Okay, so I was not going to be happy with this one. It smells like the Cam Newton situation in which the NCAA was not going to be bothered actually searching for evidence in a high profile case involving an SEC QB who was needed for ratings etc. Cam denied knowing that his Dad tried to sell him to Mississippi and said that he took no money from Auburn and so he was allowed to continue starring for Auburn despite a lot of circumstantial evidence. The NCAA could not find any actual evidence of money changing hands, however, although there are questions as too how hard they looked. We have a similar situation here, except that Manziel clearly signed a lot of autographs. He denied receiving payment however and therefore did so as a huge favor to some sports memorabilia professionals. But why was the NCAA in a rush to get the guy back on the field?
Yeah, I know. Evidence, evidence. There was evidence against USC in the Bush et al case and OSU in the free tattoos plus case. But again, evidence was not going to appear without actual investigating.
My other problem with this case is that there are way too many pundits and fans clamoring for players to be paid. That Texas A&M, the SEC and the NCAA have all profited from Manziel's fame and so why shouldn't he? But, name more than ten Aggies in the school's sometimes illustrious, sometimes awful history of playing college football that were worthy of profiting from their celebrity. But each of thousands of Aggie players have received free schooling lodging, food, etc and the famous ones received training that helped them reach the NFL or were able to use their A&M celebrity to sell homes, run for office, marry well, etc. Who the hell feels sorry for college football players?
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