On July 14, the NCAA finished a 20-month investigation regarding alleged violations of the Georgia Tech football and basketball programs. Among the penalties, the football program was notified that it was required to vacate three games played during the 2009 season, including the win against Clemson in the ACC championship game.
Nothing is more wrong. Punishing the players from that team is unjust since the NCAA investigation and punishment mainly focused on reprimanding Georgia Tech’s administration for its perceived lack of cooperation. The players from the team were not the reason why the NCAA felt it was necessary to sanction the school. As Coach Paul Johnson told the AJC this week, “you’re punishing 115 guys who didn’t do anything but work their butt off.”
The NCAA’s final report focused not so much on a player accepting $312 of stuff from a roommate’s friend, but more on a general contempt and lack of cooperation by Tech’s athletic director and head coach. The report cites many instances where decisions made by the school were contrary to the NCAA’s directives during the investigation. Tech clearly bears much blame and certainly should have handled matters better. The final NCAA report left the impression that the NCAA’s frustrations resulted in a very personal and vindictive penalty.
By having this minor NCAA investigation continue to escalate over 20 months, the final ruling resulted in a devastating NCAA penalty that harms the entire Tech football team. The 2009 team included more than 100 student-athletes who worked hard and competed well together during the season. The 2009 ACC championship win was the culmination of those efforts and possibly the best game ever played for most of these young athletes.
The NCAA may have the power to extract such penalties, but it also has a responsibility to use common sense in its decisions. In this case, the NCAA should reconsider the penalties and Tech’s championship title. To yank this title and trophy and prohibit any formal recognition that the game ever took place for these players makes no sense.
Tech should certainly deliberate long and hard over actions that the athletic director, coach or other management staff should have handled better. There is too much at stake for this problem to repeat itself.
If the NCAA must make a point about keeping NCAA member institutions in line, then go after Tech’s administration more directly by charging the school a stiff penalty. There is nothing positive to be gained by harming innocent players who had nothing to do with this issue. The players, their families and Tech alums simply don’t deserve it. The NCAA should take the moral high road in protecting these innocent student-athletes, which their charter was supposedly designed to do.
By applying this excessive, malicious penalty against these Tech football players and using it as leverage to retaliate against the school’s lack of cooperation, the NCAA clearly lost sight of who caused this problem.
If this injustice is allowed to stand against innocent players, the NCAA runs the risk of becoming an organization that commands little respect from athletes and further guarantees an athletic environment where member schools absolutely will refuse to cooperate when similar situations arise.
Bob Means graduated from Georgia Tech in 1993 and lives in Duluth.
About the Author
