FOX 28 in Columbus reported Wednesday afternoon that compliance issues may impact the Ohio State lineup in its Sugar Bowl game against Arkansas.
Sources tell ABC6/FOX28 News that Ohio State officials are meeting for a second straight day to consider compliance issues involving high-profile players on the football team.
The issues could impact the players’ participation in the Sugar Bowl.
The COLUMBUS DISPATCH also reported:
Ohio State is investigating possible NCAA violations involving several football players receiving tattoos in exchange for autographs, multiple sources have told the Dispatch.
Sources indicate that some sort of discipline is likely to be handed down, but it is unclear when, or to what extent. It is possible that some players may not be available for the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 4, but it’s also possible that any discipline could get pushed back to the start of the 2011 regular season.
Yesterday Dave Biddle of Bucknuts.com broke the news that there could be a compliance issue facing the Ohio State football team thanks to tattoos that Buckeye football players had received.
Excerpts of Biddle’s Tuesday Tweets:
Being told it will be a while until we know a resolution. One source thinks there will be no suspensions. Another one says 50/50.
Good news: Current player and SID deny the rumor. Bad news: Several sources sticking by their stories.
Word is a tattoo artist was giving out free tats in exchange for autographs from OSU players. Again, nothing has been confirmed yet.
Biddle’s Tweets were accompanied by this Tweet from Ohio State beat reporter Ken Gordon of the COLUMBUS DISPATCH:
Public-service bulletin: Tim May & I checking out compliance/NCAA rumors. So far, nothing to report. If something is up, we’ll have it.
May is a reporter for the Dispatch.
There’s been no official statement released by Ohio State or Coach Jim Tressel on the matter, only unattributed denials to this point. Where the story now stands is anyone’s guess, but in the interim I’ve learned that a good many current Buckeyes have received tattoos at the same Columbus establishment.
Two sources close to the Ohio State football program told me today that Fine Line Ink is a tattoo parlor in Columbus that has been providing current and former Ohio State football players with tattoos for some time now.
I was told those current Ohio State players include Terrelle Pryor, Dan Herron, DeVier Posey, Chris Fields, Nate Oliver, Travis Howard, Mike Adams, Jonathan Newsome, Michael Brewster and Jordan Hall. (Brewster had since Tweeted that he got his tattoos in Orlando.)
Prices at a high quality tattoo establishment range anywhere from the low hundreds well into the thousands - obviously depending on how extensive the work is.
If Ohio State football players received tattoos in exchange only for their autographs, that might indeed be a compliance issue for the school.
It isn’t necessarily unusual that Buckeye players would refer each other to the same tattoo parlor. But in the context of Biddle’s recent Tweets, it isn’t unreasonable to think that Ohio State’s compliance office may be paying the proprietors of Fine Line Ink a visit in the not-to-distant future.
UPDATE: Terrelle Pryor (and Brewster) have responded to the situation on Twitter.
Follow Brooks on Twitter for real-time updates.
5:14 pm on December 22nd, 2010
I hate OSU but I hate the NCAA even more.
6:34 pm on December 22nd, 2010
I don’t want you whiny yankees to have any excuse when we hang fiddy on your asses.
6:40 pm on December 22nd, 2010
What the hell? That place is in the ghetto here.
6:51 pm on December 22nd, 2010
So what, I bet they get free Big Macs somewhere in town too.
6:52 pm on December 22nd, 2010
Okay, now I have heard everything…If the NCAA actually tries to enforce this crap, I will have completely lost faith in the whole system.
6:52 pm on December 22nd, 2010
The NCAA has actually gone from respectability years ago to now under the current leadership of Mark Emmert an institution devoid of integrity and obviously even the slightest level of sensibility. Cameo steals PCs, has serious academic issues, his dad bids on his football services to the highest university bidder and all Cameo has to say is “I didn’t do anything” …. and nothing happens. These kids supposedly get free tattoos for an autograph (god forbid maybe even a burger as the writer above says!!!) and they all get potentially suspended! Agree … have now lost faith completely in the NCAA.
7:02 pm on December 22nd, 2010
@Doug, the reason Newton got off is that he plays in the SEC. This one is 50/50 because its the Big Ten. If this were some podunk BCS school or a WAC or MWC school, they’d be suspended in about .03. Its all about fairness. Thats why they have the BCS, right?
7:02 pm on December 22nd, 2010
hahaha….gotta do what you gotta do…..enforce the rules….life is a bitch*!
