By: Tyler Ward
NCAA officials and the University of Florida are investigating a potential rules violation that occurred last year - the players they are looking into is offensive lineman Maurkice Pouncey.
Sources say that Pouncey was paid $100,000 by a representative of an agent somewhere between Florida's SEC Championship Game loss against Alabama and their Sugar Bowl victory against Cincinnati. Florida announced the potential violations as soon as they learned of it.
Not only could Pouncey be in trouble, but Florida law enforcement officials are also looking into the state's registration laws possibly being violated. Florida university police are also working with officials, in hopes of somehow clearing up the air around the anonymous claim.
Florida's athletic director Jeremy Foley said in a statement, "We were made aware of some information in early June that we reported to law enforcement and we then shared with the NCAA and the SEC. At this time we have no information that has indicated that there are any compliance issues for the University of Florida."
If the rumors are found to be true, Pouncey could be ruled ineligible for the Sugar Bowl victory, and if so, Florida would be stripped of their win over Cincinnati. It is pretty much the same scenario that involved USC earlier this year when their 2005 season was completely vacated after former Heisman winner Reggie Bush was found ineligible for the entire season, including their championship game loss to Vince Young and the Texas Longhorns.
Pouncey, who guarded 2008 Heisman winner Tim Tebow, bypassed his senior year and entered the NFL draft. He was taken 18th overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers and many consider him to be "NFL-ready".
Reportedly, two sources looked over the anonymous letter, which was postmarked from Canada. The two sources also that the letter included photographic evidence, showing a runner for the supposed agent in public with Maurkice Pouncey and his brother, Mike, who will be a senior this year at Florida.
The sources also told ESPN that the two brothers have provided credit card, bank, and phone statements that show no type of suspicious activity, as far as money is concerned. Apparently, Maurkice Pouncey said that he paid for a Cadillac Escalade (while he let his brother drive it seldomly in Florida) and jewelry after the NFL draft. He also said that he used a deferred line of credit to pay for those items.
The two brothers and their family are expected to issue a statement on Thursday regarding the allegations.
University representatives said today, "The NCAA is working cooperatively with the university. However, it is NCAA policy to not comment on current, pending or potential investigations."
This is just the latest in recent NCAA allegations, which has completely damaged college football's reputation.
North Carolina announced last week that the school was being questioned regarding allegations of agents dealing with several high-profile draft prospects. South Carolina tight end Weslye Sanders told media personnel that he had also been questioned by NCAA investigators.
As stated above, USC has been the center of all the allegations. Running Back Dillon Baxter said earlier this year that he had received phone calls from five schools, including Florida and Alabama, trying to lure him to their school. Baxter and USC would later apologize to all of the schools, as the allegations turned out to be false.
USC also had all of their 2005 wins stripped because of running back Reggie Bush being ruled ineligible for the entire season. The school will also not be able to participate in any postseason games for the next two seasons and some underclassmen would be able to transfer schools if they wanted to. USC will also have their recruiting days reduced from 130 to 110.
The NCAA could rule heavily on Florida if their findings are legitimate and correct. They may not receive as harsh of a penalty than USC, but they could see their 55-21 victory over Cincinnati vacated. The NCAA will still hold the entire university reponsible, even if it wasn't their fault.
If there is one thing the NCAA has shown us recently, it is that they are not fooling around anymore. Florida could be in deep trouble if everything turns out to be true.
Tebow should feel lucky to even have an opportunity to play in the NFL, much less as a quarterback, and shouldn't be crying over how much money he will earn. He hasn't played a single down in the NFL yet, and because he is holding out over his money, hasn't even really proved to be worth that kind of investment. He might not even be the team's starting QB this season.
If the rumors are found to be true, Pouncey could be ruled ineligible for the Sugar Bowl victory, and if so, Florida would be stripped of their win over Cincinnati. It is pretty much the same scenario that involved USC earlier this year when their 2005 season was completely vacated after former Heisman winner Reggie Bush was found ineligible for the entire season, including their championship game loss to Vince Young and the Texas Longhorns.
