Suspended players speak to the media

Anonymous

Thu Dec 30 2010 16:09

They made a mistake. They are young men. We haven't walked in their shoes so we don't know how they feel now or when they decided to sell these items. Let it go. The punishment has been dished out. No one wants to be publicly embarrassed. That is punishment enough.

Anonymous

Thu Dec 30 2010 00:24

Did everyone here live the pure life as an 18-20 year old kid? Are we so ignorant to believe that we've never acted without regard to consequence, which is clearly what these players did? Seriously folks....get off your high horses and put yourself in their shoes. Not a single one of us have any idea what these young men were thinking when they did what they did, but I'm willing to bet it wasn't "gee, I can't wait to sell this jewelry or jersey, or award so I can get my next tat". I don't believe for a second that they gave all monies received to their family, but I do believe they gave some of it to them. If there was a paper trail, perahps proof of deposit through bank statements that these players gave money to their families, how would most of you feel? Would you still be so quick to judge their character if you knew they really were so thoughtless and unselfish and giving? So Ignorant yet well-intended?

We'll never know why they really did what they did or the true story behind all of this so I suppose my point is moot, but maybe not. My point is, Let it go. Judge not, lest ye be judged. Let him who is without sin cast the first stone. This is our team, these are our players. Alot of you are calling them "fake" Buckeyes. I say, if YOU ARE truly a Buckeye, you'll get over yourselves and support your team.

Do these guys know what it means to be a Buckeye? Well if they didn't before, I'm sure they do now.
GO BUCKS, THE REAL BUCKEYE NATION SUPPORTS YOU!

Anonymous

Wed Dec 29 2010 15:20

@ Buckeye Forever-There are PLENTY of Osu student aths who think what they did was tacky and they OWN B10 rings and have EARNED the right to judge their fellow Buckeyes so your argument is pointless!!!!!! It's not about being "Holier than thou" its about remembering these young Bucks could be on the couch (or in jail with other black males their ages) in their perspective neighborhoods WISHING, PRAYING they had ESPN highlights...HOLLA!!!!!

Anonymous

Wed Dec 29 2010 15:12

I have been VERY hard on these Baby Buckeyes but I watched the press conf (on ESPN) as a PARENT of an Osu student ath. I think they realize what they did showed low ethics and morals. H@ some ppl really treasure the items given to them or EARNED through sweat as an Osu ath. I must admit it would have cost me thousands of dollars to buy some of the stuff my family and friends admire owned by my Baby Buckeye. H@ no I wouldn't condone selling it. I would work 5 jobs before I allow my child to stoop this low. Maybe I'm a bit old fashion thinking an edu and a wonderful college experience at Osu is enough for my Baby Buckeye but I'm tired of the excuses on these boards. I don't see racism or NCAA pimpin these young men. I want them to have character. Thank God TP didn't sound like a dumb jock like what I heard from Mr. Auburn. They sounded REALLY remorseful!!!!

Fellas I accept your apologies and my Baby Buckeye said these fellas will get a talkin from HER! :-) Just play Chris Breezy's (TP's Bro, I heard he hates this comparison) "Dueces" to ESPN when you beat down da Hogs or yell "Duck" as a 2010 RB reminder ..hahahaha

Go Buckeyes!!!!

Anonymous

Wed Dec 29 2010 13:46

We all make mistakes. However, as a Life Time Member of The Ohio State Alumni Association, I do know attending Ohio State was difficult and graduating was even harder. If these young men stay and do not go pro and take their punishment and graduate from the University, they have earned the right just as I earned the right to be forever called a BUCKEYE. This is what is important to all of us.

Jared '03

Wed Dec 29 2010 12:56

As an alumnus, I am angry at the Ohio State University for allowing these guys to stay on the team. Coach Tressel should kick them off the team, they are not worthy of wearing the scarlet and gray. There are hundreds of former OSU players who would have killed to have a pair of golden pants, I went through years of great teams losing to Michigan. There is no respect from any of these guys for the program or the university. I don't care if they are stars on the team, they have no class! No respect for the tradition and history of this great university! I don't plan to watch them in the bowl game, they are not members of a team I can root for. I have lost respect for Coach for allowing them to stay on the team. It may only be a game, but it means something to millions. These guys have disgraced our great university and football tradition! No apology can change that, sorry Pryor, you were a helluva player, but not a role model and not a true Buckeye! Otherwise you wouldn't have sold your gold pants, Big Ten championship ring, etc. Enjoy the NFL!

