Manziel was suspended for the 1st half of Texas
A&M’s first game of the 2013 Football season for violating the “Spirit of
the Law” concerning his signing of autographs and memorabilia. The NCAA informed Texas A&M that they had
not found evidence that Manziel had received money for signing thousands of
items in random hotel rooms during the winter months of 2013. Of course, the NCAA came to this conclusion within
a couple weeks after Manziel’s parents had retained the services of a power,
well-known lawyer.
This is where college athletics showed their true
colors. Since most college athletes do
not have the family or financial resources to attain such legal representation,
many athletes over the years have received suspensions and schools have had to
“vacate” past wins, loose scholarships and receive bowl bans over other
“violations”. While none these
violations equal any actual felonies or misdemeanors in the court of law, the
NCAA has bi-laws and regulations that are in place to “protect” the
student-athletes. So while these same
athletes are not allowed to have jobs during the athletic season or use their
fame for profit, the schools and NCAA can make as much money as they want. But there is no Congressional investigation
into the “monopoly” that is college athletics, because there is money involved
and they are part of the in-crowd.
Let’s look back at another athlete who did not have legal
representation and was punished by the NCAA.
Former Oklahoma State Wide Receiver Dez Bryant was considered a candidate
for the Heisman Trophy in 2009. But the
NCAA suspended him for the rest of the season because he “failed to disclose”
he had lunch with former NFL Superstar and current NFL Network TV personality
Deion Sanders. Apparently, because
Bryant had associated himself with some with an indirect connection to the NFL
and “lied” about it, he violated his Amateur Status and was then deemed
ineligible to play college football.
But what if Bryant’s family had the money or he had the
resources to attain a powerful attorney, would he have been ruled
ineligible? If his college was a private
school (Oklahoma State is part of the public college system in that state) and
had an athletic department who would hire an attorney to represent Bryant on
his behalf (similar to what happened at Auburn with Cam Newton during his
breakout, Heisman Trophy season) then what would have happened?
The reality is that this propaganda about “We are here to
protect the kids” from the NCAA and the schools who say “We really care about
this kids as people” is a total farce.
Universities and the NCAA are institutions of Business that offer a
service to educate people who they deem “qualified” to attend and enroll. The absolute disregard for precedent or
justice by the people who run these institutions is a disgrace. Whether it is the mishandling of the
investigation into potential violations at the University of Miami or the “see
no evil, hear no evil” disgrace that was the Mike Rice situation at Rutgers or
the NCAA making money off the likeness of athletes on the covers of video games
that have the official NCAA stamp on them, the concept of a moral high ground
is an absolute joke.
Manziel is a blue-blood, member of the upper class in
America, he thinks he can get away with anything, that he is “above the
law”. The NCAA always punishes schools
and athletes they deem are “guilty” because they can’t defend themselves or
because they cannot stand before an independent arbitrator to plead their case. Whether its Dez Bryant, University of Southern
California, or Southern Methodist University, there is a common theme: if you
are not in with the blue-bloods or elites, you are definitely going to get
punished for your “transgressions”.
Is Dez Bryant the
only collegiate athlete to have lunch with someone associated with a
professional sports organization? Nope.
Was USC the only school to ever have a player whose family received
favors from a prospective agent? Nope.
Was Miami the only school to ever have students receive money from
“supporters” of the athletic program? Nope.
Was SMU the only school who was “paying” players to come to their
school? Nope. But these were the ones who the NCAA decided
to investigate. The reality is that for
every school or athlete who is caught and punished, there are two others who
get away with the same or similar violations of the NCAA bi-laws.
So instead of people asking the US Congress to get involved
in the affairs of professional sports organizations like the NFL and MLB over
steroid testing, why don’t they instead investigate the NCAA and its member
institutions who claim to have the best interests of the student-athletes in
mind, when in reality, it’s a flawed system that is more interested in the
financial bottom line than the well-being of these so-called student-athletes. There’s no investigation into why USC
received punish for the actions of the family of a member of their football
team. No investigation into how the NCAA
is making money from the likenesses of their student-athletes in video games or
selling of their jerseys on their website.
No investigation into the debacle at Rutgers University with the Mike
Rice fiasco.
Obviously, the people who scream the loudest “We want to
protect their children from those who would take advantage of them” are
actually the ones who really don’t care an ounce about them. Yelling and screaming is for those who want
attention or to justify their existence.
It doesn’t matter if its Politicians, University Presidents and Athletic
Directors, or the “powers that be” at the National Collegiate Athletic
Association, the Modus Operandi seems
to have a common theme: They do what they need to do to stay in positions of
power and influence, while making as much money as possible while not being
held accountable for their actions.
So the next time you see Johnny Manziel pop up on your tv,
just remember, he gets to continue to play football because he had the
resources to afford him legal representation, while many other athletes are not
so fortunate. Have fun explaining this
one to your kids.
