A Tale Of Two Quarterbacks

Today Texas A&M Quarterback Johnny Manziel’s punishment was handed out for his involvement in being paid to sign hundreds, if not thousands, of autographs last January when he met with autograph broker Drew Tieman in Miami before the BCS Championship Game. If we go by what Drew Tieman said on August 6th, he said he paid Manziel $7,500 to sign "hundreds" of autographs.

 

His punishment?

Suspended one half of the Texas A&M season opener vs. Rice

That is ONE HALF of a game, the first 2 Quarters, a mere 30 minutes of game time.

 

 

In 2010 Ohio State Quarterback Terrelle Pryor was punished for his involvement in receiving free tattoos for signing autographs, plus selling his Sportsman Award, his Big 10 Championship ring and a good luck charm. The three items sold for $2,500 and no price was assigned for the tattoos but for argument sake lets say $500 and we are looking at Pryor getting $3,000 total for his signing and items sold.

 

His punishment?

Suspended 5 games, which were carried over to the NFL after Pryor was selected by the Raiders in the 2011 NFL Supplemental Draft.

 

 

Holy crap, are we talking about the same nonsensical all-mighty NCAA that issued both punishments? Yes we are. The NCAA is now claiming that they cannot find any proof that Manziel was paid, even though a number of people were in the room and stated that they saw money change hands. Plus we are talking hundreds items signed so the NCAA is saying that this kid, who has already proved that he is a knucklehead, signed all of these items for free out of the goodness of his heart?

 

If this kid was not paid for the autographs than why is he being suspended? If he did no wrong there should be no punishment.

 

I call shenanigans on the NCAA

 

The difference? Manziel is the reigning Heisman Trophy winner and brings in millions of dollars to the NCAA and Texas A&M who want to hold on to this golden goose for at least one more year before he bolts to the NFL where Pryor was just another OSU Quarterback.

 

From the people that brought us the BCS we now find out that the NCAA is willing to overlook serious allegations when money can be made.

UD Sweet Spot Terrell Pryor Cards

In a rush Upper Deck was able to include Terrelle Pryor in the 2011 NCAA Sweet Spot Football release, which recently went live. His rookie card will be card #101 in the set and they also included a short-print autograph, no numbers have been released regarding how many autographs are available but UD’s Chris Carlin said it would not be odd if you opened a case and did not find one.

There is currently one Pryor Sweet Spot autograph available and it is currently at $47.00 with 5 days left in the auction. A couple of regular Pryor UD rookie cards are available, all under $10 each. Panini released a number of Pryor cards at the National including Elite, R&S and Prestige versions and they range from $1 up to $55 each.

 Currently Pryor is in limbo as far as his football career goes, the NCAA has him suspended for 5 games for the upcoming season but he has since announced his professional intentions and signed an agent. The Supplemental Draft is set for August 17^th and according to recent reports the NFL sent out a list of eligible players this afternoon and Pryor is not on that list though it should be noted that players can be added to the list by the NFL at any time up until the draft date.

 If he is eventually ruled eligible the Browns, Redskins and Cowboys have each stated that they are interested in reviewing his Pro Day workout in Pittsburgh this coming Friday.