Dan

Wed Dec 29 2010 11:20

Yup, they're sorry...sorry they got caught. I say let them go, their kind are a dime-a-dozen and give OSU a bad rep.

Anonymous

Wed Dec 29 2010 09:28

The NCAA & universities need to come up with a plan of some sort of modest compensation for student-athletes (possibly excluding the summer quarter/semester unless the student-athlete is also enrolled & taking classes during the summer)...To make it fair parameters such as the size of the university/overall student body enrollment, scholarship athletes, revenue generated by the school's athletic program(s), etc could be used to figure a reasonable amount to provide the student athletes...I compare it to fellowships & stipends given to some graduate students in some graduate study programs. They're both students at the university & they're both making contributions to/for their unversity...one is doing it academically & through research in a given field and the other is doing it athletically. I think providing an amount of $5,000-$15,000 per school year (again very comparable to fellowship/stipends given to graduate students) would be a good range to look at.

The NCAA & the big unviersities need to stop "pimping" (that's right I said pimping because that's what a pimp does...sends someone out to do work & lets them keep little to none of what their efforts have generated for the pimp) student-athletes & provide them with a means to provide for the incidental & additional costs that being a college student presents...Then (and only then) will we know which student-athletes are really being greedy, unruly, money-focused jocks if after providing them with stipends from their unversity and they still go out & do shady things to get money and/or favors from individuals!

Travis

Wed Dec 29 2010 08:24

Let them all go pro. We don't need them for the bowl game, and we certainly don't need them on week 6 next year.

Traitors.

Anonymous

Wed Dec 29 2010 08:04

College players can't earn money. By selling the property they earned through Ohio State and the NCAA, they are making money. It's that simple - not about "selling what's yours to begin with."

Jo

Wed Dec 29 2010 00:00

The issue is not whether the athletes 'owned' the items they sold. The issue is that selling them was against the rules. If you don't like the rules, don't play the game. One of our kids is an NCAA champion athlete for Ohio State. Not only do the athletes get the rules drummed into them, but we PARENTS get the rules that WE cannot break, at risk of causing our athlete to lose NCAA status. Let's believe these guys were sleeping when the rules were explained annually, and not that they simply flouted them. And then we can wish them well.

Anonymous

Tue Dec 28 2010 23:57

The issue is not whether the athletes 'owned' the items they sold. The issue is that selling them was against the rules. If you don't like the rules, don't play the game. One of our kids is an NCAA champion athlete for Ohio State. Not only do the athletes get the rules drummed into them, but we PARENTS get the rules that WE cannot break, at risk of causing our athlete to lose NCAA status. Let's believe these guys were sleeping when the rules were explained annually, and not that they simply flouted them. And then we can wish them well.

Buckeye Forever

Tue Dec 28 2010 23:43

I don't agree with any punishment for selling items that they earned. It is their property. I am getting tired of these
'holier than thou' people who never earned any athletic award. These players did not break any laws. Let them play. Forget the suspension. I bleed scarlet and gray, but I would support any athlete from any school that decides to sell personal items rather than keep them. They are not taking money from boosters or from agents. LET THEM PLAY!

BUCKNUT

Tue Dec 28 2010 23:35

How can any of you judge Coach Tressel or Gene Smith for what you are calling "inaction"? Review the facts. Coach suspended these players, and the NCAA said it wasn't necessary to impose penalty right away. That's the NCAA's mess up, not OSUs. Anony just compared it to AJ Greene, who actually dealt with a "runner" of an agent. These guys did this on their own which speaks as to why they received a pittance of the memorabilias true value. and OSU self-reported the violations, rather than have a wronged booster (ala Bill Bell/MISS ST) expose the NCAA infraction. OSU didn't drag the investigation out, either. They learned about it, reported and acted on it in the span of 2 weeks...not 2 months. Kudos to them for owning up to their mistakes.
Inaction? Yea, because every single one of you out there has screwed up before and then turned yourself in. right?

O-H-I-O We stand beside you.

Anonymous

Tue Dec 28 2010 23:17

hey buckeye bashers, consider this. The price per ounce of gold is currently $1404.16 an ounce. I have on my finger my pride and joy and I would never consider selling this Ohio State Class ring. I'm nobody important, hell I've never played a down of football in my life. But today, I took my ring to 3 different cash for gold pawn shops and was offered $650, $875, and $745. So basically If I sold this is ring today, I'd walk away almost at least $650 richer. It's my ring, and it was paid for by my family for my accomplishments.

