Manti. If he had won the Heisman (and if the public never found out he was making up a fake girlfriend) he would be getting this Manziel like hype. I have no doubt about that. The whole month of September (and most of October) last year was commentators and ESPN completely drooling over this guy non-stop. It was never ending. He suddenly became the first football player in history to play a game after losing a family member. Then you combine that with the Notre Dame factor, where they get over-hype simply for beating teams like Navy. That equals out to one big media drool fest. The Manziel hype is tiresome, yes. But better he than Te'o or some other Notre Dame player.

Joined: 08/10/2009

MGoPoints: 55460

hart20

August 4th, 2013 at 5:41 PM ^

$60,000 Escalade, new house, new suits, and ability to support 2 children? Can't wait until Emmert gets fired. I also wonder what role Carr has in this investigation. It'd be nice if it signaled a new era of enforcement.

Joined: 05/25/2011

MGoPoints: 5692

taistreetsmyhero

August 4th, 2013 at 8:46 PM ^

I agree that it should be investigated. And I have no real knowledge about how these things work except in the context of people taking on financial aid for school but...

Could he have been taking out loans for all those things? If I'm a bank, I'd be willing to bet Richardson is gonna make back the money to pay for all that stuff, and he'd be willing to sign up at a really high interest rate.

Joined: 08/08/2012

MGoPoints: 39396

DirkMcGurk

August 4th, 2013 at 5:46 PM ^

Could fix this. If players want to profit from autographs etc. then they need to submit forms showing the profits. Then if a player is rolling in a expensive car, have a room full of electronics and other such things that don't add up to what he made then an investigation is done.

The truth is the NCAA has no desire to investigate. That is why half assed penalties are given. OSU and PSU were two investigations basically done by the law and NCAA just used that info.

Joined: 06/12/2011

MGoPoints: 611

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

August 4th, 2013 at 7:49 PM ^

Agreed.  I think the $10,000 jockstrap problem is a big reason the NCAA doesn't let players sell their own stuff.  I think the whole thing could be mitigated quite a bit if the NCAA set up a clearinghouse type thing with set prices for certain items, through which players could sell stuff and get the money when they graduate or turn pro.

Guaranteed that if they just open the floodgates to sell things, boosters at various schools (cough Alabama cough) will pull kids aside during recruiting and let them know there's a $10,000 check with their name on it as soon as they sign that LOI if they happen to have a spare practice-used sock lying around.

Joined: 07/02/2008

MGoPoints: 41586

stephenrjking

August 4th, 2013 at 9:04 PM ^

Not quite right. This is part of what people misunderstand about the NCAA, I think.
It's not that the NCAA is uninterested, it's that they are incapable. We're talking, mostly, about two sports with hundreds of teams and thousands of athletes, and millions upon millions of fans (many of whom qualify as "boosters").
And we're talking about a complex, intensive series of regulations... That aren't even a part of civil law.
There is simply no way the NCAA can monitor all this. It's impossible. They aren't nearly big enough, and they have very little coercive power. None at all for ex-players.
The reason the NCAA borrows information from other sources is because it has no other choice.

Joined: 03/15/2012

MGoPoints: 20143524

Yeoman

August 5th, 2013 at 11:09 AM ^

..until I read the transcript of the NCAA investigator carefully walking Tressel through his testimony, pushing him back on-message when he got our of control and the truth threatened to slip out, even going off record when necessary to get him back on track. Tressel couldn't possibly have had better counsel...but it was the person assigned to interrogate him.

It's rare that we get that kind of inside view of an investigation, and for me it was an eye-opener.

Joined: 06/08/2011

MGoPoints: 21390

Tater

August 4th, 2013 at 5:49 PM ^

Athletes should be allowed to make any money on the free market that they want, just like any other student can.  That being said, Manziel is a walking advertisement for making the Heisman "upperclassmen only."

Joined: 08/13/2008

MGoPoints: 30584

m1jjb00

August 4th, 2013 at 5:53 PM ^

or gets arrested or gets in a wreck or ...

SEC East has a winning record against the West.  Alabama is the best team in the conference.  The next three are in the East.

Joined: 11/21/2009

MGoPoints: 8063

Wendyk5

August 4th, 2013 at 5:58 PM ^

A few years down the road, I could see a "30 for 30" on Johnny Football, going the same route as Todd Marinovich. Hope he can pull it together. 

Joined: 11/20/2008

MGoPoints: 67511

Red_Lee

August 4th, 2013 at 6:01 PM ^

It's been fun taking shots at OSU, but even then I thought getting busted for trading autographs for tattoos was ridiculous.

With the current lawsuits against the NCAA, the fact that they are making a huge deal about a player making money off of his own signature is such a double edged sword. Does NASA punish astronauts for autographs? Why the hell can the NCAA suck money out of these athletes and get mad when the kids make money on their own?

Joined: 01/24/2010

MGoPoints: 7106