The Question That Never Gets Asked

Over the last several days several of the ESPN college football commentators have weighed in on the announced violations and subsequent NCAA penalties at Ohio State. Mark May, Tom Luginbill, Kirk Herbstreit, Robert Smith and Craig James have all talked at length about the impact of the five-game suspensions, the long-term effect on the Ohio State program, and the likelihood the athletes involved will opt for the NFL draft rather than return for an abbreviated senior year.

Mel Kiper opined that none of the five, including Terrelle Pryor, were likely to be a first or second round draft pick. Pryor, he said, was looking at a probable position change as a pro, to tight end or h-back. Tall, athletic, and fast, he's a natural there, but he doesn't have the arm strength or throwing mechanics to be an NFL quarterback.


The commentators deplored the selfishness and poor judgment of the players. They questioned the timing of the NCAA penalties and the apparent inconsistency, allowing the five to play in a lucrative bowl game while some other players in other conferences had been suspended immediately. They questioned the logic of "I didn't know" defense, and its potentially disastrous repercussions for the future of college football. It's a loophole street agents could drive ten trucks through, it seems.

Luginbill, James, May, Smith and Herbstreit talked about the integrity of the game and the difficulty of enforcement. They expressed outrage at the NCAA's inconsistency and the players selfishness, and concern for the future of college football.

But one question was never asked. In fact, it is never asked. The guy in the main chair on the ESPN set needs to say, all of you guys were stars at major programs, highly sought after, highly successful. Do you take illegal benefits? What went on at your schools? James has famously denied being involved in the flamboyant cheating at SMU in the '70's. "All that happened after I left," he has said.

Call me a cynic, but the outrage and pontificating rings a little hollow. The men on the panel are all products of the system they decry, the whole silent, submerged, hypocritical underside of college football.

It's a beautiful game with a dark secret. When someone noisily bumps into the furniture, the lights have to come on, and it threatens to reveal how broken everything is.

What happened at SMU, Craig James? And what happened at Ohio State, when you were there, Kirk Herbstreit and Robert Smith? Are we to believe the problem of street agents and boosters and illegal benefits started with Terrelle Pryor and Devier Posey?

May makes the point that you can't really pay the players openly because then girls' volleyball and men's baseball have to be paid too. The message seems to be, everybody just keep cheating, but keep it quiet like the old days. But the old days are long gone. What you do on Tuesday shows up on Deadspin or the Wizard of Odds on Wednesday. There's a blogger or a whistle blower standing on top of every other rock.

Here's hoping the Ducks win the national title game, and save the NCAA from another embarrassing mess in a few months.

Yet who is to say the Ducks won't one day have an embarrassing mess of their own.