The stupid NCAA

[2GOLD 0]

From ESPN.com

 

ESPN.com news services

LOS ANGELES -- The NCAA refused to reinstate Southern California All-American Mike Williams on Thursday, leaving the star receiver unable to rejoin the top-ranked Trojans after being shut out of the NFL draft by the courts.

 

"I'm glad it's over. Now the team can move forward and I can move forward," Williams said. "I'm disappointed. I did everything asked of me. I don't know yet what I'm going to do. I'll just relax for the weekend and watch the game and root for my team."

 

The ruling came down shortly before the Trojans boarded an airplane for a flight Baltimore. They open their season Saturday night against Virginia Tech at FedEx Field in Landover, Md.

 

USC coach Pete Carroll was angry with the ruling and its timing.

 

"It's very cold and insensitive for them to deny him this opportunity," he said. "As a football team, we've been prepared for this for a while. I'm not surprised by it, but I'm disappointed for Mike and his family. You'll have to go and ask the NCAA for answers, how they can turn someone down who is academically eligible."

 

The school had applied to the NCAA for a progress-toward-degree waiver and reinstatement of Williams' eligibility.

 

USC officials were unsure if there were any appeals still available for Williams but he said he didn't plan to pursue them, anyway.

 

"I'm kind of done with it right now," he said. He will be eligible for the 2005 draft.

 

Williams told ESPN The Magazine he was thinking of those who helped him clear NCAA hurdles just for him to make his case.

 

"I really felt bad for the people that exhausted the whole entire process, like my parents who put together all the numbers and all the receipts," Williams said. "And I feel bad for coach Carroll, who had to save face for me and sticking up for me when I wasn't at practice. He had to deal with my issue as well as get the team prepared for the season.

 

"I really was worried about all those other people who tried to help me throughout the situation and how they're gonna react to it. I just want to thank a lot of people who were behind the scenes trying to make it happen."

 

Williams also told ESPN The Magazine that he will work out with USC strength coach Chris Carlisle while attending classes for the next four months. By then, he will be the minimum three years removed from high school. In his quest to have his academic eligibility restored, Williams also took summer classes.

 

He caught 95 passes for 1,314 yards and a school-record 16 touchdowns last season to help the Trojans (12-1) win a share of the national championship.

 

The 20-year-old Williams, a sure-handed 6-foot-5, 230-pounder, finished eighth in the Heisman Trophy balloting as a sophomore last year.

 

After a court ruled that Ohio State's Maurice Clarett was eligible to play in the NFL, Williams left USC in the spring, hired an agent and said he was turning pro. That made him ineligible to play for the Trojans.

 

He was projected as a high draft pick, but on May 24, an appeals court overturned the earlier ruling and upheld the NFL's right to bar players who had been out of high school for less than three years. The latter ruling effectively barred both Williams and Clarett, who was suspended last season after starring at Ohio State as a freshman, from the draft.

 

After the appeals court ruling, Williams severed ties with his agent and began the process of applying to the NCAA for reinstatement.

 

Williams said he playing in the CFL this fall is not an option. What's next then?

 

"School," he said. "It makes no sense to just sit around for four or five months and do nothing. I'm just going to get with coach Carlisle and get on a workout program that's going to take me through December and just adjust to being a normal student and finish out the semester. And then just give [NFL scouts] hell when I go through my workouts."

 

 

The NCAA is a worthless body with no sense of anything. They are morons when it comes to college football, absolute morons.

[Guest MikeSC]

It's more of the same. This is the same NCAA that won't allow that Colorado WR to play because he has endorsements due to his being an Olympic skier --- as if he got endorsements due to his college football experience.

-=Mike

[2GOLD 0]

It's more of the same. This is the same NCAA that won't allow that Colorado WR to play because he has endorsements due to his being an Olympic skier --- as if he got endorsements due to his college football experience.

-=Mike

 

Jeremy Bloom.

Yeah, another nice screwjob by the NCAA.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

It's more of the same. This is the same NCAA that won't allow that Colorado WR to play because he has endorsements due to his being an Olympic skier --- as if he got endorsements due to his college football experience.

