A one-half suspension for Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel is the most cynical thing since Caligula made his horse a consul, or at least since Cam Newton was allowed to play college football after his father Cecil shopped his services.
It puts to a final death the myth of amateurism.
It makes clear that the NCAA will protect its revenue streams. At all costs.
Even at the cost of its integrity.
Despite the excellent reporting from ESPN and Darren Rovell on this explosive story, Texas A&M played the traditional SEC game of denial.
Despite damning reports that showed how Johnny Football signed thousands and thousands of autographs for dealers at least six times, Texas A&M’s chancellor had the audacity to say in a joint statement from A&M and the NCAA, “I am proud of the way both Coach Sumlin and Johnny handled this situation, with integrity and honesty. We all take the Aggie Code of Honor very seriously and there is no evidence that either the university or Johnny violated that code.”
Proud of the way Coach Sumlin and Johnny handled this?
Proud of the integrity and honesty?
Please.
If Johnny did everything in such a positive way, why the one-half suspension?
This is perhaps the most disturbing element of the story. At least, the Cam Newton situation had Auburn denying anything wrong happened at all. While we can doubt the truth of Auburn’s defense, we cannot question the logical integrity of its position. (Really, nobody outside of Auburn believes that Cam did not know he was being shopped or that Auburn was the only school not to get an offer to buy Cam from Cecil.) In the Cam Newton situation, fans could at least cling to the hope that the NCAA and Auburn did the right thing.
However, in this Texas A&M mess, fans no longer have that luxury thanks to the stupid one-half game suspension.
Camus was right—college football is absurd. This one-half game suspension is a cynical attempt by the NCAA, Texas A&M and the SEC to appear like they care and all while doing nothing.
They have their cake and they are going to eat it too. The NCAA, Texas A&M and the SEC are going to make sure Johnny Football continues to produce dollars for the institution, for the conference and still try to act like they give a damn about amateurism.
Only this time, nobody believes the NCAA and its member institutions care about anything other than dollars. With so many scandals, the SEC has become the new scofflaws in the eyes of college football fans around the country. For every SEC team that does it the right way, you can name two or three schools that do it the wrong way. This national perception of the SEC will only get worse unless the SEC polices itself.
That appears unlikely as the relentless college football arms race continues.
With teams needing more and more revenue to compete in the SEC, you can bet the institutions and the conference have no reason to jeopardize the flow of money. After all, endless money forms the sinews of war and has made the SEC the undisputed king of college football in the BCS era.
With a toothless NCAA and the love of money at an all-time high in college football, you can count on only one thing—Money is all that matters and it will be protected at all costs.
You are such a pathetic loser. When Johnny Football beats your team again, I want the redneck nation to just STFU.
Looks like they learned pretty well from the other agricultural school. Both situations still smell like cow manure
wishing and hoping like a little girlie girl
@ the smurfette
49-0…. need I say more???
I love to see how the loser fan bases respond
They cant do anything without evidence; otherwise they would have nailed Alabama for the T-Towns mens wear scandal (which is basically the same damn thing that Manziel did).
Excellent reporting? Want to move a betting line? Have a “source” call Darren Rovell. Horns sick of being out recruited? Call Darren. He does not care about sources or motivations. He does care that he gets lots of internet hits. Profiting by smearing the most convenient target in the name of sports journalism. Have you ever known the NCAA to be soft? My guess is that the NCAA knows more of the facts than you do.
Dude – you have some link or source for your accusations? Reading the story, I find very little that appears to be unfounded or unsupported by other legit sources. Has there been any other story or byline that has denied any of Rovell’s story, other than “Johnny said he didn’t take any money”? Man, Alabama was blasted by the NCAA on the word of a rival coach in another SEC school – you think they needed more than that to blow aTm’s ship out of the water if they wanted to? The NCAA is about the money now – it’s no longer about keeping college sports amateur or any such “pure” motivation. JFF was getting too many offers for $$$ to sign stuff, and aTm, the SEC and the NCAA weren’t gonna get their cut. That may be the back story – what was agreed to by those three parties with JFF? We’ll have to watch and see if they enact another “I didn’t know” rule so no one else gets the idea they can get in on the action prior to going to the NFL. This whole things reeks, and anyone who says differently needs to get that jar out of their face so they can see what’s going on.
I said it before. The NCAA is not a court. They are a dictator. They do not need physical proof. They aren’t even bound by Habius Corpus. You think they need proof? All Julio, Mark and the owner of the boat had to say is that they never actually went fishing. Or even more to the point all they had to say is that Julio and Mark paid for the trip. There was never any proof. Do you think AJ Green actually antied up and showed the NCAA a receipt for the jersey he sold? Not unless he was a dumbass. Just because the guy had possession of the jersey did not prove AJ sold it to him any more than possession of 4,400 autographs prove JFF sold them. No people, the fucking NCAA is corrupt and whishy washy. Now don’t get me wrong. I am ecstatic that the little fucker is going to give us the opportunity to rip his jock off and shove it down his throat. But by the same token I am just as pissed that money has manipulated the system again – after Scam Newton, and if I had my druthers the NZAA would have ripped his balls off and fed them to his criminal family. RTR!
correct suspend his butt then jff sues and then ncaa does have subpoena power
I fully agree. Kick Johnny Football out of college football ! Oh and while you are at it kick A.J. Mcarron out as well.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/A-J-Mcarron-Signed-Football-/321196493467?pt=US_Autographs&hash=item4ac8cd8a9b
I mean they had to pay A.J. something to get him to sign autographs right? Is that not how this game works or is it different rules when you play for bama? ROWL TAHD!
@SECFan
This is a great point.
Manziel ruined it for everyone.
He gets half a game suspension, but now kids can’t get real champions to sign anything but their official and lame placards—-no mini helmets, no shirts, no jerseys, at everyone—-not just Texas A&M.
You know better than to think 4400 numbered editions is the same as any autograph you can buy of AJ McCarron, we know you hate Alabama, we get it, but don’t make it so stupid.
Even if you did think AJ was getting paid, think about Manziel. He traveled. He literally paid out of his own pocket to go to 6 different cities to sign autoraphs for hours for strangers for free?
So let’s actually get an opinion out of you about the topic for once; how do you feel about the NCAA’s decision to say Manziel did this for free because he said so and he should have known someone might be able to make some money from his generous volunteerism?
Or you could just insult Alabama again. That’s all we expect, but I’m giving it a shot, what the hell, I’m a big guy.
Did you under quantities see where it said there were more you stupid fuck? ——————– Crickets!!! I also have a selling site on E-Bay and Amazon. I can have AJ or any other college athlete innoculously sign a football or baseball or an authentic jersey I bought at Bama Fever, and I can sell it on E-Bay and there’s no NCAA rule broken. And I don’t think AJ would charge me a damn thing for signing it you retarded shit. It’s not 4,400. Do you know how many days of work constantly signing hour after hour it takes to sign 4,400 autographs? Oh – sorry, I forgot I’m talking to an Aubie retard. Must be hell to not have one single player who’s autograph is coveted. Bwaa Haww Haww! RTR!
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