July 7, 2004
Mike Williams files for NCAA reinstatement
Former USC wide receiver Mike Williams, who lost his NCAA eligibility when he declared for the 2004 NFL draft has filed an official petition for reinstatement.
In his efforts to regain his eligibility and return to USC last week to enroll in the second summer semester. Williams cut ties with his agent, signed a request for a Progress Toward Degree Waiver from the NCAA, and is documenting all money and benefits received in his time as a professional to USC's compliance officials.
If Williams is reinstated, it will be a minor miracle. (Note: I apologize to all our readers for the posts we lost at the end of January. There was a great Williams-Clarett debate running, but the Internet gods are a fickle sort.) The guy left school and hired an agent. He accepted lots of cash & prizes (well, not "prizes" per se, but you get it.) He then signed to the NFL Players Association's Group Licensing Agreement. Williams also signed a deal with Nike. His agent negotiated deals with the card companies, including Topps, Fleer, Upper Deck and Press Pass, worth between $175,000 and $200,000, depending on where Williams was drafted. Williams also signed 200 cards for Press Pass that were sold earlier this year. When the draft trial was in full swing, Williams' agent sent him to the Bahamas so he could avoid the media feeding frenzy. That all ads up to an awful lot of cash.
Getting past all the agents and cash is a big hurdle, mind you, when you consider the slippery slope of all the other college athletes that would petition the NCAA because they got busted accepting an extra hamburger in their sack at Sonic. The NCAA doesn't want a gang rush on it's door by setting a bad precedent with the Williams case.
However, the biggest hurdle is the academic aspect. Williams has to explain why he wasn't in school in the spring. Further, he'll have to justify why he didn't enroll in the first summer session. The NCAA would have to say it's OK for Williams not to have satisfied his academic eligibility. That's the sticky point. Miles Brand has made a point of emphasizing academics since taking over as NCAA head honcho. Approving Williams without the academic credentials would make a mockery of Brands' work.
By hiring an agent and dropping out of the spring semester, Williams may have sealed his fate. He doesn't have the academics to qualify for reinstatement. That is going to be the NCAA's out on this tricky issue. I bet they take it and say, "Sure, Mike, come on back. Just catch up on school first."
Comments:
Brian Diez said:
posted on July 14, 2004 9:47 PM — 68.40.180.43 — link — abuse?
I don't know why the NCAA won't let him back in. At the time he declared for the draft and hired an agent, it was legal for him to do so. Then the NFL tosses him out of the draft, and the NCAA won't let him back in because he hired an agent. Just plain stupid. Was he supposed to go in the draft without an agent? He did nothing wrong and this isn't under the same circumstances as others who have hired agents. Let the man play.
posted on July 14, 2004 9:55 PM — link — abuse?Kevin Donahue said:
This is the kind of comment that pisses me off. Clearly you don't care or you would (at a minimum) read something about the situation. Yes, hiring an agent is legal. That isn't really the question, though, is it?
Without repeating everything above, the NCAA has eligibility requirements that athletes have to abide by, otherwise they don't get to play. While athletes do seem to get a lot of special favors, they still have to fall within the basic rules: 1) Don't accept money. 2) Don't accept favors/treatements. 3) Be in school as a full-time student.
Williams did none of those for the past two semesters. Now he wants to write that off & get special clearance. No. Williams made (several) decision and he did it knowing full well that there were consequences. Now it may be news to him, but 'sorry, dude, that's life'.
jessi said:
posted on July 15, 2004 6:58 AM — 209.240.205.62 — link — abuse?
mike williams actually might do him self better justice by just goin ahead and sittin out the year and go through workouts,and then if he goes pro and show them all what they have been missing, prime time cuz that is exactly what mike williams is primetime.
posted on July 15, 2004 9:51 PM — 4.230.216.26 — link — abuse?
Mr. Diez,
Ummm...Ok...Well...How can I put this...
You're wrong, for starters?
That's like saying, "Well, at the time I bought the beer that intoxicated me and pushed me past the almost national average of .08, it was legal for me to do so, but that beer made me drunk, and put me at .081. I think-therefore-that I shouldn't be held accountable for the two counts of vehicular homicide I'm being prosected for, your honor."
At the time, he knew that according to the NCAA, he could not hire an agent and retain his collegiate eligibility. What he also knew-at the time-was that one of the biggest and most well respected professional sports leage-if not the biggest-had just suffered a temporary legal defeat.
How galatically stupid was it for Mike Williams to not have the foresight that maybe...just maybe...Perhaps the NFL could appeal that decision that it came out on the short end?
I'd say it was mighty stupid...As I said earlier, galatically stupid...
He obviously didn't pay a whole helluva lot of attention to High School Civics courses, nor have even an elementary understanding of the way the judicial branch of our government operates. Had he paid attention to minute one of a single government class, then he'd know about the right of appeal.
(In the Tom Hanks "A League of Their Own" voice)
There's no Mulligans in College Football!!!!????
Donn said:
posted on July 26, 2004 2:48 PM — 4.46.110.98 — link — abuse?
Dear Tiger Educated,
First, if you are going to call someone "Galacticly stupid," learn how to spell it. I would have thought it was only a typographical error, but you repeated your mistake in the next paragraph emphasized in italics no less. Perhaps Mike isn't the only "galatically stupid person" on Earth after all. I suggest you are owed a refund by your educator.
Second, your reference to Mike's supposed failure to pay "attention to High School Civics courses" and his alleged "lack of an elementary understanding of the way the judicial branch of our government operates" clearly misses the point in Mike Williams' case.
The point here is whether or not the NCAA is going to knuckle under to the NFL and provide them an out from a potential lawsuit by Williams. If the NCAA does not reinstate Mike Williams, he has an excellent lawsuit against the NFL.
The NFL invited him to apply for the draft knowing that they intended to prevent him from entering the draft and that he would lose his eligibility as a college player if he accepted their invitation. He relied on their representation to forego his eligibility as a college player and enter the draft. The NFL then actively litigated the matter and deprived him of his right to play professionally and barred him from the draft.
If the NCAA doesn't do the NFL a favor and reinstate Mike, he has relied on the NFL's representations to his clear detriment (loss of playing eligibility, including his ability to compete for the Heisman and a lower position in the draft in the following year). That is a perfect description of the legal requirements for a claim of Fraud, as well as Negligent Misrepresentation.
The real issue isn't whether or not the NCAA will refuse to apply their standards and make an exception for Mike Williams, it is whether the NCAA will make an exception for Mike Williams to benefit the NFL. If this were just about Mike, there would be no chance of his eligibility being restored under the now-existing NCAA standards assuming they were applied fairly.
Third, many legal scholars were of the opinion that the NFL's chance of winning on appeal were very slim based on earlier decisions made with respect to early entry into MLB and the NBA which had upheld the right of players to enter the draft as a professional at any time. So perhaps your own understanding of the legal precedent in this area is deficient also. That alone should have prevented you from calling someone else stupid.
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schmed said:
posted on July 8, 2004 10:33 AM — 208.248.231.58 — link — abuse?It's a cryin' shame, but he rolled the dice and got _nake-eyes. If the fickle courts had ruled against the NFL, he'd be Bigdaddy Morebucks tellin' the NCAAP to kiss his shiny-hiney right this very minute. But Kevin's only half right, he shouldn't hold out much hope for the NCAAP to grant reinstatement at all.
LSU's Marquis Hill did a borderline false start with an agent at the eleventh hour and had real, although small chance to stay, but - oh wait - Marquis was NF-eLigible, and got drafted by The New England Tigers.
I guess it pays to hedge, Mike.