By the way…all of you Ohio haters can kiss my Buckhole!! Going down to redneck country to kick the cr*p out some rednecks and yellowdogs!
7:06 pm on December 22nd, 2010
ncaa better enforce this…what makes the suckeyes so special that they shouldnt be punished…if their players are that stupid then punish them…its just like getting clothes for auto…so y should they be let off the hook…dumass suckeyes
7:10 pm on December 22nd, 2010
Rules are rules, right? Suspend em!
7:10 pm on December 22nd, 2010
Man the NCAA’s are leeches. Just suck the kids dry for every single penny. So they got free tatoos at at a parlor that is a big fan of the football program. Its not like they are getting free vehicles or anything really tangible.
7:15 pm on December 22nd, 2010
If they have half a brain they’ll just say they thought Cam Newton’s daddy paid for them.
7:26 pm on December 22nd, 2010
It’s another example of BS. Your dad can shakedown a prospective school and you walk away, you get a tat and your out.
7:27 pm on December 22nd, 2010
Let’s see . . . $180 grand or a $180 tattoo? They can’t prove that the players knew anything about it. They had this game of being put under and then taken to the tattoo parlor. They never knew who did it or anything about it. I think it was their fathers that drugged their soft drinks and took them. Their dad’s knew, but none of the players had any idea. They just woke up and had tattoos! Shazam!
7:29 pm on December 22nd, 2010
Doug, your bias is showing. If this actually happened the difference is that the NCAA can prove the Buckeye players knowingly received improper benefits. Regarding Cam Newton, the NCAA could not prove any money was received by his family and they could not prove that Cam Newton knew about it. You people who think the ruling on Cam means players should be able to get away with anything are just pissed that nothing happened to Auburn. You don’t care about the “right thing” being done. You just want Auburn to suffer. Furthermore, Cam was not convicted of stealing a laptop. He bought a stolen laptop. That is what the court said and that is what I believe. I know everyone brings up the police report but if it was obvious that he stole it from the kid’s room, then why wasn’t he prosecuted? And no one has any proof that he cheated at Florida. All you have is what Thayer Evans wrote, and we all know he represents the pinnacle of honesty.
7:38 pm on December 22nd, 2010
@ colewhite… No, excuses… OSU will still kick the crap out of the pigs!
Go BIG TEN!
7:46 pm on December 22nd, 2010
WDE, you want some cheese with that wine? Everyone knows that something is rotten in the state of Alabama (nothing new) and this is a drop in the bucket comparatively. Is the NCAA now going to crack down on bars giving players free drinks? That DEFINITELY happens, same as clubs and restaurants. Anyone find it odd that this becomes a big deal when Ohio State are about to beat the stupid out of an sec team?
7:49 pm on December 22nd, 2010
You are 100% correct Colonel,
regards,
OJ didn’t kill anyone
Jacko didn’t touch anyone
Iraq didn’t ever have wmds
7:58 pm on December 22nd, 2010
If the same is to be done with OSU players as everyone else, than NOTHING SHOULD BE DONE JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE!
8:04 pm on December 22nd, 2010
Bring it King Solomon. You will be left in a swamp gutted if you have that attitude. Trust me the big sleazy knows how to treat rude drunk big mouths.
8:04 pm on December 22nd, 2010
Hey Colewhite .. do you even know how to spell A-r-k-a-n-s-a-s?
8:05 pm on December 22nd, 2010
It really bugs me to hear all the stupid lies told by people. First of all Newton didn’t steal any laptop, he was arrested and released and no charges were brought. Nothing more to say. There is zero evidence, zero, to indicate any of the Newtons received anything, including free tattoos. Third, all information relating to Newton comes from either anonymous sources or MSU, AFTER Newton didn’t go to MSU. If they had found Newton had accepted anything, including a free tattoo, he would have been ruled ineligible to play but they did not and the NCAA got all the financial records of the Newton family and went over them with a fine tooth comb. If they did something wrong, bring forth the facts (facts mind you, not the senseless ramblings of the idiots) and make him ineligible. As for the Ohio State players, if they accepted hundreds of dollars in gratuities (this is a lot more than just a shirt), they have to pay the same price as everyone else. That said, I am for compensating the players as they are put in a very tough position. I would never have made it through school without a job (actually two) and they really aren’t even allowed to work while their coaches and ADs and Presidents make millions off of them!
8:17 pm on December 22nd, 2010
Hope all players are eligible….No Excuses!!
Go Hogs
8:18 pm on December 22nd, 2010
You’re calling me a whiner? I guess everyone who has been whining about Cam Newton is just calling for justice, right?
