Urban Meyer calls out NFL over Jim Harbaugh punishment
The NCAA has essentially blacklisted Jim Harbaugh after the sign-stealing scandal in Michigan, but the NFL hasn’t followed suit. Urban Meyer takes issue.
The NCAA’s final ruling in Michigan’s sign-stealing scandal hit former Michigan coach and current Los Angeles Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh with a 10-year “show cause” penalty, effectively blacklisting him from the college game. Now, Urban Meyer (former Ohio State and Jacksonville Jaguars coach) is questioning whether the NFL should follow suit.
Urban Meyer drops bold take on Harbaugh’s NCAA fallout
Speaking on “The Triple Option” podcast, Meyer recalled how the league previously honored NCAA punishments - most notably when Jim Tressel and Terrelle Pryor carried college sanctions into their NFL roles. While the NFL has not commented on Harbaugh’s case, Meyer argues that the league should either enforce the precedent or clearly explain why it won’t.
“There’s an elephant in the room here that no one’s talking about,” Meyer said. “When Jim Tressel was fired by Ohio State and he was given a suspension, Roger Goodell, Commissioner of the National Football League, came out and said that we’re going to honor that suspension. [Tressel] went to the Indianapolis Colts to work in the replay room.”
“The Colts, because of the respect they had for the NCAA and the suspension, suspended Jim Tressel, so he was unable to perform his duties for the first six games of the year.”
The silence from the league only fuels questions about whether Goodell and the NFL will step in or let Harbaugh’s NCAA penalties stay in the past.
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