The latest Thayer Evans piece has plopped onto the interwebs. Give it a read if you missed your daily frisson of rage – as with every way Evans has been involved in the Cam saga, it’s completely stupid.
The point he’s trying to make regards the precedent set by this decision, about which “many” head coaches are “fuming.” He seems to have found two anonymous head coaches willing to take an anonymous, nebulous stand:
We’ve got to take a stand or we’re not going to be able to close these floodgates. Now, the kid and all the people associated with him just have to say, ‘He didn’t know.’ And with that, he’s set free. That’s not fair to us or the kid.
And, the other :
What they’re saying is as long as the kid has nothing to do with the solicitation then you’re OK. It’s a joke, man. This blows everything wide open. Now, it really becomes the haves and the have-nots. It’ll be everybody doing the SEC money thing, but all across the country. Here we go. Get ready.
For the moment, forget that the head coaches neither make nor interpret NCAA bylaws – they only follow them. Or don’t. Also, forget that the “SEC money thing” ought to be properly termed the “college football money thing.” These guys are mad, sure, but they aren’t taking the time to check which end of the cart the horse is at.
I want to address this idea that this ruling sets some kind of dangerous precedent, that floodgates have been opened through which pours the black tide of agents, money-grubbing parents and the accelerated death of amateurism. Consider it an addendum to the previous piece which predicted this outcome.
First of all, let’s put the thing right on the table: the NCAA’s ruling on Cam Newton makes it de facto legal to ask how much your kid’s LOI is worth. And yes, that’s immoral. And yes, now all those families who want to ask how much their children are worth at one school, take no money, and send their kid to another school have been given the green light to do so. However, it remains to be seen why it is important to college football that kids be punished for the sins of their fathers.
Because that’s what we’re talking about here, right? The actions taken by parents having consequences for the unknowing kid.
At their basic level, NCAA bylaws (concerning this situation) should exist to prevent a kid from committing to a school because of money, whether they know they are doing so or not. There are two ways this could happen: the kid makes the decision based on the cash, or his family steers him to a school because of money they receive without his knowledge. In order to prevent these from happening, the NCAA must strictly enforce the ethical character of the student-athlete, and must prevent a black market of talent.
Regarding the former task: even if parents are de facto allowed to ask what their kid is worth, if the kids don’t know, then no harm is done to the student-athlete’s ethical character. If he doesn’t know what his parents are doing or have done, then he has neither participated in the ethical violation, nor could he have prevented it, i.e. he has neither aided nor abetted the crime. These anonymous coaches seem to think it’s unfair to the kid if he is not held accountable for actions he neither took nor could have prevented… that it’s somehow wrong that a person of upstanding moral character is not punished for the transgressions of their relatives.
Secondly, the illegal economy of talent is nonexistent without exchange of money for goods. It’s silly to claim that, with this “dangerous” precedent set, every kid’s dad is going to demand a price for the young buck’s playing time. After all, it’s still illegal to enter into an agreement to receive payment. This vast, seething tide of solicitous parents is going to be pretty frustrated when they find out that they still can’t get any money legally. What exactly are these coaches bemoaning? That now, every parent will ask for some cash, and they’ll just have to say “No”? Weren’t they doing that already? What exactly changes here, from a practical standpoint? Pay for play is still thoroughly illegal.
So this ruling, really, doesn’t change anything.
…
John has been going to Auburn games since before he was born. He was in –Legion Field- utero when Bo went over the top. Some mothers play Mozart to their developing progeny. John was raised on the roars of the Tiger faithful. You can chart his growth with his fantastic column, God, Girl, Grill, Gridiron, and write to him at [email protected].
(Remember when he treated a former Vandy law student like a Vandy football player?)
WOAH – this guy is still employed? Wonders never cease.
The only thing “uber-sleazy” here is Thayer Evans.
I’m curious how Cam’s case compares to Albert Means. Was Means ever declared ineligible because he was bought and paid for without his knowledge? I read Bama released him from his LOI, which makes it sound like he still had a chance to play even at Bama. However, he went on to play at Memphis, so, like Cam, the fact that someone shopped him to Bama did NOT make him ineligible to play elsewhere.
John, thanks for expanding on my terse point from yesterday. https://twitter.com/spearna/status/10048460237570048
Your alternate headline could be: “NCAA: 1, Idiots: 0”
Why do I continue to click on links to Thayer Evans stories when I know it will inevitably lead to mouth puke? This guy has a vendetta against Cam.
Did you notice he never makes the distinction of what kind of “head coach” he was quoting? He never says whether he talking to FBS, FCS, D-II, D-III, NAIA, Juco, High School or Pop Warner coaches. Hell, when attributing the quotes he never even says he was talking to a football coach! He could have been talking to gymnastics coach for all we know!
