NCAA: Document release led to threats against committee members
The NCAA says that some members of their Committee on Infractions received “violent threats” after the release of almost 500 pages of documents in former USC running backs coach Todd McNair’s defamation lawsuit against the organization, reports the Los Angeles Times.
According to the report, the threats to committee members, which were not detailed in the filing, were mentioned in a footnote in a seven-page opposition filed last week to McNair’s motion to dismiss the NCAA’s appeal.
The NCAA released almost 500 pages of documents last month after losing a court battle to keep them sealed.
“As a result of filing these documents, some Committee on Infractions members received violent threats directed at them, including in their homes,” the NCAA motion said.
In the documents, several committee members made fun of how the school handled the case involving former running back Reggie Bush.
The NCAA investigated Bush and the USC football program, eventually determining that Bush received extra benefits.
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USC's football program received a postseason ban, lost 30 scholarships and was forced to vacate 14 victories in which Bush played from December 2004 through Bush’s 2005 Heisman Trophy winning season after NCAA investigators concluded that Bush and his family received cash and gifts from sports marketers in 2004 and 2005.
McNair sued the NCAA in June 2011, saying the NCAA investigation was one-sided and seeks unspecified damages for libel, slander and breach of contract. McNair’s contract was not renewed by the school after the NCAA gave him a one-year show-cause penalty.
The NCAA did not file additional documents in the case that it wanted sealed and McNair’s lawyers want the NCAA’s appeal to be thrown out.
“The NCAA should not be required to disclose confidential information beyond what is necessary for this court’s effective review,” the motion said. “McNair’s motion is an attempt to circumvent the appellate process and avoid scrutiny of his claims against the NCAA.”
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