Jan 07 2009
An Agent Does It Again!
Fans of Alabama football are acutely aware of the impact that illegal contact with an agent has on college sports. Andre Smith, arguably the best offensive lineman in college had to be pulled from the lineup for Alabama’s Sugar Bowl date with Utah. No one could reasonably say that his loss was the prime reason for Alabama’s loss on the field but it certainly didn’t help.
It is safe to assume that Mr. Smith was acutely aware of the consequences of meeting with an agent while still playing and not declaring for the NFL draft. Division 1 programs go to great lengths to educate their players on the consequences and responsibilities. We can be certain that the agent was completely aware of them as well.
Every public comment about Andre Smith’s character and persona have been positive. He seems to be a good young man. However, good people make mistakes, even more often when millions of dollars are at stake. Being good doesn’t minimize the impact of those decisions. If the contact occurred as alleged, despite his positives, Andre Smith sold out on his team. He thought only of self. The ironic thing is he didn’t have to do it. He’s listed as high as the number two pick in the upcoming draft now that he has declared for that draft. So the result of violating the rules means that Smith missed one college game. He has since still declared for the draft, perhaps hiring the same agent with whom he violated the rules. If that’s the case, I’m sure that will prevent the agent from doing it again, aren’t you?
Which brings the most challenging part of this issue to the fore. If the NCAA is serious about preventing student athletes from talking with agents prior to declaring for the draft, shouldn’t there be a penalty to the athlete for doing so? Perhaps a combination of a minimum of a year delay in having the opportunity to be drafted or even longer combined with preventing a violating agent from taking on any new clients for the same period of time would be a successful approach. Players and teams are not islands. If no one paid to come to games and or watched them on television, there wouldn’t be any scholarships to play, nor professional sports for that matter. Whenever players jeopardize their teams by doing something to prevent them from playing, it impacts the paying fans and the ultimate outcome of the game. There should be a severe penalty. Accountability backed with a bite is the only way to prevent players and agents from influencing game day performances. Without demanding mutual responsibility for violations with penalties, claims that the NCAA and colleges are opposed to these interventions are toothless and nothing but words!
