Pryor to not cooperate with NCAA investigation of OSU

Submitted by rbgoblue on

I think the writing was on the wall when he left OSU, but came from his agent today

 

In other news, James also said that Pryor will no longer cooperate with NCAA investigators looking into Ohio State's football program, ex-players and current players.

"He doesn't need a reason (to talk to them). He's no longer a student-athlete," said James, who added that Pryor doesn't feel he owes the NCAA any answers. "They're not going to give him or any other student-athlete any due process rights to speak of, so he's moved on."

Probably good news for OSU, as he likely has a lot of dirt on a lot of current players.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=6644544

theyellowdart

June 10th, 2011 at 10:53 AM ^

 

 There have been tons of former players who won't work with the NCAA.  They have no requirement or obligation to do so.   The NCAA isn't going to hold those actions against the University itself as it also has nothing to do with the University.

 

 The USC case was a big deal because USC wasn't helping out the NCAA at all, they weren't opening their doors and showing their books and making it clear to the NCAA that they weren't doing anything wrong.   They gave no assitance what so ever and simply made it difficult for the NCAA to investigate. 

justingoblue

June 9th, 2011 at 2:04 PM ^

 

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psychomatt

June 9th, 2011 at 3:35 PM ^

The NCAA is not going to like it that TP is refusing to cooperate. Moreover, the NCAA probably already has evidence to support many of these violations (e.g., his former friend's OTL testimony). If neither Pryor nor Talbott are willing to meet with the NCAA and provide countervailing testimony or other evidence, the NCAA reasonably can rely on the evidence that they have and find the allegations true.

On the other hand, Maurice Clarett "cooperated" with the NCAA insofar as he met with them, but he answered "I don't remember" or "I don't know" to so many questions that the NCAA held it against him and declared him ineligible anyway. I'm going to guess that if TP met with the NCAA and honestly answered all of their questions he would reveal so many more violations that it probably is better for OSU that he refuses to meet at all.

rockydude

June 9th, 2011 at 2:01 PM ^

In order to "no longer cooperate" with the NCAA, he would have had to have been cooperating with them at some point. Unless lying in his statements and lying about serving his suspension count as cooperation, I don't see how that happened.

Also, this doesn't really help that whole OSU argument of, "they shouldn't come down hard on us, look how cooperative we are". 

Erik_in_Dayton

June 9th, 2011 at 2:05 PM ^

Now OSU, like USC before them, has a former player holding out on the NCAA.  I always had the sense that that really pissed the NCAA off in USC's case, though I really can't point to any facts to back that up. 

Anyway, it may not matter too much If the NCAA has copies of checks that Talbott wrote to Pryor. 

justingoblue

June 9th, 2011 at 2:18 PM ^

I'd have to think that either there would be a) some creative writing in that agreement allowing the NCAA to look at snapshot records from when he was still under scholarship or b) a booster funded legal battle to stop the NCAA from doing just that. Pryor leaving might have made that very complicated by leaving, but that's just my conjecture based off of what you heard.

MI Expat NY

June 9th, 2011 at 2:04 PM ^

I still think he may change his tune if he's denied entry to the supplemental draft because his eligibility status hasn't changed.  The UFL would surely pay him less than he was making at OSU, and that has to sting.

MI Expat NY

June 9th, 2011 at 3:15 PM ^

I didn't think about that possibility.  I made this point in an earlier thread, and I guess someone may know the answer.  But doesn't it seem sketchy for the NFL to allow someone who purposefully ends his eligibility (by signing with an agent, failing out of school, etc.) after the deadline to enter the draft, to then enter the supplemental draft?  For instance, lets say Pryor was clearly the number 1 QB prospect of the draft, but he really wanted to join one particular team who wouldn't have had a shot at him.  He decides to stay in school and every team with QB needs but his desired team "coincidentally" uses a high draft pick on a QB.  He then "fails out" and gets taken by his preferred team in the supplemental draft.

MI Expat NY

June 9th, 2011 at 3:28 PM ^

Ok, did 5 minutes of research on Wikipedia, so grain of salt.  But, it appears that rules have been instituted to prevent skipping the draft in favor of the supplemental, but I didn't find what they specifically said.  Since 1998, it appears that all players that were taken had at least made the effort to stay in school, if grades were the problem.  

I don't think Pryor can announce he's leaving schooll, voluntarily, and then use his subsequent failed classes to become eligible for the draft.

Zone Left

June 9th, 2011 at 3:35 PM ^

Someone definitely could do that if they wanted to (several players have done it--see below), but it's probably not very beneficial for the player. Pryor probably won't be able to command a top level salary and a team that takes him will have to forfeit the corresponding pick in the next draft. FYI, Wikipedia on the Supplemental Draft.

 

Draft order is determined by a weighted system that is divided into three groupings. First come the teams that had six or fewer wins last season, followed by non-playoff teams that had more than six wins, followed by the 12 playoff teams. In the supplemental draft, a team is not required to use any picks. Instead, if a team wants a player in the supplemental draft, they submit a "bid" to the Commissioner with the round they would pick that player. If no other team places a bid on that player at an earlier spot, the team is awarded the player and has to give up an equivalent pick in the following year's draft. (For example, FS Paul Oliver was taken by the San Diego Chargers in the fourth round of the Supplemental Draft in 2007; thus, in the 2008 NFL Draft, the Chargers forfeited a fourth-round pick.)

