NCAA Football Georgia Bulldogs

Indefinite Suspension Could Have Devastating Impact on Todd Gurley’s Future

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By @atylerbrett

todd gurley

Jeff Blake – USA TODAY Sports

This was supposed to be a big year for Todd Gurley. After returning from an injury that cut his 2013 season short, the star running back of the Georgia Bulldogs was set to take the college football world by storm. After the first month of the season, Gurley looked well on his way to delivering a monster 2014 season but an indefinite suspension due to an ongoing NCAA investigation has put all of that on hold.

Despite playing in just 10 games last season, Gurley was one of the most explosive running backs in the nation in 2013, finishing just shy of 1,000-yards rushing. His 989 yards on the ground led the way for Georgia as he averaged a fantastic 5.99 yards per carry average while accounting for 143 yards of total offense per game and scoring 16 total touchdowns. If he hadn’t missed three games in the heart of the schedule, Gurley would have been on the short list for a lot of postseason accolades, possibly even including the Heisman Trophy.

Coming up short seems to only have fueled Gurley’s fire over the offseason and he came into the 2014 campaign playing like a man possessed, averaging 154.6 yards per game rushing through five games and a whopping 8.22 yards per carry (second in the nation only to Melvin Gordon of the Wisconsin Badgers) with eight rushing touchdowns. At this pace, Gurley was set to blow past his total rushing yards from 2013 in just over six games. And on top of his amazing start running the football, he has chipped in on special teams, returning a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown in the season opening win over the Clemson Tigers, and at quarterback, tossing a 50-yard touchdown pass against the Vanderbilt Commodores.

All of that had resulted in Gurley seemingly pulling away from the pack as college football’s top running back this season and Heisman Trophy frontrunner. Georgia’s hopes of an SEC title rested squarely on the broad shoulders of Gurley, especially when you consider the injuries suffered to the running back position (both Keith Marshall and Sony Michel remain sidelined) and the often inconsistent play of Hutson Mason and the passing attack. Up to now, Gurley had taken on that mantle of leadership, the accolades, and the spotlight without missing a step.

But now things are getting complicated for Gurley and for all kinds of non-football related reasons. According to multiple sources, the NCAA investigation that led to Gurley’s suspension stems from allegations that the running back received benefits for his likeness, up to and including monetary compensation, from memorabilia brokers. It’s the same kind of investigation that cost former Georgia wide receiver A.J. Green four games back in 2010 (for selling his 2009 Independence Bowl jersey for $1,000) or the ones that got Johnny Manziel benched for one half of football by the Texas A&M Aggies last season.

The difference in those punishments was the amount of evidence that the NCAA felt they had once they had conducted their investigations. For Green, they not only had an admission from the receiver himself, but also evidence of contact with an agent. In the Manziel case, they found “no evidence” that the former Heisman winner profited from the signings and had committed only an “inadvertent violation” by signing autographs for dealers. For Gurley, the length of his punishment will likely hinge on whether or not the NCAA finds anything incriminating in their investigation and what kind of cooperation they receive from anyone else who was involved.

While all of that gets sorted out off the field, Gurley has to sit and watch as his on-field accomplishments get diminished. His chances at securing the Heisman are all but gone now that he’s crossed over into possible “impermissible benefits,” which makes many Heisman voters unwilling to vote for you. Without him in the lineup, the chances that he gets to play in the SEC Championship this season take a major hit as Georgia is not the same team without Gurley in the lineup. True freshman Nick Chubb will do his best to step in this week in a huge SEC East showdown against the Missouri Tigers but the young back doesn’t have that same game-breaking ability as Gurley just yet.

Beyond this season, Gurley now has to deal with the potential of hurting his NFL Draft stock because of his off-field transgressions. Few things can sink a player faster than “behavioral red flags” when it comes to the NFL scouting process, especially when the teams are so conscious of players’ off-field issues in today’s climate. While this kind of issue did not hinder Green’s draft status (No. 4 overall), he had the opportunity to come back from his suspension and show that he had put that behind him, ultimately leading the team with 57 receptions for 848 yards and nine touchdowns in just nine games played that season.

Depending on how long the NCAA investigation lasts and what kind of punishment is handed down from it, Gurley could possibly have played his last down of college football. That will make the lasting legacy of Gurley, a man who NFL Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton said could be the next Jim Brown earlier this season, one of NCAA scandal. While other players who ran into trouble with the NCAA have gone on to have excellent careers, the specter of NCAA violations can follow you for years and bring a whole mess of trouble on your alma mater. Just ask Reggie Bush how his mural at USC is doing.

Whether or not the rules of the NCAA are archaic and out of touch (they are), the fact remains that they are the rules that college football players must abide by. If Gurley did in fact go outside the rules to profit off his likeness then he has sabotaged what could have been a historically great year for him. Even if the NCAA finds no evidence of wrong-doing, the damage has already been done while he serves this indefinite suspension. Without Gurley on the field, his chances at the Heisman fizzle out and the road to the SEC Championship gets a lot tougher for his Georgia teammates.

And all the while, the fans of college football will be left to wonder what could have been in 2014 if Gurley had stayed on the field for the entire season. Instead, the best back in college football will go from a lock to be a Heisman finalist to a spectator until all of this gets sorted out.

You can follow me on Twitter @ATylerBrett, on Facebook and on Google.

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