-=Mike

I think this is by far the bigger crime by the NCAA. How does getting money over being a pro in a different sport ruin your amatuer status in another?

[sfaJack 0]

You know, after initially taking Williams' side in this whole thing, I've thought it over and I think the NCAA is right in keeping him ineligible. Williams knew when he declared himself for the draft that this was possible, and he shouldn't have taken being reinstated for granted.

 

This isn't going to ruin his life. He'll go play in Canada or something for a year and then he'll be in the NFL the next season while still getting all the hype, money, and pussy that goes with it.

 

I think this is by far the bigger crime by the NCAA. How does getting money over being a pro in a different sport ruin your amatuer status in another?

I really would like an explanation to this one though. Bloom has been screwed.

[cabbageboy 0]

Williams was on ESPN earlier and he really wasn't all that broken up over it. He was just like "Well, I'll keep training and USC and then next year I'll get PAID."

[Bored 0]

You know, after initially taking Williams' side in this whole thing, I've thought it over and I think the NCAA is right in keeping him ineligible.  Williams knew when he declared himself for the draft that this was possible, and he shouldn't have taken being reinstated for granted. 

But he declared himself when it was ruled that you didn't have to wait three years after high school to enter the draft, all be it that was over turned soon after. He took advantage of the rules as they were and wasn't trying to get around the rules like Clarrett did. He's being punished for not breaking any rules. He'll live and still be a Top 5 pick next year but it's still unfair, especially for USC. I felt if he was reinstated you could pretty much book their ticket to the Orange Bowl right now.

[Guest Jimbo]

It's more of the same. This is the same NCAA that won't allow that Colorado WR to play because he has endorsements due to his being an Olympic skier --- as if he got endorsements due to his college football experience.

      -=Mike

I think this is by far the bigger crime by the NCAA. How does getting money over being a pro in a different sport ruin your amatuer status in another?

Especially when it's not even a major sport.

 

It's not like he plays professional baseball in the offseason, he's an olympic skier(or snowboarder? whatever). He can only pursue that sport with those endorsements as it is quite expensive to train, participate, and stay competitive in events if he gets that money.

[Mole 0]

Will this hurt his chances in the draft though?

 

Even though he will train and keep in shape, he'll be out of competive football for over a year. I think he might loose a step or two.

[Guest MikeSC]

Will this hurt his chances in the draft though?

 

Even though he will train and keep in shape, he'll be out of competive football for over a year. I think he might loose a step or two.

Sure, it'll hurt some. However, I can still see him as a first-rounder.

-=Mike

[Guest Flyboy]

First-rounder? He'll still go in the top 10.

[Mole 0]

If the Niners do so poorly that it will get them a low pick, they should snatch up Williams. They need a strong reciever, so Williams would be the perfect pick for them.

 

So, play bad this year Niners!

[Guest Rrrsh]

He said he was gonna stay at askool and just train. Thats too bad, he shoudl come up here in Canada and play and just go back to skool in January. Playing here would do him better than just training.

[Lightning Flik 0]

And if he does really well in Canada, he'll score even more points with the NFL and possibly either keep his Top 5 position, or be the #1 overall draft pick.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Do you guys even read the article? He's stated he has no intetion whatsoever of playing in the CFL at all.

 

Maybe Arena Football?

[Damaramu 0]

If the Niners do so poorly that it will get them a low pick, they should snatch up Williams. They need a strong reciever, so Williams would be the perfect pick for them.

 

So, play bad this year Niners!

Then 49ers do have a good reciever.....they have Rashaun Woods.

[Mole 0]

If the Niners do so poorly that it will get them a low pick, they should snatch up Williams. They need a strong reciever, so Williams would be the perfect pick for them.

 

So, play bad this year Niners!

Then 49ers do have a good reciever.....they have Rashaun Woods.

Oh yeah, I did forget about him.

 

But if they do end up with Williams, he'll be perfect next to Wilson and Lloyd. And if Woods has a good rookie season, then they once again have another great WR tandom.

