Some of you might recall that Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant was suspended by the NCAA for the final 10 games of Oklahoma State's '09 season for lying about his relationship with Deion Sanders. I said at the time that the punishment was too harsh, and that seems especially true in light of the NCAA's rulings on Auburn quarterback Cam Newton and yesterday's suspensions of five prominent players for Ohio State.
Apparently the NCAA's unique approach to the Ohio State suspensions prompted Bryant to fire off a couple of tweets:
"I guess I should have got into a lot of trouble in college ... maybe I would have gotten less punishment? lol," Bryant (Dez_88) tweeted per Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com.
"I lied and then came back and told the truth....I didn't take no money, was not communicating with no agents at all.. NCAA is crazy," Bryant said in a separate tweet.
I'm sure the NCAA would like to suspend Bryant a few more games based on those tweets, but he's out of its jurisdiction now. And Bryant's on the mark with his criticism. The Ohio State players sold awards, gifts and university apparel and received improper benefits in '09. The university maintains that the players didn't know they were violating any rules, so they'll be allowed to participate in the Sugar Bowl before the suspensions go into effect at the start of next season.
Perhaps Oklahoma State should've argued last season that its compliance department never informed Bryant that it was against the rules to lie to NCAA investigators about his relationship with Sanders. The NCAA has now managed to embarrass itself again, and I don't blame Bryant for taking a few jabs.