8:26 pm on December 22nd, 2010
No one is denying that he was in possession of a stolen laptop. The discrepancy is over how he acquired it. The judicial system says he purchased it. Crybabies on message boards say he beat up a kid, gave him a wedgie, and stole it.
8:26 pm on December 22nd, 2010
Even though I root for the Razorbacks, this is crazy if true. Scam Newton is getting to play so the SEC-NCAA can line their pockets w/ $. Hope these guys can play so we can have a good game. Wish this were happening @ Michigan too-ha. Hogs will win either way though–good luck.
8:29 pm on December 22nd, 2010
Tattoos… really? After the Cam Newton debacle they’re gonna get on tattoos? The NCAA is such a joke.
8:34 pm on December 22nd, 2010
how do you prove a guy got a tattoo from somewhere? i am assuming there isn’t a receipt.
Are they going to get CSI i there to check it out and do a DNA draw?
Also you Auburn douches are in complete denial. SCAM wrote his name on the laptop. Enough said. And don’t say there is anyone picking on Auburn because its Auburn. Nobody outside of Auburn cares about Auburn, jus ike that dump in Fayetteville.
8:50 pm on December 22nd, 2010
Oh for chrissakes, their stupid college kids getting some idiotic tattoos. They have ZERO intrinsic value. You can’t resell a @#$%^& tattoo for any amount of money.
Hell, if the Tat parlor owner and the players were the least bit smart, they’d sign modeling agreements wherein the parlor owner would be allowed to use their photos as advertising for his work. *Poof* it becomes a legitimate business transaction and the NCAA can go screw themselves. NO I don’t have tattoos, NO I didn’t play football, and NO I didn’t attend Ohio State. I could have, but I preferred a university with smaller class sizes.
Doesn’t the NCAA have better things to do, like coming up with a doping program that actually stops college kids from putting chemicals with serious long term effects into their bodies?
8:50 pm on December 22nd, 2010
What about a free haircut from a chick? What about some little kid giving them a painted up christmas stocking because they are his hero? A tattoo? The NCAA is worried about how much a player paid for a tattoo? I guess no player should buy Cracker Jacks… sometimes they come with free tattoos. Or is there a rule on the quality of the free tattoo received? What a crock.
9:04 pm on December 22nd, 2010
I’m a Buckeye fan, and feel they should be suspended for the bowl game (if guilty). You have to set the precedent.
As for Cam Newton, I feel the players need to be punished for their parents misgivings (if parents are guilty). Again you MUST set the precedent, OR THIS WILL NEVER STOP.
Cmon, we all know they players know. Like Reggie Bush “thought” his dad found a $600K house by accident.
SET THE PRECEDENT
9:57 pm on December 22nd, 2010
i have read all these comments and find it hiliarious everyone is bias against there favorite school. I am a buckeye fan and always have been.
People want to bring up Cam Newton and now the ALLEGATIONS of free tattoo’s. in regards to Cam Newton, it is hard to comment exactly on the lap top, but i do know it is against the law to be in possession of stolen property!!! Another thing i look at is how he threw the lap top out the window when police arrived due to “BEING SCARED”. Im curious to know why he was so scared if he honestly felt he did nothing wrong? But he was not prosecuted for the crime!
Cam Newton and some facts… he was in possession of a stolen laptop (CRIME) he did throw it out the window which can also be a CRIME by trying to hide or destroy evidence. Yet he was not suspended due to not being charged.
The ALLEGATIONS with the OSU players are plain rumors at this time. Should they be punished for a non crime issue when Cam was not punished for an actual CRIME though he was not charged? i watch College Football Live all the time and i found one show to be amusing about the NCAA and the Cam Newton saga after he was declared eligible…. They talked about how quick the decision was on the investigation. We will see how long this investigation is before any decisions are made on who will be able to play for OSU in the bowlgame.
The NCAA has too many flaws at this time and
10:35 pm on December 22nd, 2010
@Yellowdog & Rednecks……Attitude? Bring it On?
Look for me…..I’ll be the one leaving a “twenty” on your mother’s nightstand. You can wash my bag of Buckeyes after I’m done.
Big talk for a yellowdog, I am surprised you know how to read. Only a few more days til a reckoning will happen. I’ll have you “squealing” like a pig. Think ….”Deliverance” …..hahaha
10:46 pm on December 22nd, 2010
Swampbait!!! and you keep on believing Hollywood. I will be the one pulling that foolish jersey off you and then taking your Hurricane as you get dragged off. Same ole stuff.
