Chase Young, James Wiseman NCAA Inconsistent Rule Enforcement

Chase Young James Wiseman

If anyone is still wondering why lawmakers are so interested in college athletes’ rights, they got their answer last weekend. The NCAA once again demonstrated how unfair their rules are and how they are inconsistently enforced when they declared college football’s and men’s basketball top players ineligible. Ohio State University’s (OSU) defensive end and Heisman Trophy contender, Chase Young, was declared ineligible just ahead of OSU’s game against Maryland. Similarly, the University of Memphis (Memphis) men’s basketball center, James Wiseman, was declared ineligible prior to their game against Illinois-Chicago.  

A reasonable fan may wonder why the NCAA would declare their top performers in their major revenue-producing sports ineligible? Did they get caught cheating on a test? Did they engage in illegal activity? Most would agree that if the answer to those questions is yes, the players deserve their punishment. However, that is not the case for Young nor Wiseman. Neither of them did anything clearly wrong. They were both declared ineligible for receiving financial assistance. Why would the NCAA  declare a “student-athlete” ineligible for receiving needed financial assistance?

The answer is simple. The NCAA’s primary motive is to protect the farce of amateurism. For the NCAA, that means making sure athletes are not given any benefit that is not NCAA approved. No matter how dire an athletes’ need is. Chase Young’s and James Wiseman’s cases are textbook examples of the NCAA’s commitment to their rules; even when it defies all logic.

Chase Young’s Case 

Young was suspended for accepting a loan from a family friend. He reportedly accepted the loan to pay for his girlfriend’s trip to watch him play in the Rose Bowl last season.  That is right, Young was declared ineligible for getting a loan from a family friend so that someone he cares for could be there to support him. Here is the real kicker: Young repaid the loan in April. The person who gave Young the loan is not a booster nor an agent.

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Despite those facts, the NCAA still suspended him. The NCAA felt it right to disrupted Young’s potentially Heisman Trophy-winning and record-breaking season to reaffirm their position on unapproved financial assistance. All Chase Young wanted was for his girlfriend to be there to support him while he gave his body to make millions of dollars for others. Young will serve a two-game suspension for taking a loan from a family friend and paying it back. Somehow, the NCAA believes that this is fair and is the right thing to do. It is precisely these type of decisions by the NCAA that makes lawmakers feel the need to get involved.

james wiseman

James Wiseman’s Case

James Wiseman’s eligibility issue stems from a rather complicated story. Here is the crux of his eligibility issue. Wiseman’s eligibility is in jeopardy due to an $11,500 payment that the current Memphis coach, Penny Hardaway, gave to Wiseman’s mother in 2017. At the time, Wiseman did not know about money. The money was intended to cover moving expenses when Wiseman’s family moved to Memphis.

However, this is not why the NCAA declared Wiseman ineligible. The NCAA declared him ineligible because they determined that Penny Hardaway was a booster due to a 1 million dollar donation he made to Memphis in 2008. The donation was made to fund the school’s Penny Hardaway Hall of Fame. Since the NCAA determined that Hardaway was a booster, the $11,500 that he gave to Wiseman’s mom is impermissible under NCAA rules.

According to NCAA rules, this would make Wiseman ineligible. However, the problem here is that the NCAA knew about the $11,500 payment. With that knowledge, the NCAA declared Wiseman eligible. For some reason, the NCAA has gone back on that decision and declared him ineligible. How is this fair? The answer is that it is not fair. James Wiseman’s case reaffirms how inconsistent the NCAA is in its rule enforcement. It is for this reason, that lawmakers have begun advocating for college athlete rights.

Wiseman’s Case is not Over Yet as he has Sued the NCAA

Wiseman has sued the NCAA and Memphis. He also obtained a temporary injunction on his suspension that has allowed him to continue to play. On Monday, the case will resume where Wiseman will as for an injunction to continue playing. If Wiseman is successful in this suit it could dire ramifications for the NCAA and their ability to enforce their eligibility rules.

The NCAA Continues to Prove that Legislative Action is Necessary

What point does the NCAA really think it is making by declaring Young and Wiseman ineligible? All the NCAA has done is further make themselves bad an unable to consistently enforce their rules. They have inadvertently strengthened the case for college athlete name, image, and likeness (NIL) compensation legislation. After all if Young had able to profit from his NIL he may not have needed the loan. As coaches’ salaries and television revenue continues to soar,  the NCAA cannot continue to justify its actions in cases like Young’s and Wiseman’s. The NCAA’s unfairness and inconsistency in its rule enforcement are precisely why lawmakers have gotten involved. Their involvement appears to be necessary.