[Guest Flyboy]

Too many chances of getting injured in the CFL or Arena. Yeah, you can get hurt in the NCAA (duh) but if has the chance not to and just train, then that's the smarter route.

[Guest MikeSC]

If memory serves, you got Derrick Hamilton, too. He could develop into something special --- but another year at Clemson would've done him wonders.

-=Mike

[Guest Flyboy]

The Niners have good young WRs but if Mike Williams fell in their laps, I say they would pick him up -- or a QB.

[Guest Rrrsh]

Too many chances of getting injured in the CFL or Arena. Yeah, you can get hurt in the NCAA (duh) but if has the chance not to and just train, then that's the smarter route.

I am sure its worth the risk if he can...ya know...get better and stay good. He can get hurt playing if he was accepted back at USC playing Collage ball, so that theroy dosn'y really make sense.

[Mole 0]

The Niners have good young WRs but if Mike Williams fell in their laps, I say they would pick him up -- or a QB.

Rattay is a good QB, much better than a lot of people think.

[Vern Gagne 0]

The NCAA didn't have to wait until 2 days before USC's first game. Unless, they know something like Williams took money, this ruling could of and should have come out 2 months ago. They knew long before this, that Williams wasn't going to be reinstated.

[nogoodnick 0]

NCAA= fuck those fucking fuckers. I hate them.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

I feel no pity. He should never have left USC in the first place -- anyone who thought the NFL would lose that case deserves what they get.

 

Williams was on ESPN earlier and he really wasn't all that broken up over it.  He was just like "Well, I'll keep training and USC and then next year I'll get PAID."

 

Smart, smart, man -- there's less of a risk of shredding an ACL in the weight room than there is on the football field...

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Definitely. Plus he'll end up with a degree from USC even if he snaps his back lifting weighs or whatever.

[sfaJack 0]

But he declared himself when it was ruled that you didn't have to wait three years after high school to enter the draft, all be it that was over turned soon after. He took advantage of the rules as they were and wasn't trying to get around the rules like Clarrett did. He's being punished for not breaking any rules. He'll live and still be a Top 5 pick next year but it's still unfair, especially for USC. I felt if he was reinstated you could pretty much book their ticket to the Orange Bowl right now.

Oh, I know that he only declared himself after the rules was seemingly changed and that he didn't do anything sneaky like Clarett, but he still knew that the NFL would appeal the case and that there was a chance they'd win.

 

If he hadn't taken any money or signed with an agent, I'd be a little more sympathetic for him.

 

And I definitely agree that it sucks for USC, particularly since, as Vern said, the NCAA waited until 2 days before their first game to announce their decision. That is unfair.

[Dr. Tom 0]

Williams definitely took a risk by declaring for the draft while he was allowed to, but still, he followed the rules as they were at the time. When the rules changed, he severed ties with his agent, re-enrolled in classes, and began the process to get reinstated. Considering the NCAA, by their own counts, only denied 10 of 1100 appeals last season, why was Williams denied? His "offenses" were perfectly legal actions at the time he took them.

 

Compounding the sin, of course, is the NCAA waiting until two days before USC's opener to make its decision public. I'm sure they've known for some time what the decision was going to be. It does a disservice to Mike Williams and the entire USC football team to string them along like this. Whatever your opinion of Williams, his teammates are innocent bystanders in all of this. They should have had an answer long before now.

 

I hate to say it, but Brian Bosworth was right when he was suspended during his college career. He was on the sidelines wearing a shirt that spelled out NCAA as "National Communists Against Athletes." Considering this decision and the absurd one rendered in the Jeremy Bloom case, I think Bosworth was far more accurate than he might've known.

[Damaramu 0]

I don't understand why there were some guys on ESPN saying this pretty much shot USC's national title hopes. They didn't come out and say it but they went on about how bad it hurt them and acted like they were going to suck. Pete Caroll's a great coach....he'll fix it. Dammit I want my USC/OU Undefeated Orange Bowl!

[Gert T 0]

There's no way Williams will be the #1 overall pick, probably still in the top 10.

 

It is a long time of not playing.