Mounting evidence Friday indicates that Todd Gurley may have played his last game for the Georgia Bulldogs.
UGA indefinitely suspended the football team’s star tailback Thursday amid allegations that Gurley violated NCAA rules. UGA officials and the NCAA are conducting an investigation into the matter. The investigation is expected to conclude early next week.
People familiar with the investigation confirmed to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the ongoing probe centers on Gurley’s relationship with sports-memorabilia dealers who allegedly paid him to sign Georgia merchandise. If a student receives money from outside sources while competing on an athletic scholarship, the NCAA considers that an “improper benefit.” That violates an athlete’s status as an amateur in the eyes of the NCAA.
One person familiar with the investigation described the depth of Gurley’s involvement with memorabilia dealers as “significant.” That could factor into a decision on whether to restore Gurley’s eligibility to play.
Gurley did not accompany the team on its trip to Missouri, where the Bulldogs are scheduled to play the Tigers in a nationally televised game at noon Saturday.
According to NCAA statutes, the length of a suspension as a result of receiving benefits likely would hinge on the value of those benefits. The NCAA sets specific guidelines for such penalties, ranging from a suspension from 10 percent of games for an illegal benefit ranging from $100 to $400 to 30 percent of games when than benefit exceeds $700. But a “substantial” case could be cause for a stiffer penalty.
ESPN reported Friday that a Villa Rica memorabilia dealer sent an email to that network and other media outlets last month claiming to possess a video of Gurley doing a private autograph signing. The dealer, Bryan Allen, wrote that Gurley was paid thousands of dollars over the previous 18 months.
“I personally paid him for the signing on the video,” Allen wrote, adding that he bought and sold game-used equipment from the player.
A photo attached to the email shows an African-American male who resembles Gurley signing a mini-UGA helmet inside a car.
Allen has retained Atlanta attorney Ed Garland, according to Garland’s legal assistant, Yvonne Quarterman. Garland has represented former Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis and other well-known figures in criminal cases. He did not immediately return a phone message from the AJC.
But indications are that Allen is not the only memorabilia dealer with which Gurley had done business. According to the sports website Deadspin.com, which shared emails it exchanged with Allen, Gurley’s transactions with others in the sports-collectibles trade made Allen decide to implicate Gurley by shopping video and other evidence to various media outlets.
Having more Gurley-signed memorabilia on the market effectively devalued the items that Allen was trying to sell.
“I spent a few grand on the signing, and Gurley has since kind of (expletive) by doing this with about 30 other guys,” Allen wrote in an email that Deadspin said it received from him. “The stuff has lost a ton of its value. Just wanna recoup some of my money.”
Meanwhile, Georgia Athletic Director Greg McGarity, who withheld comment about the investigation until Friday, broke his silence. He said spoke because he claimed “pundits” were circulating “incomplete and erroneous information” that cast aspersions that UGA was not defending its student-athlete.
“I want to assure the Bulldog Nation that from the time this matter arose and continuing through (Friday), University of Georgia personnel have worked tirelessly, making every effort and taking all appropriate steps to support our student-athletes and our coaches and to act in the best interests of the University of Georgia,” McGarity said in a statement released by UGA’s sports communication office.
"While the University does not tolerate any violation of NCAA rules, the University has supported and continues to support its student-athletes."
McGarity revealed in the release that UGA is providing separate counsel for Gurley — as permitted by NCAA rules — and will consider him “a member of the Bulldog family” regardless of the outcome of the case.
In the meantime, Georgia is left to soldier on without its star player. Thousands of Bulldogs fans made the long drive to Columbia, Mo., to explore the Midwest and take in the football game at Missouri’s Faurot Field.
Mike Shepherd of Peachtree Corners and his wife, Betsy, traveled to Columbia on Friday with another couple and plan to go from here to Little Rock, Ark., where Georgia plays Arkansas on Oct. 18. They embarked on the journey without knowing Gurley wouldn’t be with the team.
“Initially when I heard that, I thought, ‘here I am 600 miles from home, and this is going to ruin our trip,’” said Shepherd, a “semi-retired” accountant. “But the more I thought about it, we’ve got an opportunity to still win the game. We’ve got a couple of young backs that still might make a difference.
“And hopefully it will fire up the team and the coaches will be able to prove we’re not just a one-man team.”
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