Minnesata Golden Gophers Football Program...

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March 27, 1991 - The NCAA banned the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers football program from postseason play in 1992. In an article he did for the Chicago Tribune, Ed Sherman tells the tale of the incident quite well.

A former University of Minnesota administrator, Luther Darville, started the practice way back in 1982 of handing out cash to football players. Others in the Minnesota program caught him red-handed in 1988 and stopped the practice with consequences. Therefore, the NCAA felt obligated to do its investigation. In its aftermath, it laid the hammer down on the program in 1991, not allowing the team to participate in a bowl game for the 1991 postseason.

Mr. Sherman brings up some great points about people who committed crimes, both in Darville's handing out the funds and the 1982-era players who accepted them, did not suffer much from the NCAA penalty. But the legacy players and coaches in the Golden Gophers program, almost a decade later, served the penance for what their predecessors did so long ago. D. Alan Williams, chairman of the NCAA's infraction committee in 1991, had a different opinion, according to the article. First, he said, the NCAA isn't penalizing individuals. "The penalties are to the institution. It's always unfortunate, but the committee has what it requires to do before it."

The matter comes down to the fact that there has to be a better punishment for violating institutions; perhaps a more efficient and timely investigation, rather than one three years in length, would be a good place to start.