And once again those unnamed sources are quick to chime in saying that there may be more actions to come. This isn’t Watergate, Thayer! Don’t quote people who have no firsthand knowledge of the situation.
This guy is a joke, and I’m mad at myself for giving him the internet traffic.
Isn’t it still ileagal for a school or booster to PAY a kid or his family?
And doesn’t soliciting still make the kid still ineligible at the school that was solicited – regardless of any payments actually occuring?
So it’s okay to ask as long as you don’t actually sign where you shopped. I fail to see the loophole here since it hasn’t been made legal to play where you’re shopped to.
If nothing can possible come of it without breaking the rules, then why bother shopping? No loophole has been opened.
One Problem:
If you discuss and pass around people’s articles like this, then you give their employers reason to believe that they are being read, and selling advertising spots. The best thing to do is to completely avoid it, and create “black lists.” Evan Thayer should be put on the Auburn Football fan “black list”, and no fans should be allowed to read anything he writes. Soon enough, Texas will add him to their black list. As more and more schools get shat on by him, the black lists will inevitably too much of the population to keep him employed, since no one will be reading what he has to say.
@ Alex P – That is what I thought too. From a different perspective, here is the loophole that threatens college football and all life as we know it:
If, without your knowledge, someone unsuccessfully solicits a payment from a school you do not attend, then you remain an eligible amatuer athlete at other schools.
This is not a loophole, its nothing. First, it is important to remember that the NCAA rules (despite what may have been said) do not prohibit the solicitation of money, only the payment and acceptance of money. Thus, to the extent that a loophole exists, it was already there. Second, the reason Cam is free to play is that there is no evidence showing that he knew about this or that anyone actually recived money. If either of these circumstances were different, the result would have been a declaration that he was ineligible. Third, the so-called loophole, would at best only allow unsuccessful solicitations at schools where the athlete does ntto enroll. Who cares about that? Is there really going to be a rash of people unsuccessfully soliciting money from other schools, and if so, whats the harm if no money is changing hands.
This loophole withchunt is the result of folks being too proud to admit they are wrong and trying to keep this gravy-train of a story alive. My confidence in all news media has been irreparably shaken.
I wish you’d take his face off this article. I can’t stand looking at it.
If someone can come up with a tangible way to get this assclown repremanded, fired, or publically humiliated, I’ll support it 100%
Unnamed Sources say that Thayer is a hack. Oh wait that was me.
Unnamed aliens place Elvis dating Urban Meyer and asking Dan Mullins for a 3some. What a yellow journalist / reality tv idiot…
I think the North Koreans would love this guys ‘ investigative analysis’… ‘unnamed’ sources say that unarmed civilians asked to be slaughtered…
Has anyone else seen the latest edition of Chad Gibbs’ Yesterday According to Facebook?
Thayer Evans is indeed Turtle Boy and from here on out should only be referred to by that name.
Guys, there really is no point in debating why the NCAA got the ruling right in this case. People are so pissed off because Auburn is not being punished. That’s all they ever wanted to see. They wanted to see us go down in flames for something we had nothing to do with and now that that possibility is gone, they can’t stand it.
Thayer — I’m a NAMED source. I’m Bill Barrow. I graduated from Auburn in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. And I’m here to be quoted as saying that you are an absolute utter disagrace to our profession, as are the “editors” who allow your shoddy sourcing to enter the public domain. Regards, Bill Barrow.
What a tool.
It’s obvious after reading through Thayer’s tweets what he thinks about Auburn: http://twitter.com/ThayerEvansFOX.
Evans has done this before. Someone above mentioned that Texas will eventually blacklist Evans…uh…been there, done that. Read on and see if you can draw any parallels….my opinion, this guy is like the creature in Jeepers Creepers…he comes out to feed on set intervals…I hope he choked on the bone he swallowed this time too!
http://www.burntorangenation.com/2008/12/29/703788/a-final-word-on-thayer-eva
Thayer Evans has a tried and true act that we are responsible for perpetuating. It is to find a target and spew enough BS to gain a aire of supposed expertise onthe subject. The result is the target’s (AU) and rival’s (UA and others) fanbases start reading everything he has to say in order to (AU) be prepared to defend themselves, or (UA and others) be prepared to ridicule the accused.
The sooner we cut out half of his readers on this subject (AU), the quicker he moves on to someone else.
not known to make fun of peoples’ looks that they can’t help, I have to say I think I could play a game of checkers on that guy’s forehead and have room to set a beer. Must have a real big brain but who knows ?
So according to thayers logic, players should be held responsible for ANYONE asking for money, whether or not the player is even remotely involved. What a stupid ass wipe.