11:00 pm on December 22nd, 2010
Are you guys crazy? Why is anyone even talking about Cam Newton’s laptop? That is pretty much irrelevant (and he was punished). Wait, let’s see…it’s *entirely* irrelevant to this.
If you want to talk about the “pay for play” scheme, then that is relevant. But not the first story. And again, this story with Ohio State will boil down to evidence - just like Cam’s story and Reggie Bush’s story and all the others. No one seems to understand that it doesn’t matter if it was $180 tattoos or $180,000 cold hard cash. It’s called principle, friends.
The evidence will rule the day. Don’t be mad if the evidence shows guilt, don’t be mad if *lack* of evidence shows lack of guilt. This is basic pre-law stuff.
11:29 pm on December 22nd, 2010
Those boys are all mine. I’m their daddy. Blame me - -I did it.
‘F’ the SEC!!!!!!!
11:29 pm on December 22nd, 2010
Haha! Go Hogs Go!
11:29 pm on December 22nd, 2010
What would make more sense is to take away 25 scholarships. That would stop it right away.
11:31 pm on December 22nd, 2010
I’m of the same opinion as many others here. While I agree that, if true, some punishment should be handed down but DO NOT SUSPEND THESE KIDS FROM THE SUGAR BOWL. Everyone knows the whole $cam Newton drama was a total fiasco but it’s water under the bridge now. We, the Razorback Nation want tOSU at full strength, not a shell of a team. Let these kids play and it will be one helluva game. Suspend them, and it’ll be a blowout not worth watching. Go Hogs and good luck to the student-athletes in question.
11:32 pm on December 22nd, 2010
I dont want them susupended, I dont want to hear the excuses for losing to the hogs because everyone was suspended. We want OSU at full force. No excuses.
11:33 pm on December 22nd, 2010
Newton will fully reveal that he is nothing more than a thug that can run. Same as Russell. Same as Young. These kids’ parents don’t bother teaching their children any values. In Newton’s case, his dad is the shining example. Cam will get some good upfront money that he’ll be too stupid to invest wisely. Don’t be surprised if he serves you some fries at Burger King before he’s thirty. That’s if he isn’t in prison….
11:37 pm on December 22nd, 2010
The way I look at it…if the person (not player) and the shop owner come to an agreement in terms if trading tats for autographs…let them do so! After all, thats all these athletes are, just people
11:42 pm on December 22nd, 2010
To all those SEC fans…remember the one Buckeye who made the biggest impact on the south…William Tecumseh Sherman!
11:50 pm on December 22nd, 2010
OSU is 0-9 vs. SEC. Any questions?
11:52 pm on December 22nd, 2010
1. Bob is an idiot. The Buckeyes are 0-9 vs. the SEC in BOWL GAMES. 7-11-1 overall.
2. The NCAA isn’t investigating anything. This is only Ohio State.
3. http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs611.ash2/156354_10150329906440324_821055323_15553443_4347443_n.jpg
4. Michigan still sucks.
11:52 pm on December 22nd, 2010
Everyone sing it with me, now,”Buckeyes roasting on an open fire.
11:57 pm on December 22nd, 2010
What about those who sell items of signed players on Ebay
11:59 pm on December 22nd, 2010
Michigan sucks.
12:42 am on December 23rd, 2010
How did this turn into a Newton discussion? Two separate issues. Anyway, I am a Ohio State fan but I like to think I am not biased. If there is any wrong done, may the players be punished. However, and there is a “however” not because of biased, because of the truth. A tattoo for autographs. Let’s see, I don’t see this as a suspend-able offense by anyone on the team. No need to compare it to Newton because they have nothing to do with each other. Simple as this, tattoos do not help performance of the player. Autographs are not money. Who’s to say they did or did not do it, who’s to say the tattoo artist got the autograph off Ebay as @James said? It is all speculation. If they get suspended, poor Sugar Bowl. I know as a Ohio State fan, my tickets will be sold if Pryor, Herron, Hall, and Posey do not play. Not a smart move for the bowl and Ohio State is not suspending there players because there is nothing that states what they did is not in compliance.
12:56 am on December 23rd, 2010
If they are legitimately guilty of an NCAA infraction, then throw the book at them … If not, then put the f***ing boots to the idiots who called them out ….
1:30 am on December 23rd, 2010
Stuff like this goes on everywhere. Only clowns like Tressel let things go public.
