Terrelle Pryor wants to give away tickets to the Sugar Bowl, but the Ohio State compliance department had to make sure Pryor did it the right way.
View full sizeTerrelle Pryor's idea was admirable, but Ohio State officials decided that the school needed to step in to help the OSU QB give away his Sugar Bowl tickets.COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Terrelle Pryor was looking to reward some Ohio State fans by giving away his tickets to the Sugar Bowl. The Buckeyes quarterback can give the tickets away, he just can't do it on Twitter.
Players are given six tickets for BCS bowl games, and the OSU junior tweeted on Sunday that he was going to award two tickets to fans and apparently planned to give the other four to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
"Just trying to show love to Buckeye fans. Wish I had more to give," Pryor wrote.
Pryor then wrote that he and teammate Donnie Evege planned to post a video asking a question and they would use that to pick a winner. But on Monday, Pryor was back on Twitter to say that he'd talked with Ohio State's compliance department and the ticket contest was off -- but he would still find a way to get the tickets distributed.
Doug Archie, Ohio State's associate athletics director for compliance, said Tuesday that the fan contest was a no-go because the winner could have been an Ohio State booster or potential recruit. Giving tickets to them would have been an NCAA violation, and Archie said it would have been difficult to filter out the potential winners who could fall into those categories.
"We have safeguards in place to make sure he doesn't get stung by anything in trying to do something positive," Archie said.
Instead, Archie said Pryor was encouraged to make his ticket donation to a charity, and the football program would work to help ensure that the tickets went to someone who would be able to make it to the game.
"Instead of on an individual level, we can do it as a team outreach," Archie said, "and make sure nothing is done to jeopardize his eligibility."
Tickets on sale: As a reminder, Ohio State opens its public sale of Sugar Bowl tickets Wednesday on the OSU athletic department Web site at 9 a.m. Tickets are $120 each, plus a service charge. Go to Ohiostatebuckeyes.com, find the "Shop" tab, click on "Tickets" and then click on the Sugar Bowl icon. The Buckeyes face Arkansas on Jan. 4 in New Orleans.
Brewster award finalist: Ohio State center Mike Brewster was announced Tuesday as one of six finalists for the Rimington Trophy, given to the nation's best center. Brewster, a junior, is the only Buckeye who is a finalist for a national award.
The winner will be whichever center is honored most by four major All-American teams, and will be announced on the ESPN College Football Awards Show on Thursday, and honored at a banquet in Nebraska on Jan. 15.
LeCharles Bentley was the last Buckeye to win the Rimington, in 2001.