COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Former Ohio State wide receiver Ray Small told the school’s student newspaper that he sold Big Ten championship rings and other memorabilia for cash and got special car deals as an athlete during his playing days.
The Lantern reported that Small, who played for the Buckeyes from 2006-2010, said “everyone was doing it” on the team.
Five Buckeyes players are suspended for the first five games of the 2011 season for selling memorabilia to the owner of a local tattoo parlor. That is considered an improper benefit under NCAA rules. Coach Jim Tressel has been suspended and is under investigation by the NCAA for knowing about his players’ involvement and not telling his superiors for more than nine months.
Small said, “We had four Big Ten rings. There was enough to go around.”
