NFL, NCAA talk fines for amateur-rule breakers

[Cable Guy]

Players who lose their college eligibility for receiving improper benefits from agents could face financial penalties upon entering the NFL draft under a proposal being considered by a panel of college and pro football officials seeking solutions to the problem.

The NCAA noted the possibility of "potential post-NCAA financial penalties" in a news release Monday announcing the collaborative discussions between professional and college football leaders, player agents, state law enforcement officials and NCAA executives.

The possibility of suspensions during a player's NFL rookie year -- as long as 6 to 8 games -- is also being discussed, according to two sources involved in the collaborative discussions including representatives of the NFL, the NFLPA, the NCAA and the American Football Coaches Association.

This means that if a college players' eligibility has ended under NCAA penalty, a player such as former Oklahoma State and current Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant or former North Carolina defensive lineman Marvin Austin could be subject to penalties that extend well beyond the loss of college eligibility.

Austin is one of several high-profile college football stars who lost eligibility for this season for accepting improper benefits from player agents. Bryant lost most of his senior season in 2009 for failing to fully disclose his interaction with former NFL player Deion Sanders.

Financial penalties collected from players who lose their eligibility could conceivably go to charity, one source said.

As the NCAA continues to spearhead collaborative efforts to tackle the issue of improper agent activity, the names of more than 20 people who are part of the group working on the problem were revealed Monday.

The NCAA said the group met last week and is making progress in identifying potential solutions and opportunities for greater collaboration between the NCAA, the NFL and its union and state government officials.

The group, which is expected to meet again next month, includes conference commissioners Mike Slive of the SEC and Jim Delany of the Big Ten; AFCA executive director Grant Teaff, prominent sports agent Jimmy Sexton; NFL team presidents Bill Polian of the Indianapolis Colts and Rich McKay of the Atlanta Falcons; NFL executive vice-president of football operations Ray Anderson; and Rachel Newman Baker, the NCAA's director of agent, gambling and amateurism.

Additional NFL, NFLPA, and NCAA officials, player agents and conference officials are also part of the group.

Joe Schad is a college football reporter for ESPN.

[Cable Guy]

Glad to see that the NCAA and NFL are working together to help stop this kind of stuff.

[ATLBrave]

Yeah. I'd prefer to see the actual player who committed the transgression punished instead of the schools, unless said institutions knew about it and did nothing.

[Carter]

Nice to see them looking into stiffening up their posture towards this activity. Not sure how much it will root out the agent recruiting activities, but I think it will definitely persuade a lot of players who may think about it to think better of it.

My only problem with players taking money is that the university and players who had nothing to do with it have to suffer the consequences when they get busted. And many times those consequences are crippling to a program. Though there are programs like USC or even Bama/FSU/others in the past who deserved to be taken down a few notches for knowingly violating.