Per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the NCAA has officially ruled on Georgia wide receiver A.J. Green:
University of Georgia wide receiver A. J. Green must miss four games before being eligible to play again, the NCAA ruled late this afternoon.
Green was found to have violated the NCAA agent benefits rules by selling his Independence Bowl game jersey to an individual who meets the NCAA definition of an agent.
Green has repaid the $1,000 he received for the jersey to charity.
So, you guys still think the Dareus' punishment was too severe? Keep in mind that the monetary amount in question in the Dareus case was almost double the amount in question in the Green case. As Pete and myself mentioned several times, it could have been much, much worse, and I think this ruling is very telling of that. We ought to be counting our proverbial blessings that he will only miss the Penn State game. This could have easily gone further and I imagine it could have just as easily had him out until the Florida game, or perhaps further.
Regardless of that, for Green, I personally think the kid got hosed. UGA probably has ten of these damn things for sale right now, and it's easy to imagine far more egregious violations. One has to wonder if the NCAA felt that he wasn't being particularly honest with them. Moving forward, though, for UGA this is a big loss, because now their best player misses both the South Carolina and Arkansas games, as well as the Mississippi State game in three weeks.
And, with this as context, I think that pretty much confirms that National Football Post report from a couple of months ago regarding Marvin Austin. We won't be seeing that guy until the 2011 NFL Scouting Combine, and I imagine that could be the case for some others as well.
Note: hat tip to DocFumbles for the fanpost.