AutographScandalFest 2K14: Gurley suspended, Winston investigated

The state of Georgia passed a new law levying harsher penalties against people attempting to “bribe or entice college athletes to knowingly break NCAA rules by taking money,” via the AJC.

This comes in the wake of former star Georgia running back Todd Gurley’s suspension last season following an incident with an autograph dealer.

Back in October, Georgia running back Todd Gurley was suspended for breaking NCAA rules after allegedly signing autographs in exchange for money. We published an e-mail we received from a man who was attempting to get the story of Gurley’s autograph signing out in the media. We elected not to run with his story, as Spencer Hall put it, because “the purpose of this website is not to enforce the NCAA’s insane bylaws.”

That man was Bryan Allen, a Florida fan and sports memorabilia dealer who paid Gurley for autographs and proceeded to out him after allegedly being angry that the autographs lost value when Gurley made the same deal with other dealers. Allen has now taken to the press again, telling Sports Illustrated’s Andy Staples and ESPN’s Brett McMurphy that he did not intend to hurt the Georgia running back.

Gurley already missed two games due to a school suspension during the investigation, after which Georgia moved to reinstate him. He’ll now have to miss two more, against Florida and Kentucky. He will return for No. 11 Georgia against current No. 3 Auburn. In his absence, Georgia won handily against Missouri and Arkansas.

Georgia investigated Gurley after a Florida fan tried to sell the story to media outlets. Other Florida fans, such as Alligator Army, have mixed emotions at best about the ruling.

Just like any other athlete caught getting “impermissible” benefits, Gurley was going to be punished. But one part of the NCAA’s ruling was patently absurd, even by NCAA standards.

This isn’t a new concept. The NCAA has forced players to complete community service as a condition for reinstatement before, as a way to “pay back” some of the money they took without actually paying it back. But the fact that the organization seems to think community service is appropriate here is concerning.

According to the NCAA’s calculations, $400 (the amount Gurley received, according to Andy Staples) would translate to a two-game suspension, which Gurley has essentially served.

UGA’s announcement, which came after a meeting in Indianapolis with the NCAA:

Jack Nicklaus is not shy about sharing his opinions on anything from the sport that made him rich and famous (give Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson a break, lose the task force) to politics (there’s nary a Republican candidate for anything the 18-time major winner won’t support). And now Nicklaus has weighed in on college football, coming to the defense of Jameis Winston in the Florida State QB’s autographs flap.

Nicklaus’ grandson, Nick O’Leary, is a star tight end for FSU and has been one of Winston’s top pass-catching targets for the last two seasons.

In another stark reminder of whom the NCAA’s inane rules governing athletes’ self-promotion actually serve (everyone but the athletes), an entrepreneurially-minded Georgia student has reportedly been making a profit off of running back Todd Gurley’s name, per the Atlanta-Journal Constitution. Gurley is currently suspended for allegedly doing the same.

Peyton Bennett, a senior business major, has been selling shirts that say #FreeGurl3y, telling the AJC he has sold about 100 in three days at $15 per shirt.

UGA’s offense has put up 79 points in two weeks without its star, but no Georgia player would ever attribute any of that to the absence of Gurley, perhaps the best player in college football before he was snagged in a local autograph dealer’s kamikaze plot. They do have opinions on his suspension itself, though.

“I don’t work with the NCAA anymore. My sentiments and my thoughts are here with my team,” Conley, who was elected to represent the SEC as part of the NCAA’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee for two years in 2012, said.

Georgia promised a statement Thursday afternoon, then basically said that there was no reason to make a statement. A brief NCAA statement was a little more enlightening, noting that Georgia has to ask for Gurley’s reinstatement for it to happen.

The university and the NCAA might be acting slowly on this, but if it was up to one Georgia gubernatorial candidate, Gurley would be back on the field this week:

Former South Carolina quarterback Stephen Garcia opened up during an interview with WFNZ in Charlotte, talking about alleged illicit benefits obtained by SEC players during his time with the Gamecocks. Autographs are in the news due to so-called scandals involving Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston and suspended Georgia running back Todd Gurley.

Garcia, now a media member, said it was “absolutely ridiculous” that players could not profit off their own likenesses, via CBS Sports. The former South Carolina star also said he saw violations of NCAA rules frequently, including one anonymous player who allegedly made $160,000 on autographs. (That would be a ton of autographs.)

The Gurley investigation is well documented. A disgruntled autograph dealer shopped a video of the Georgia star allegedly signing items in a car. That dealer offered no proof of money changing hands, but Georgia suspended Gurley, perhaps based on other evidence.

The Winston investigation is even more ridiculous. ESPN reported that clusters of authenticated Winston autographs may have been signed in sessions with a memorabilia dealer. There’s no proof these autographs were signed in sessions, even if it is “likely,” nor is there any evidence Winston was paid for his signature.

Florida State will look into autographs signed by Jameis Winston to make sure he was not paid for them, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

The investigation comes in the wake of star Georgia running back Todd Gurley’s indefinite suspension for allegedly being paid for autographs. While the Winston autographs are traced to the same authenticator, this report is not necessarily coming from the same person who attempted to turn in Gurley.

As of about 9:30 am ET on Friday morning, over 3,500 people have signed the petition. 100,000 signatures is the benchmark required to get an official response from the White House, so a presidential stay of this suspension is probably not coming before Georgia takes on Missouri on Saturday. However, since this is the Dawgs we’re talking about here, and thus a matter of vital national importance, I’m sure President Obama can make an exception to the rules.

If the strained muscles of our great democracy cannot overturn a silly suspension over autographs, then perhaps its time we start considering a new system of government. Maybe one that runs the dang ball.

September 30, I received an email. That email, with name and number redacted:

The photo shows an African-American man with dreadlocks signing a red item while sitting in a car. His face is not visible. There is no way of telling whether it is Gurley or not.