NFL Draft: Why a Team May Take a Chance and Draft Kyler Murray

Don’t be surprised if you see an NFL team take a chance and draft Kyler Murray in the 2019 NFL Draft. Would an NFL team really draft a player who was a top-ten pick in the most recent MLB Draft and got a cool $4.66 million signing bonus? Why would a franchise use a draft pick on a player who may not be playing for them?

The entire NFL Draft is one big gamble

The entire process is a crap-shoot. Each pick is a lotto ticket; you’ve got a chance to hit on a franchise changing player. You could either get a complete bust, hit for a solid player, or you could hit the jackpot and win an All-Pro Hall or Hall of Famer.

NFL teams have been preparing for the 2019 NFL draft since the last pick was announced in 2018, if not sooner than that. Most, if not all, of them, are looking for the best player available in this draft not playing this sport right now. Like Antonio Gates or Jimmy Graham who were college basketball players.  It’d be unconventional for an NFL team to draft Kyler Murray who will be playing in an MLB team’s minor league system. But unconventional thinking is what often leads to brilliance.

When/if a team does take Murray, he’d be under contract with the A’s. So he would need clearance to sign with an NFL team. Next, if a team drafted Kyler Murray and wanted to hang onto him in the hopes of a return to football, they’d have to sign him to a rookie contract. If Murray didn’t sign by the 2020 Draft, his rights would become draft-eligible once again.

Like Bo, Kyler Knows

Look at Kyler Murray’s lone season as the starting quarterback of the Sooners, and you’ve seen a TON of brilliance. He led Lincoln Riley’s Oklahoma offense, which ranked #1 overall in the nation. Murray showed he is arguably the most electrifying athlete in all of college football. He did all of this on the gridiron AFTER hitting .296 for the Sooners baseball team, adding 10 HR, 47 RBI, and ten stolen bases. He can hit, play solid defense, absolutely fly, and he’s got a cannon for an arm. He’s an ideal fit in center field while batting at the top of the order. Think Mookie Betts for the Boston Red Sox.

Kyler Murray Wouldn’t Be the First

This situation played out in 1986-87 with Auburn legend, running back Bo Jackson. Like Murray is now, Jackson was a top baseball prospect while also a top football prospect. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers held the first overall pick in the 1986 NFL Draft and wanted Jackson. But, Jackson told Tampa Bay he didn’t want to play for them, wouldn’t sign with them. Jackson believed they intentionally got him to break NCAA rules which made him ineligible to play football at Auburn. So, he said he would play pro baseball if they selected him. Tampa Bay still went ahead and gambled on Jackson changing his mind, only to see him do exactly what he said he would, which was not sign and play pro baseball. The Buccaneers had nothing to show for their first overall pick in 1986, and the Raiders ended up drafting Bo Jackson in the seventh round of the 1987 Draft.

Another similar gamble would occur about a decade and a half later with Drew Henson. In 2001, he left college before his senior season, to sign a 6-year $17 million contract with the New York Yankees. Henson was most likely going to be a first-round pick if he were in the 2002 Draft, with there even being serious talk of him being a potential number one overall pick. In 2003, the Houston Texans used a sixth-round pick on the former Michigan quarterback and current struggling New York Yankees third base prospect. The Texans later flipped Henson for a third-round pick in a deal the following year, sending Henson to the Dallas Cowboys, who were searching for Troy Aikman’s replacement still three years after his retirement. That gamble, unlike for the Bucs, paid off for the Texans.

On the flip side, there’s one gamble that followed the same model just in reverse order. That would be Jeff Samardzija, a current major league pitcher and former two-time All-American wide receiver for Notre Dame. He was on track to be a first or second-round pick in the 2007 NFL Draft. But before any team in the NFL had a shot at a selecting Samardzija, he pulled his name from the Draft after signing with the Cubs in January of 2007. Today, Jeff Samardzija is in his eleventh season in the major leagues and according to Spotrac, has made approximately $88.6 million.

The predicament Kyler Murray finds himself in is a difficult one. There are guaranteed contracts in baseball and less wear on the body. Would he give up baseball for a chance to be ‘the next Russell Wilson,’? Wilson still gets the best of both worlds. Every offseason he attends spring training for the team that owns his right. This year, after having his rights traded to the New York Yankees he even played in a few games.

