AJ Green Targeted Suspended Four Games, The NCAA Throws Hammer Yet Again

Harsh, is one word to describe the suspension of wide receiver A.J. Green for selling a jersey that he had worn in a bowl game for $1,000 to someone who qualified as an agent. Since, Green has already sat out a game this season he has three more games on the suspension.

An appeal is likely according to Yahoo Sports' article on the situation, but even then it could take a couple of weeks before the appeal is heard. Since Green would be sitting out anyway there really isn't much of a reason for Georgia to appeal the suspension.

What's even more interesting is that in the article the University of Alabama defensive end Marcell Dareus was also punished by the NCAA for accepting $2,000 in improper benefits, but was Dareus's penalty as harsh as Green's? No.

Dareus with his improper benefits doubled what Green made off his jersey, but the NCAA only ruled him out for two games!

The one reason why Dareus's punishment may have been lighter is that Green's is because one is a much more heralded player. When on the field Green is one of the best wide receivers in the country, so this was another example for the NCAA in trying to teach an athlete a lesson.

Last year it was Dez Bryant who was caught lying to the NCAA and the sad part was that Bryant hadn't done anything wrong. It was Bryant's belief that meeting with Deion Sanders who is not an agent would be looked at unfavorably by the NCAA and so he panicked and was not truthful with the NCAA about his meeting with Sanders.





Now this year it is Green. The problem is though is the consistency with the punishment if Green's punishment is four games why isn't Dareus's eight games? Dareus received twice as much as Green did with his improper benefits?

Another problem that is seen is what exactly is an agent according to the NCAA? When looking for the definition of an agent on the NCAA site there's no exact wording for what qualifies as an agent. In this case just because the person who bought the jersey fits the definition of the NCAA as to what an agent is, doesn't necessarily mean the person was an agent.

There's a big difference from fitting the definition of an agent than being an actual agent. Even if Green sold a jersey to an agent the question becomes so what? It was Green's jersey to begin with and he should be able to sell it to anyone he sees fit.

Green has said “I very much regret all that has taken place and the distraction that’s been caused.I’ve learned a valuable lesson and hope others can learn from my mistake. I can only focus my attention now on practicing and looking ahead to getting back with my teammates as quickly as possible.”

The only issue that Green could have faced with selling the jersey to an agent is if there was an agreement for the agent to resale the jersey for a higher amount and then gives that money to Green. Much like Dareus who received the $2,000 in improper benefits.



If Green did that then there should be a punishment for his action, but for selling a jersey for what may or may have not been an agent is inexcusable by the NCAA. Green's suspension is just another example of the NCAA wielding too much power.

If anything Green's penalty should have been a two-game suspension while Dareus should have gotten the four-game suspension.

The biggest issue now is with the NCAA itself and how it hands down the punishments to players and until that is resolved there's going to be issues like this one. Green gets a stiff punishment for something that wasn't a serious violation and yet another player receives improper benefits which is a big deal and gets a light punishment.

Until the NCAA can come up with a better way to hand out these punishments like Green's and Bryant's coaches and players aren't going to be too happy with the process. Green's and Bryant's cases also prove that the appeal process in the NCAA needs to be changed and that if a suspension is being appealed the player should be able to play until the punishment is official.

SEC REFS VS. BIG EAST REFS/ SEC THROWS THE FLAG WHILE BIG EAST PICKS IT UP

Last night’s LSU vs. Georgia game didn’t have a whole of action until the fourth quarter.

After the first half it was just two LSU field goals being the only scores of the game.
In the third, neither team could put any points on the scoreboard.

At the start of the 4th quarter, Joe Cox led his Bulldogs (3-2) on an 18 play 60-yard drive to finally put Georgia on the board. The drive lasted 7:52 and after the extra point, Georgia had the lead 7-6.

Following Georgia’s score, both LSU and Georgia had two three-and-out offensive series before another score.

This time it was LSU’s turn. LSU running back Charles Scott capped off a 13 play 88-yard drive with a touchdown run from the 2-yard line. After failing on the two-point conversion LSU took back the lead at 12-7 with only 2:53 left in the game.

Georgia’s young quarterback Cox, who has been growing up quickly thus far this season, now had to lead his team in the two-minute offense if Georgia wanted to protect their home field.
He got off on the right start by completing a 13-yard pass to running Caleb King on the first play. Following an incomplete pass on the next play and a four yard rush by King, Cox hooked up with Georgia’s other King, Tavarres King, with a 46 yard completion. Georgia was now LSU’s 16-yard line and in striking distance to regain the lead. Just two plays later that is exactly what Cox and the Bulldogs did.

With the LSU (5-0) rush coming after him, Cox looked to the right side of the end-zone where his No. 1 target A.J. Green had single coverage. Cox threw the jump ball and Green leaped up into the air, outstretched his hands over the LSU defender, and came down with the go ahead touchdown pass.

But, what happened after the touchdown was the real story.

The referees flagged the Bulldogs for a 15 yard unsportsmanlike penalty for excessive celebration. But, where was the excessive celebration?

Green’s teammates did give him some shoves after he caught the ball. But, no one did a dance or made a disrespectful gesture towards the crowd. The Georgia bench did not run out onto the field. So, where, where was this excessive celebration?

In any event, the penalty was called and it would have a major impact on the rest of the game. Now, the Bulldogs had to kickoff from 15 yards further, giving LSU a chance to be in great field position.

After LSU’s Trindon Holliday returned the kickoff for 68 yards, they were already at the Georgia 38 yard line. Just two plays later, it was Scott from 33 yards out with the go ahead and game-winning touchdown run.

Not to take anything from LSU because it was a good game, you could not help but wonder how different their final drive would have been if the refs had not called Georgia for penalty which gave LSU their favorable position to start the drive.

Now, switching from this game, we go to the Washington vs. Notre Dame game. This was a much different game than LSU vs. Georgia one. At the start of the fourth, Washington had a 24-19 over the Fighting Irish at Notre Dame Stadium.

Fast-forwarding to the fourth quarter, Notre Dame, trailing 27-22, had 2:52 left in the game to make their comeback.

Quarterback Jimmy Clausen was as cool as the other side of the pillow. He completed all four of his passes, including the go ahead 12-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Rudolph.

Rudolph and his teammates were ecstatic after the catch. In fact, Rudolph jumped into the arms of his teammates twice and was carried around for a few seconds; a real celebration compared to the Bulldogs mild shoving of Green after his go ahead catch.

In fact, the Big East refs did throw a flag and it seemed like the penalty for excessive celebration was about it to called. However, when the ref went to make the announcement to the stadium, he did not announce a penalty for excessive celebration. Instead, he told the stadium that flag had been picked up and that there was no penalty.

While this score did not prove to be the game-winning score, Notre Dame ended up beating Washington in overtime, it still made me furious how the SEC refs had affected the outcome of what ended up being an exciting game between Georgia and LSU.

How could the NCAA have refs that can’t even agree on what excessive celebration is?

Georgia could be 4-1 and the Tigers could have been the latest top 5 team to fall.

Maybe the SEC refs wanted the Tigers to remain unbeaten for their game against No. 1 Florida next week. Who knows, but I always dislike it when referees ruin a great game.