by Marty Valania
EasternFootballRecruits.com
Has anybody actually read what opposing schools are allowed to do to current Penn State football players right now? And does anybody think this is a good idea?
Look, I have absolutely no qualms with any Penn State football player that wants to transfer. I have absolutely no problem with the NCAA easing restrictions on Penn State football players transferring. They should be able to leave and be able to play right away. It makes perfect sense.
In addition, I have no qualms with many of the penalties that the NCAA levied against Penn State. This one part of the transfer rule, however, makes no sense to me.
Here are the “new” rules in black and white.
“The NCAA recognizes that current football student-athletes will be negatively impacted by the Penn State sanctions,” said Kevin Lennon, NCAA vice president for Academic and Membership Affairs. “We want to allow those eligible student-athletes as much flexibility as possible while still being mindful of some of the transfer safeguards our membership has put in place.”
Okay. That sounds good to me.
What doesn’t make sense is that every college in the country can now recruit Penn State football players – EVEN IF THEY HAVEN’T EXPRESSED ANY INTEREST IN LEAVING. The suspension of contact rule has been suspended. That is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard. Phones started ringing Monday morning – just after Mark Emmert got done speaking.
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7 Responses
The NCAA’s hypocrasy is what has me upset. When USC was penalized, players could not transfer to other PAC 12 schools, Big 10 schools should not be able to raid Penn State’s players. Players should also be made to make up their minds on transferring this year only, letting them go any time in the next 4 years will create more chaos. Also, Emmert’s idea of being concerned about the “culture” of college sports is laughable. He’s worried about academics being secondary to football, when Penn State had one of the highest graduation rates for decades, and players went to class or they didn’t play. How about the culture of the national title game going to the highest bidder next year. Spare us the hypocrasy.
BillMurray, I agree. Emmert talks about the culture of big time football…and then he allows coaches on campus like that…without even having to give O’Brien a courtesy call. The tail truly is wagging the dog.
The punishments were not targeted properly no matter what Emmert thinks. They should have been more top-heavy…targeting PSU Sr Mgmt like the Board of Trustees & Administration. They were the ones who fostered the atmosphere at PSU that allowed the President, AD, VP & HC to hide this. For example, I would have preferred to see 1) mandatory resignation of at least 5 Trustees 2) A New President like Tom Ridge, cuz Rodney Erickson ain’t the guy to lead PSU into the future. 3) Double the fine to $120M to really get the trustees attention. 4) Lessen the FB hits to 10 scholarships & a 1 year bowl ban so the innocent boys on the football team can help the program actually pay the $150M fine. 5) B10 Bowl shares and 50% future bowl revenue goes to Child Abuse programs for 5 years. All the existing punishments will do is cause the football team to be really bad for a long time…which will dramatically hurt attendance…which will cause Centre County businesses to fail (hotels, restaurants, travel agents). The existing punishments target the innocent & allow those who really caused this to skate. I ask you, who is Emmert really trying to hurt?
to allow other universities to have coaches ON CAMPUS, yes they are here, is ludicrous to say the least…..
They should have handled this like they did with USC a few years ago where players were allowed to transfer without having to sit out a year, but they weren’t allowed to be recruited by other teams.
The NCAA is more responsible for college football being out of control than Penn State is!
Outstanding article. While I can’t say I disagree with most of the punishments handed to PSU, this suspension of recruiting rules goes way overboard.