While the jury remains out as to whether Johnny Manziel will — or even should — face NCAA sanctions, a pair of high-profile players have been cleared by their respective institutions.
Both South Carolina and Ohio State acknowledged Wednesday that they have looked into the sale of memorabilia signed by Gamecocks defensive end Jadeveon Clowney and Buckeyes quarterback Braxton Miller, respectively, and found no wrongdoing. The mini-probes came in the wake of the Heisman-winning Texas A&M quarterback being linked to a handful of autograph brokers, some of whom alleged that Manziel received payment in exchange for his signature.
At least as far as USC is concerned, that’s not an issue on Clowney’s end.
“We have investigated things that have been on eBay with him and student-athletes before,” associate athletics director Chris Rogers told GoGamecocks.com. “In the situations I can say we looked into, there was no further for us to go, and we determined there was no violation.”
As far as Miller is concerned, OSU athletic director Gene Smith said there was “no issue… none whatsoever” regarding items signed by the star player. Those items, Smith said, were by and large signed by Miller at the Big Ten’s kickoff luncheon last month and the quarterback was not paid for the appearance.
OSU officials began looking into autograph-related “issues” involving Miller Sunday night, shortly after the Manziel story broke nationwide.
