The NCAA is creating this situation,” Hartline said after the Dolphins’ practice on Wednesday. “It’s not just one school here or there. It’s happening all the time. And you have players who are more famous than the average NFL player making nowhere near the amount of money. But money and things are being thrown at him.”
“Kids are trying to get what they can, have they have too many outside influences. And I think the rules overall, and how they deal with these kind of situations, needs to be relooked at and checked out again. If not, this stuff will continue to happen.”
Hartline said it’s not fair that players such as Terrelle Pryor and coaches such as Tressel, who left Ohio State after he knowingly withheld information about his players receiving free gifts from a booster, take the fall but the boosters don’t face repercussions.
“If you’re going to have such life-altering punishments for these young men, you have to have some kind of punishment for the people on the outside,” he said. “Whether it’s local enforcement, law enforcement, I don’t know what it is. There’s got to be something they can do to stop the outside population from exploiting young athletes.”
“There’s a better outcome than just blaming 18 to 22-year-olds and getting rid of head coaches because they can’t control 105 guys that are celebrities in a town like Miami or Ohio State.”
