PonyFans.com

From collegefootballnews.com:

17 players have been suspended or are ineligible including WR Fred Gibson, WR Michael Johnson, CB Bruce Thornton, CB Kenny Bailey, DT Darrius Swain and DT Kedric Golston. Nine have been nailed for selling their 2002 SEC Championship rings and five were suspended for charges of marijuana possession. The other five were suspended for breaking unspecified team rules.

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If the school gives you rings, aren't they yours to do whatever you want with them? Including selling them?

Hey Sports Law: is there a law against selling them, once you own them?

There is a rule against selling them for more than their cost. Could you persuade a big alum to buy one for $100,000 to keep a kid in school? What about $200,000?

Good point. I could see how that's a way schools might be able to "pay" players without paying them. Good idea to have that rule in place.

In other words, you won't be seeing any of those items on eBay.com!

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"Winning ain't everything...but it's a lot more fun than the alternative!" S.M.U. SPIRIT: IT STARTS NOW!

this is startin to get ridiculous

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The Red And Blue Is Back! Let the Pony Pride Ride On The Hilltop!

As OldPony said, there is an NCAA rule (though its not against the law) against selling items that a student-athlete receives. I'm not sure if the rule limits it to "above cost" or not; because, whether or not that happens, the athlete received the item because of their participation in collegiate athletics and to sell the item would be considered an "extra benefit" (there's that nasty word again). So, yes, the item is yours. You can do whatever you want with it; but, you just have to face whatever consequences may come out of that decision - like ineligibility! (Personal responsibility....my, what a concept!)

That said, you'd be amazed at all the goodies that players get at events like tournaments, bowl games, etc. The value of the merchandise that they receive can reach into the thousands! (The DMN did an article on that during football bowl season a couple of seasons ago.) Of course, those are from bowl, tournament, conference or NCAA sponsors. So, those are exceptions to the "extra benefits" rules. How many free minutes or cell phones do you think a football player gets for participating in the Nokia Sugar Bowl (not to pick on the Sugar Bowl - just to give an example. Wonder how many bags of Tostitos they get at the Fiesta Bowl? [sorry, Frito-Lay - couldn't resist]). To be fair, though, the bowls also tend to give out lots of freebies to the fans that attend those events, as well. The marketing opportunities are just too great to ignore.

Now, after a player has exhausted his or her eligibility, the NCAA no longer has any jurisdiction over the player. So, then, you might see some of those items on the market.

By the way, about the comments on the SI article (which I haven't read yet), the professionalism and integrity of the guys running this site was/is key to my decision to participate. Keep it up! Stuff like that matters!



[This message has been edited by Sports Law (edited 05-15-2003).]

Thanks for your insight, SLaw. Your input is a great addition to this site!