My guess is that the tattoo artist blackamiled the AD and when the AD didn’t fork over the cash he sold the story to the Columbus Dispatch.
It’s clown shoes that a team as good as Ohio State doesn’t know how to cover its tracks. Heck, 7-5 Notre Dame covered up their head coach murdering a kid in 50 mph winds on scaffolding rated at 25mph. Poor kid even tweeted he was going to die right before he did. And 7-5 Notre Dame kept everything quiet about that local Catholic girl who killed herself after being groped and later harassed by a Notre Dame player and his sidekick.
Don’t even get me started on Auburn. Auburn could walk right up to the NCAA offices and drop a deuce on the floor and wipe their bum on Miles Brand’s head. Those guys at Auburn know the game. I respect that. I don’t respect clownshoes programs that let half their offense sit the Sugar Bowl because a tattoo artist was late on rent.
Note- I don’t respect the Domers for getting away with double murder becuase that involves innocent bystanders. That said, it is impressive from a legal standpoint that they were able to kill two people free of charge. This tattoo artist never has to draw another tattoo thanks to the money he got from the Dispatch so I consider him part of the system.
6:46 am on December 23rd, 2010
I see the SEC honks are out in ghetto force.
6:47 am on December 23rd, 2010
SEC = probation since 1985
7:05 am on December 23rd, 2010
The NCAA bylaws are clear. Athletes aren’t able to receive products and services at rates that aren’t available to the general student body.
If they didn’t have that bylaw in place, what would stop car dealers from giving athletes free loaner cars in exchange for the athletes implied endorsement of the car dealer while riding around town? It never ends.
If true, the athletes will be forced to donate the value of the tattoos to a charity of their choice, as well as suffer a suspension of games like the UNC players did this year.
Let’s see of the NCAA has the guts to enforce their own bylaws in a year in which another high profile case is the last thing they want to further tarnish their brand.
8:15 am on December 23rd, 2010
What’s taking so long for the NCAA? They decided on Cam Newton’s eligibility in less than an hour, correct?
9:57 am on December 23rd, 2010
Colonal Tom,, you sad blind fool. This thread is not about Cam Newton, However, there is a separation in classes that is defined by intelligence and morals. We, the moral and intelligent are sure that Cam Newton is guilty of everything he is accused of. Convictions don’t determine morals,, I suppose that you think OJ isn’t a murdered just because of incompetent prosecutors. ,,, stop kidding yourself,,what are you truly guilty of?
9:37 pm on December 23rd, 2010
Cam Newton’s fathers shops him like a piece of meat…SEC rules clearly state that he is ineligible…in rides the NCAA in time to make sure Cam is eligible for the SEC conference game on ABC…Ohio State players only have to say they didn’t know it was wrong…it was wrong enough to suspend them for five games next year…but the NCAA protects the Sugar Bowl by giving them eligibility for the game….is there anyone left who doesn’t know that the system is completely flawed and that the NCAA, the networks, and the Bowl fatcats could care less about students or athletes…the whole system is intended to keep the coaches, the schools, the bowl committee members and the networks in control and in the money…to believe that these student-athletes are the primary concern of the NCAA requires the same kind of thinking that allows kids to believe in Santa
1:18 pm on December 24th, 2010
Ohio State fans - you should protest the hell out of this. I’m a fan of an SEC team, I can’t stand Ohio State, but wrong is wrong. Any team this year that gets sanctioned like this with suspended players should laugh in the NCAA’s face. They are a JOKE! Don’t take this lying down. Auburn is scum. If you actually knew what was going on at Auburn, how much corruption there is within their BOD and BOT’s, and how it is all connected to dirty state politics, you’d know that Auburn is scummy dirty and the wheels will come off soon enough.
I had my doubts as to whether OSU could beat Arkansas this year, but that’s beside the point. This is outrageous! We have to watch that thug Cam Newton (and he’s not the only rented mule on the team) play in the BCSNCG and OSU will be without Terrell Pryor because of a TATTOO?????
Git a rope! It’s time to get rid of the NCAA and actually get a governing body which does things right!
4:42 pm on December 24th, 2010
Since the NCAA gave mulligans to Auburn and OSU every school should be given the “I didn’t know” mulligan.
4:51 pm on December 24th, 2010
To be at least halfway fair OSU should be banned from playing in a Bowl Game next year.
12:23 pm on December 25th, 2010
i am a die hard buckeye fan but the football players earned there rings and gold pants that should be their decision as to what they do with them not some dim wit ncaa commitee