The 1985 Supplemental Draft was particularly controversial. Quarterback Bernie Kosar who had led University of Miami to its first National Championship in 1984 was earning his academic degree as a junior. Rather than finish his eligibility at Miami he wanted to turn pro. At this time college players had to wait for their class unless they themselves graduated early.

A plan was devised by football agent AJ Faigin [3] that was to get him to his preferred team, the Cleveland Browns. Faigin was representing former U of Miami QB and future Hall of Famer, Jim Kelly, then in the USFL, but whose NFL rights were held by the Buffalo Bills. The USFL was in its last days and Kelly would soon be available to the Bills. AJ Faigin's first step was to ask Bill Polian, the GM of Buffalo, if he would be willing to trade the number one Supplemental pick (worth next to nothing at that time) to Cleveland. Polian agreed and Faigin told the Cleveland Browns a trade was available. He next notified Kosar's father he should not formally submit his son's application for the standard NFL draft that was weeks away and declare only afterward; which would put him into the Supplemental Draft.

The result of Kosar’s withdrawal resulted in rare open warfare among NFL teams played out in the newspapers with threats of lawsuits between them, notably the Minnesota Vikings andNew York Giants, who had expressed interest in choosing him in that season's regular draft. But as no rules were broken the Giants and eventually Minnesota had to back down. Kosar went on to lead Cleveland to five playoffs and three AFC Championship games. Following that season, the NFL instituted the current semi-random supplemental draft order.

The strategy devised by A.J. Faigin, to not declare for the NFL until after the regular draft, was subsequently used by other top players for various reasons. In some cases, it was because they did not want to play for the team that would have drafted them in the regular draft. For example, Brian Bosworth did not declare because he did not want to play for theIndianapolis Colts or the Buffalo Bills, the teams who drafted second and third that year. The Colts had offered him a 4 year, $2.2 million deal before the draft.[4] The Seattle Seahawkswon the right to draft first in the supplemental draft, and later signed him to a 10 year, $11 million contract.[5] At the time that was the largest rookie contract in NFL history.

As of the 1990 season, only players who had graduated or exhausted their college eligibility were made available for the supplemental draft. Since 1993, only players who had planned to attend college but for various reasons could not have been included in the supplemental draft.

MI Expat NY

June 9th, 2011 at 3:45 PM ^

But I read that as all those players cited getting away with it and then the NFL changing the rules.  The key is the last sentence and how much it is based on reality.  If his status hasn't changed and he just decided to quit, did he "plan to attend college," whatever that means?

Tater

June 9th, 2011 at 2:09 PM ^

...but I will talk about a slightly different aspect. 

Pryor and THE Ohio State University are still so arrogant that they are continuing to stonewall and obstruct the NCAA investigation into their violations.  It has worked for them during the entire Tressel era, and probably during the Bruce and Cooper eras, too.  Until the NCAA finally punishes them so severely that it teaches them otherwise, they have no reason to "do the right thing" here.  

Michigan self-reported both stretchgate and the Ed Martin Fiasco, and paid a price for both investigations.  THE Ohio State University never cooperates, and their program never suffers any consequences for their lack of cooperation.  Ultimately, the result is that nobody at THE Ohio State University has any reason to ever tell the truth to anyone, because the NCAA rewards programs that lie and punish those who are honest with them.

As much as I detest THE Ohio State University, some of the blame or responsibility here has to go to the NCAA for rewarding schools that stonewall and/or lie when being investigated.  Hopefully, someone in the NCAA is intelligent enough to see this, and THE Ohio State University gets hammered with the worst punishment since SMU got the death penalty.

COB

June 9th, 2011 at 2:27 PM ^

you are full of shit.  OSU isn't stonewalling anyone and they are certainly not obstructing the investigation.  Mateen Cleves disagrees that you self reported the Ed Martin fiasco totally out of the goodness of you heart BTW.  Oh and FYI, OSU self reported Tatgate...doesn't exactly make them Saints, does it? 

OverTheTop

June 9th, 2011 at 2:14 PM ^

We forget so easily that the NCAA is not compelled by burdon of proof or any sort of "Innocent until proven guilty" type mandates. This means that if they truly believe things happened in violation of the rules and have at least some evidence of it, all that Pryor could have done is sacrifice himself for the good of tSIO as a parting gift and as a way of apologizing to the tSIO family by saying that he acted alone and without the knowledge of anyone else associated with the program. So, we have lack of cooperation in addition to the fact that NCAA has a history of punishing the school in the event of the individual violators having left already meaning that this is actually bad news for tSIO from a potential sanctions standpoint.

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

June 9th, 2011 at 2:17 PM ^

It's Iago time:

And no, this is not bad for OSU, because the NCAA doesn't punish based on people not telling them things about things they don't know. That's why it took them so long to investigate USC and Reggie Bush. This is what Pryor meant by "not being a distraction to his teammates." He wasn't kidding, he was just....equivocating a little. Well played, OSU, for nudging him out the door.

bluebyyou

June 9th, 2011 at 2:31 PM ^

One of you up to date young lawers (I'm an old IP guy) think of a cause of action that could be filed where, during discovery, documents and testimony could be obtained that might prove interesting to the NCAA.

Wasn't that a big concern during a Reggie Bush litigation?