In the waning weeks of one of the most tumultuous college football off-seasons in recent memory, news comes out that, buy it or not, a former University of Miami booster and current prison inmate named Nevin Shapiro provided over 70 former and current Miami athletes with impermissible benefits. According to Shapiro, he even has bank statements, receipts, and photos proving that his allegations are in fact true.
The fact that Shapiro is now in federal prison for his role in a $930 million Ponzi scheme may damage his credibility. But, according to Yahoo Sports, eight former Miami football players have confirmed receiving some sort of special treatment from Shapiro, including former running back Tyrone Moss who says that he collected over 1000 dollars from Shapiro. Some of the names that have been thrown out as former players who received these benefits include current NFL All-Pros Andre Johnson, Devin Hester, Frank Gore, Vince Wilfork and Jonathon Vilma. Also listed was current Miami quarterback Jacory Harris who saw significant playing time last season and is currently in the middle of a battle for the starting quarterback job this year.
Those who have been in favor of paying college athletes all along will use this predicament as a launching pad for their argument, but I do not think that this, or any situation such as the one at Ohio State, supports the idea that these athletes should get paid a stipend, simply because they are already getting paid! Whether or not they use it to their benefit, a four-year college scholarship is worth much more than face value because it can be used for so much more in the future. If the NCAA would allow schools to pay athletes, it would not only be wasting money, it would not help the allocation of impermissible funds. Not all people are fortunate enough to go to college, let alone go for free. Paying college athletes would not only be sending the absolute wrong message, it could perpetuate a problem that supporters of paying athletes wanted to end in the first place.
One aspect of this story that is not going to be paid as much attention to as it deserves is the fact that, ironically enough, former Miami Athletic Director Paul Dee was the chairman for the Committee of Infractions concerning USC’s Reggie Bush who, thanks to Dee and his crusade, ended up giving up his Heisman Trophy after allegations of taking impermissible benefits himself. Not only is this one of the purest examples of hypocrisy that I have ever seen, it is inexcusable for an AD not to know what is going on at his school. A football coach should not be allowing this sort of behavior to happen under his nose either, but when push comes to shove, a coach’s job is to win games; an AD’s job is to make sure that the athletic programs that he oversees are running cleanly.
Talking heads will talk about what sort of penalty Miami should get for this. Should they get the so-called “death penalty” like SMU did in the ‘70s and ‘80s, or will it be a slap on the wrist? I do not know and I will not speculate.
All I know is that there is some good that comes out of this whole situation. Come September 5 when Miami comes to Byrd, I will be holding up a sign. It will be rather plain, but to the point. It will say “Nevin Shapiro.”
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