Ray Small claims he sold his Big Ten championship rings for cold hard cash when he was at OSU. Who is Ray Small?
Ray Small came into THE Ohio State university with a lot of upside and potential as a recruit hailing from the well known Glenville pipeline of recruits. Players such as Troy Smith and Ted Ginn Jr. led Buckeyes fans, and the recruiters at Ohio State, to believe that Small was the next big thing at Ohio State. Soon after, it appeared that Ray-Ray was not going anywhere in the program.
After repeatedly getting into trouble with the team rules, he and his father went on a tirade against Jim Tressel saying that he had purposely ruined Small’s career.
When Ray Small was in his senior season, he was at least a decent asset to their special teams, and occasionally got a play in or two at receiver every game. He had become a contributor. Small spent much of his OSU tenure in Tressel’s doghouse for what he admitted was academic laziness.
He also was suspended for two games for a violation of team rules. After being named a captain for the 2009 Michigan game, and telling Buckeye Nation that this was where he was glad to be and wanted to be, his final home game, Small was suspended for the Rose Bowl and did not make the trip with the team.
Now, Ray Small said he and other players sold memorabilia and got discounts on cars while playing football, many of his former teammates responded with some serious hate talk on Twitter. You can see it in a great post on Eleven Warriors.
From the Dispatch: “Small, who played from 2006 through 2009, told The Lantern, the OSU student-run newspaper, that some players, “don’t even think about NCAA rules.”
He said he sold several Big Ten championship rings and said players received discounts from car dealerships.OSU is facing NCAA sanctions stemming from coach Jim Tressel failing to notify school officials back in April 2010 what he heard about players selling or trading memorabilia in 2009.Six players have been suspended for those infractions, but Small implied that there were more players involved.
“They have a lot (of dirt) on everybody,” he said, “Because everybody was doing it.”Small said players were instructed on the rules by OSU’s compliance department, but many did not listen, particularly when confronted with people willing to give players discounts.”
Now, the fact that Small agreed and downed not only himself, but the program and players as well, just shows he’s having a lot of trouble dealing with the fact that he thought he was good enough to get taken in the 2010 NFL draft, and wanting some 15 minutes of that glorious fame. He spent time on several NFL practice squads last year but is not currently on a roster. Records show he is enrolled at OSU and is listed as a sociology major. Have fun going to that class, Ray-Ray.