O.H....NO

Ohio State and the NCAA have officially suspended Terrelle Pryor, Boom Herron, Davier Posey, Mike Adams, and Soloman Thomas for the first 5 games of the 2011 season for selling items in exchange for money and tattoos. Thank you ESPN. This entire debacle opens open a huge can of worms started by A.J. Green of Georgia not too long ago...should college athletes be able to sell their personal property for gains?

Let me preface this by saying what in the world are they thinking? Graduating from Ohio State last Spring, Its already common knowledge that these football players are beloved and already get whatever they want in the entire Columbus area. But the larger question is why are these players not allowed to sell their personal property? Would this be different if Pryor sold a kitchen table on Craig's List? Probably not. I feel that the NCAA has got this all wrong. Stealing computers or asking for money to play for a team seems to be far worse than selling personal property which normal college kids do daily. A.J. Green recently was suspended by the NCAA and Georgia for selling a game worn jersey . . . that also was his personal property at the time . . . and collecting the proceeds for his own use and enjoyment. Selling of jerseys and other assorted property seems to be a yearly routine for players in the NCAA and a new rule needs to be put into place.

I would be interested to see what legal ramifications could come about from situations like this. Currently the NCAA is forbidding players from selling any property of theirs for personal gain. But does the NCAA power override constitutional claims or is this rule simply taking away the right of these players to do what they want with their own property. This appears to be quite the slippery slope that I can see becoming a legal issue is the very near future.

The NCAA also dropped the ball in regards to the suspensions. Herron, Posey, and Adams were already heavily considering jumping to the NFL according to sources. This makes their decision a lot easier since OSU could easily lose 2 out of their first 5 games next year without this ragtag crew. Regarding Terrelle Pryor, he has be adamant about staying for his senior year but this could easily change now. Without potentially playing for the Heisman next year or a national championship, will he really be able to raise his stock level any more after the Sugar Bowl? That is the ultimate question, but I would not be surprised to see all four of these players bolting after the bowl game leaving the suspensions to be open threats and useless. Bravo NCAA.

What about the Sugar Bowl? Should Coach Tressel even allow these players to participate? With all of the hate that OSU already gets (and in some cases deserve), what would playing these guys in the game really prove? In the eyes of college football fans a win in the Sugar Bowl will simply be shadowed with a black eye because many people will believe that they should have been suspended for this game as well. A point needs to be made by Tressel here to his other players saying you will be penalized for the wrongs you commit while part of this program. Save face here OSU and suspend them for this game as well, sure OSU may get rolled in the game without some of their best players but in the long run you will save face and gain respect across the nation.

Only time will tell how things will shake out on all of these fronts. But one thing is for certain, these players have disrespected a program that has been built on tradition and the aura of playing for the Scarlett and Grey. Thousands of kids would die for a chance to play for OSU and these kids sold their BIG 10 CHAMPIONSHIP RINGS! At least they are still better than Michigan. It is a disgusting revalation and I hope OSU does the right thing, suspend them all for the bowl game.