‘Todd Gurley Bill’ Signed Into Law, Violations Punishable by Jail Time
By Matthew Hall
The “Todd Gurley Bill” was signed into law by Georgia Governor Nathan Deal, making it a crime for an individual to entice student athletes to break NCAA statutes for monetary payments.
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It is a sore subject among the fans of those who bleed red and black, and one that the UGA faithful would in no doubt like to forget. In 2014, Bryan Allen, a former peddler in sports memorabilia and University of Florida fan, deliberately lured former Georgia Bulldogs running back Todd Gurley into signing autographs in exchange for money.The UGA powerhouse back in accepting the payments for his “John Hancock” broke NCAA rules as a student-athlete.
This led to a suspension for his involvement in taking some $400 for his autograph on jerseys and other items while giving the Dawgs football season a black eye in the process. Such is especially true given that when Gurley did return he suffered a season-ending torn ACL only adding injury to insult to a Dawgs campaign that was supposed to be more prolific.
Well, from now on it will be much more difficult for those like Bryan Allen to get away with beguiling student athletes to accept money for a signature. Georgia Governor Nathan Deal signed into law House Bill 3, which is numbered to reflect the jersey number that he wore while at UGA. The law makes it illegal for an individual or individuals to cajole student athletes to break NCAA rules for money. Those who would choose to violate the new law could face punishments by up to a year in prison.
The legislation is the mastermind of state Representative Barry Fleming, R-Harlem, who is a devoted Dawgs fan and who holds undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Georgia. The whole situation angered him and he was even more infuriated that Allen had tried to sell the Todd Gurley autograph story to the highest bidder among various media outlets. This led Fleming to coming up with the legislation in attempt to curb any future incidents of student-athletes being ensnared in a similar scenario.
The law is geared to be enforced with those who break it possibly facing two different forms of penalties, one criminal, and one civil. From a criminal standpoint, violating the law would be a misdemeanor carrying the possible punishment of up to one year in prison and a $5,000 fine. From a civil standpoint, a university can engage in litigation against the person violating the law for any damages that may incur such as the loss of a television contract or even a bowl game.
Georgia Gov. signs “Todd Gurley Law" into effect, making it illegal to entice students to break NCAA rules for money. http://t.co/iyjl68XYRB
— Bleacher Report CFB (@BR_CFB) May 8, 2015
The new law comes into fruition as the Uniform Law Commission is working to update the Uniform Athlete Agent Act over the next few months to strengthen its scope and punishments in prohibiting agents from engaging in offering gifts to student-athletes and in doing so violating NCAA rules.
It should be noted that in Georgia the new law is not retroactive. Many UGA fans probably wished that it was though so that there could be some form of retribution against Bryan Allen for his now illegal activities that left TG3 suspended for four games this past college football season. In any case, the next “Bryan Allen” might want to think twice now before ensnaring a student-athlete to violate NCAA rules to make a profit.