It is no secret that some sports agents will do whatever they can to establish a good, working relationship with college football players. That has led to a rash of violations of NCAA rules over the years, and those infractions have become increasingly more exposed with the 24-hour news cycle we constantly live in. College athletics administrators are always on the job to find ways to prevent this problem from growing and polluting the college game, and now they have the support of the some sports agents looking to keep the business clean.
According to the Associated Press, officials at 65 schools have co-signed a memo addressed to a committee that will meet later this month to discuss the Uniform Athlete Agents Act. The group is seeking to have the act broadened to include agents, runners, financial advisers, marketers or anyone who may exchange gifts or benefits that would normally result in a player being ineligible under NCAA rules. In addition, the group is hoping to see fines increased, tougher registration processes and more.
“As we’ve seen over the years, there are a decent number of people out there that don’t play by the rules,” said Paul Pogge, an associate athletic director at North Carolina. “The more entities and individuals we can have working together to protect the student-athletes, the institutions and the professional representatives who do play by the rules, I think that benefits all of us.”
So, who signed the memo? You can see the full list here, but it does include names like Notre Dame’s Jack Swarbrick, Florida’s Jeremy Foley and Arkansas’ Jeff Long.