Manziel Autograph Case Could Be Can Of Worms, Other Huge College Football Names Attached
That’s “huge” as in the biggest names in all of college football, perhaps even the top four Heisman candidates for the 2013 season. Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M, Teddy Bridgewater of Louisville, Braxton Miller of Ohio State, and Jadeveon Clowney of South Carolina all have signed memorabilia listed for sale on eBay under the same seller, the_hub_collectibles — a top-rated seller with 100% feedback in the past 12 months.
the_hub_collectibles currently has:
- 18 items for sale signed by Johnny Manziel
- 11 items for sale signed by Teddy Bridgewater (sick name, by the way)
- 4 items for sale signed by Braxton Miller
- 19 items for sale signed by Jadeveon Clowney
…with many, many more items previously sold by the above players, among others. All have been verified as authentic by PSA/DNA, an accredited sports memorabilia authenticator.
Now for the million dollar question: what does all this mean? It’s hard to say, actually. Amateur college football players are absolutely allowed to sign autographs, as long as they’re not compensated for them (a whole different topic on a different day, perhaps). It is technically possible that this eBay power seller is accumulating these hundreds upon hundreds of signed items by college football’s biggest stars, and doing so without paying them or their “handlers.” Is it likely? That’s for you to decide. And for the NCAA to decide and subsequently initiate a plan of action.
There also exists the possibility that no one testifies against the players. As it stands, no actual proof exists that money was exchanged to improper hands, and that will remain true until someone goes on record with the NCAA, if that even occurs. My guess? Someone with damning information is holding out for a big pay day, and when they agree on terms with an outlet, they’ll be shouting from rooftops. Then, of course, it’ll be up to the NCAA on how to respond. It’d be a sad day for college football to see these names sidelined over autographs.
People are taking notice, though.
Asked SoCar SID abt today's Clowney story:"Our compliance folks are aware of it. We haven't had an indication that there's been a violation"
— Bruce Feldman (@BFeldmanCBS) August 7, 2013
Huge credit goes to Busted Coverage for following this development and gathering the pertinent information.
[via Busted Coverage]
Images via eBay
I want a game used paddle signed by dorn
13 years ago at 2:18 pm^
13 years ago at 7:28 pmThats nothing, one of our pledges made $525.67 an hour for giving rim jobs at a DG mixer.
^^Motion to blackball.
13 years ago at 8:27 pm2nd
13 years ago at 9:26 pmThe NCAA is really just a huge pile of shit. If any of those players are sidelined, its gonna put a huge damper on this season.
13 years ago at 2:19 pmThey know better.
13 years ago at 11:08 pmThe NCAA does not want these players to not play this year. Nothing will come of this.
13 years ago at 2:21 pmThe NCAA is one of the world’s largest scam institutions.
13 years ago at 2:22 pmright up there next to china, and the obama administration
13 years ago at 7:25 pmSeriously, fuck the NCAA. Fucking communists not allowing people to make money.
13 years ago at 2:22 pmI agree with it. If I were going to be promised a future in football and multi-millions of dollars in pay, I would do whatever the fuck the NCAA tells me to do. It’s all just one big fucking test to see if your worthy of being in the NFL. Sadly, even if these athletes are amazing, their ego is flawed. Nobody wants another cocky selfish Chad Johnson playing with their head up their ass for the next 8-9 years. Even though I don’t think this is the overall plan of the NCAA and that they are trying to make money off them, these athelets should be handled, and punished like little kids.
13 years ago at 4:54 pm“Don’t do anything wrong and we’ll let you play in the NFL, okay Johnny?” I don’t think so, champ. The NCAA is flawed and so is their entire system. It won’t be long before student-athletes are compensated, as they should be.
13 years ago at 5:39 pmHigh school athletes also perform, albeit largely on a smaller scale, but are also in state funded schools. So why aren’t high school athletes pocketing the profits from the football tickets?
13 years ago at 11:13 pmThat’s an irrelevant analogy, Tallapoosa Snu, because the issue at hand is not the individual universities profiting through ticket sales for games, as they are compensated with a free college education. Rather the issue at hand is the fact that the governing body of major college athletics, the NCAA, officially licences and profits off apparel representing the players’ likeness. While the NCAA can claim this isn’t the case, Jay Bilas exposed that as a complete fraud on twitter.
13 years ago at 10:42 amhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XEq6XYtMVU
13 years ago at 2:26 pmI would love a TMF visor signed by ruger…try and stop that NCAA…ya fuckers
13 years ago at 2:29 pmThis shit is heinous. These dense guys can’t wait a few years to sign contracts and make sums of money while most still being illiterate. On top of working in epic facilities and school being a joke..
13 years ago at 2:30 pmObviously you’ve never listened to an interview with Manziel, Clowney, Miller, or Bridgewater. Or looked at their GPA.
13 years ago at 10:46 amC’mon I’m speaking about the men who wouldn’t b in college if it wasn’t for ball. There are obviously upstanding people who do well in school
13 years ago at 5:26 pmThe NCAA didnt only open a can of worms with the players they opened up a can of worms for themselves. the NCAA now has a lawsuit against them for being the greedy peices of shit that they are for selling players uniforms with their names on them and have been making millions off of them not to mention they have also sold photos of players and autographs as well. the whole ametuer status is going to change and the times have changed. i wont be surprised if the NCAA gets screwed over. Jay bilas single handedly showed how much of a fraud te NCAA is on twitter.
13 years ago at 2:37 pmSlow down there hoss. Take a deep breath next time you go on a little rant and remember to spell check.
13 years ago at 3:11 pmThe biggest issue with these stories coming out (almost daily) regarding Manziel is that it’s coming out this close to the season starting. It leaves Kevin Sumlin in a bad spot. Does he bench #2 and hope everything turns out ok or does he play him and risk a BCS run if he’s found guilty? The A&M powers that be *cough Gov Perry cough* could end up making the decision behind the scene and forcing Sumlin’s hand. There’s a load of cash to be made off Johnny, but there’s also a NC run to be concerned with.
13 years ago at 2:41 pmBut there is the biggest question of all. Can A&M be a contender for the NC if Manziel isn’t running the show?
13 years ago at 4:50 pmNot a chance. Vegas values him for 8 points per game.
13 years ago at 9:04 pmBingo. So I’d play him and hope the NCAA botches the investigation.
13 years ago at 9:32 am