I’m going to call this the Manziel affect…
The University of Louisville has decided to ban players from signing autographs at their fan day this Sunday. The football program cited a “national problem” with student autographs being sold as the reason.
Coach Charlie Strong issued an apology to fans for the change.
“I would like to personally apologize to our outstanding fans, however, because of the national problem of autographed items appearing for sale on eBay and other websites, we have made a proactive decision to hold an open practice for the fans and forgo an autograph session.”
“We have monitored the situation closely, and we decided to protect the eligibility of our players and operate under the principle that it is not permissible to accept any type of compensation for their autograph or the sale of memorabilia. I know this will disappoint a lot of our fans, especially the young children who look up to our players, but I strongly feel this is the best decision for our football program.”
This Johnny football situation has the college football world shook, although I’m not really sure why because this has been going on forever. Either way, although not a good public relations move, I expect other schools will follow suit in the name of C.Y.A.