And the hits just keep on a coming for the beleaguered Ohio State football program.
One day after the resignation of their wildly successful head coach, and as an investigation into the vehicles driven by Terrelle Pryor continues, a report has surfaced that the star quarterback has yet another vehicle-related issue with which to deal.
According to NBC4 in Columbus, Pryor has been driving on a suspended license for the past two weeks. BMV documents obtained by the television station show that Pryor’s license is under suspension until August for failing to provide proof of insurance. The BMV also told the station that there is no indication that he has any type of driving privileges.
Last night, Pryor was seen by multiple media outlets driving to and from the Woody Hayes Athletic Center in a 2007 Nissan 350z with temporary tags. Pryor had also recently been spotted driving a 2009 Dodge Challenger with dealer tags on it.
All told, Pryor’s reportedly driven at least eight different automobiles during his three years in Columbus. That “unusually high” number of vehicles being driven around the campus triggered what the Columbus Dispatch described yesterday as a “significant inquiry” by both the school and the NCAA.
In a related development, the car salesman at the center of what’s become a widening probe into the purchases of at least 50 vehicles by football players and family members released a sworn affidavit this afternoon, proclaiming that nothing untoward transpired during his dealings with members of the football program.
“The deals that I did for Ohio State student-athletes were no different than any of the other 10,000-plus deals that I’ve done for all my other customers,” Aaron Kniffin, a former employee of two Columbus-area dealerships, said in the statement.
“OSU student-athletes weren’t given any enticements to buy the car at my dealership,” Kniffin said. “At no time did memorabilia come into play when it came time to negotiate a deal or buy a car. I was never given any memorabilia from a student-athlete in exchange for a car deal.”
Kniffin’s denials notwithstanding, it’s becoming clearer by the day that Pryor, already suspended for the first five games of the 2011 season for receiving impermissible benefits, may very well have played his last down for the Buckeyes. In fact, OSU legend and ESPN analyst Chris Spielman went so far as to state on ESPN’s College Football Live show this afternoon that he thinks Pryor has played his final game as a Buckeye.
Regardless, we’re guessing that at this point in time there are myriad members of Buckeye Nation ruing the fact their school “won” the Pryor recruiting lottery back in the spring of 2008. And wishing that the post-Pryor era would commence post-haste.