Kyler Murray is electrifying on the football field, and he’s good enough at baseball for a team to bet almost $5 million on him. The Oakland A’s have said they drafted Murray and signed him to the contract they did with the understanding that he’d play one last season of college football before turning his attention to baseball full-time. In a recent piece by Julian Williams of The Athletic, Murray was, when asked about his future in baseball and football, quoted as saying his “future is already decided as of now” but that he “would love to play (both professionally) if that was possible.”

We Know What Kyler Wants, as of Now

Teams have four months or so to decide whether or not to spend a pick on Kyler Murray. Murray, if selected in the fourth round, he’d be looking at a four-year deal worth (approx) $3-4 million and about a $700k signing bonus. In comparison, his signing bonus in baseball would be close to seven times as much as it would be in football. That’s a lot less money for a lot more damage to your body. But an NFL team could strike gold in Murray, and the possibility of gold could be too much for a team to pass up. Murray’s immediate future seems to be on the baseball diamond. But that is, in the words of Kyler Murray himself, “as of now.”

Kyler Murray is a Perfect Example of Why the Teenage Twitter Police are Predators

Kyler Murray Tweets Heisman

If you wait to bring people down in their in their shining moment, you are a predator.

Kyler Murray wins the Heisman, and on a night he is celebrated, the teenage twitter police wanted to tear him down. Y’all are going to have to stop trying to hold people’s feet to the fire for things they tweeted while 14-15 years old. People evolve and grow from stupid teens. Kyler Murray is now 21 years old. Consider the things did and believed to be true at 14 versus the things you did and believed at 21. Now stack that on top of the things you believe and do now. There was likely a ton of evolution of thought and maturity there.

Our need in society to tear people down in their greatest moments is sickening. Whoever unearthed Kyler Murray’s tweets from when he was 14 and waited to bring them out publicly should be embarrassed. The first click bait article about it 10 minutes after the Heisman ceremony was over. When somebody makes statements, tweets, or remarks that may be perceived as racist, sexist, or disparaging against someone’s sexuality it is fair for people to ask them about it. However, for someone to screenshot deleted tweets and hold on to them until your moment in the sun is wrong. Lying in wait to attack is predatory behavior. This is no different than showing up at someone’s housewarming and asking them about the time they got arrested for shoplifting or asking someone at their wedding reception about the time their child died.

After I said this on Twitter and Facebook a few people asked me would I feel differently if Murray’s tweets had been racist by a white person. I said no. In fact, this did happen multiple times in 2018. Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen had racist tweets surface right before the NFL draft. Also, Milwaukee Bucks guard Donte DiVincenzo had tweets come out immediately after he was named NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player. I don’t know if either one of them is racist, but I realize that even if they were things could have changed from 14-21. They must be judged by their actions and character now. We cannot reasonably expect teenagers to tweet responsibly when adults find it a tough task.

Change Happens

When I was at  Oregon, I played with a guy who grew up with the skinheads and Aryan Nation crowd. I knew him for years, and even though we weren’t particularly close, his racist perspective wasn’t obvious. During my redshirt sophomore year, we sat down and had a very real conversation. He told me about his past and how coming to college was the best thing for him. He saw how wrong the people were who taught him falsehoods about people of other races. His college experience with friends and teammates showed him there were two kinds of people: good and bad. He learned that character was most important, not skin color. I’m not sure if that moment was where his epiphany happened or whether he just wanted to share it.

So, I hate to give him the only true test of racism. I asked him would he have a problem is one of the “good Black guys” married his daughter would he be ok with it. His honesty was, and vulnerability was admirable. He said it would be hard because an interracial marriage would cause so much tension within his family and community. However, if he treated her great, I would be happy and accept him and defend him.

The entire time I was sitting there in shock at what I was hearing. At 20 years old, I would have expected to hear this from a kid from the south or middle America, but not a kid from the melting pot that is southern California. My conversation with him did teach me a valuable lesson. We have to allow people room to grow, mature, and change. Everyone must be accountable for their words and actions, but we cannot be shortsighted enough to permanently label them racist, sexist, and homophobic. Imagine if there were social media and smartphones around to capture the ridiculous things you did and said as a kid. I can raise my hand and honestly say I would have a lot of questions to answer. So why on earth would people try and hold someone’s teenage tweets against them?

Let’s be wary not to tear people down in their golden moments. We have to judge people for who they are, not who they were.