Now, let's take this same ring and instead of being gifted to me by my immediate family, it was gifted to me by my Athletics Family. My OSU Athletics Family gave me this ring for my accomplishments on the field. It's still mine to sell right, if I really really need the cash to help my family out or ink myself up? I did earn this ring after all...so why can't I sell it? Why does it matter if I gave my family the money or not, why is it your business what I do with the money I make from selling something that was given to me? What if I regifted the gold pants to my girlfriend of 3 years and we broke up....and she sold the gold pants? It's ok for her to profit of my award? Sure, why not? But if i do it....heaven forbid!

Where's the difference folks? Ok sure, it's not apples to apples...Sure, the championship ring might be bigger and more flashy than the class ring, so it's probably worth it's actual weight in gold. These kids received probably a fraction of what the ring is actually worth. Literally. Knowing they sold their championship bling for somewhere in the neighborhood of $1000 tell me again how this isn't comparable to me selling my non-championship class ring on the high end for nearly $900. Remember...I'm nobody. These men are starters for THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY football team. It's not unfathomable for them to have received $100 more than my own non-bling ring.

Yes, It's certainly a slap in my face as a fan to know these possessions weren't invaluable to these young men but you know what, I don't hold it against them. Times are tough, money's tight, and sometimes you've gotta do what you've gotta do. No punishment necessary, these guys did not deal with any agents like AJ Greene, did not break any laws like 2009 MSU players, did not participate in any illegal booster activities like Reggie Bush, were not recruited illegally like sCAM newton, did not violate any substance abuse policies or fail to adhere to the academic standard. These young men simply sold something of their own, and it's only wrong because they are amateur athletes.

Talk about a double standard.

Their punishment has been the embarassment they've suffered. Let them play. I'm sure the SEC fans would prefer the most competitive team we can field anyhow. No excuses then from the Buckeyes if we were to lose this game. Where's the thrill in beating a team that is not permitted to field some of it's best players? Nobody wants to see that...it'll be over before it began. We all want a competitive game and the NCAA knows that, which is why they've delayed sentencing.

This does not damage the credibility of the game because it sure as hell wouldn't have mattered to a damn one of you if these young men were on NFL rosters and were accused of something so trivial. This only damages the credibility of the NCAA because it's doling out a punishment after allowing a game to be played. This damages the credibility of the NCAA because our guys were sentenced to a future punishment of 5 games on the bench and yet there was no punishment whatsoever administered in the Cam Newton case. Correct me if I'm wrong but apparently Auburn felt there was at least some wrongdoing or they wouldn't have "quietly" declared Cam ineligible one day only for the NCAA to declare him eligible the next.

In both cases, the NCAA makes a mockery of it's own standards and rules; some of which are utterly ridiculous. Case in point, Tat-Gate 2010.

GO BUCKS, you have my unwavering support.

Doc

Tue Dec 28 2010 21:15

Be thankful you are playing for Jimmy Tressel. If I were the coach, you would not be playing next Tuesday. "Fake" Buckeyes make these mistakes; "real" Buckeyes do not. It's too bad the president of the university doesn't understand this as well...

Alan

Tue Dec 28 2010 20:59

The punishment of 5 games was already too severe. This was a gray area of the rules, and the players all came forward & admitted what they did. Meanwhile you've got Cam Newton that knowingly threw stolen goods out of his dorm window, and the following year, his dad put him up for sale to the highest bidder...which i'm sure he had no knowledge of whatsoever, haha

Tired of Explaning

Tue Dec 28 2010 20:34

You people saying that it is just selling their property are totally missing the boat and it makes it more obvious as to how easy it is for people to rationalize improper behavior. If you profit AT ALL from your name or your sport at a university, you are no longer an amateur athlete. These rings, pants, and signatures have no intrinsic value (or an extremely minimal one at best) without it belonging to these players. Gold pants on a necklace? Worthless. Gold pants on a necklace that belonged to the record breaking QB of OSU? $1000. The fact that some of you don't get it shows me how lost and pointless the facade of amateur collegiate athletics has become.

Anonymous

Tue Dec 28 2010 20:09

I hope that they stay in school. Leaving early would be harmful to them and their parents. None are ready for the Pros. Their suspension shows that.

Anonymous

Tue Dec 28 2010 20:02

Is that Gene Smith in the background of picture 5? He is the one that owes everyone and HIS STAFF an apology for throwing them under the bus! Shame on him and the NCAA!