This isn’t going be very popular.

Four games is an appropriate suspension for Todd Gurley, and it could have been much worse.

The NCAA announced on Wednesday that Todd Gurley will remain ineligble for an additional two games. He’ll be eligible to return on November 15th when Georgia welcomes Auburn.

(Gurley) must sit a total of four games, or 30 percent of the season, for accepting more than $3,000 in cash from multiple individuals for autographed memorabilia and other items over two years. Gurley, who acknowledged violating NCAA rules, must repay a portion of the money received to a charity of his choice and complete 40 hours of community service as additional conditions for his reinstatement.

You can’t talk about this stuff without caveats, so here goes: yes, I think a college player should be able to make money from his or her name and likeness. I support the so-called olympic model to that end. But the current NCAA rules and their hypocrisy are no shock to anyone, and especially should not come as a surprise to Georgia fans who got a good education in improper benefits with A.J. Green. It’s dumb, and at least the incident has put momentum behind institutional efforts to change the rules even as legal (O’Bannon) challenges chip away at them anyway.

The Basics

The NCAA has a sliding scale of games missed for receiving improper benefits. It goes from 10% of a season for a small amount, 20% for a few hundred dollars, and at least 30% for an amount over $700. That’s why A.J. Green got four games. Most of us have the $400 figure in our heads from earlier reports and rumors, and that was the basis for a 20% (two game) suspension. If the investigation revealed payments of over $3,000, then four games would be the minimum applicable suspension. There are exceptions (see Marcell Dareus), but the NCAA considers “mitigating circumstances.”

Community Service

The requirement of 40 hours of community service stood out. Usually improper benefits must be repaid in full. Requiring Gurley to repay an amount over $3,000 would have been (even in the context of this discussion) ridiculous, so the decision reduced the repayment to a smaller amount to a charity of Gurley’s choice and added the community service requirement. Unless you think Gurley can come up with a couple of thousand dollars in the next two weeks, this seems like a fairly unconventional but reasonable out.

This isn’t a legal judgment – Gurley isn’t forced to complete the community service unless he wants to restore his eligibility. It can’t be said strongly enough – the option for community service is a good thing if you want to see Gurley play for Georgia again. Had the NCAA required repayment/donation of the full $3,000+, I wouldn’t expect Gurley or any student-athlete to have that kind of money on hand, let alone part with it. The burden of the community service is harsh, but it is manageable if Gurley really does desire reinstatement.

What about FSU…

The comparisons to Winston and even Manziel are impossible to avoid. There are two key differences in the Gurley case:

1. There is evidence or an admission that Gurley received money.
2. This is an NCAA issue, not a legal one.

If you’re pissed that Winston can get away with a couple of arrests or criminal investigations, your issue is with the criminal justice system and FSU rather than the NCAA. There is no NCAA rule requiring a student-athlete to be suspended for being arrested (thank goodness) or for being a boorish jerk. Yes, there are tons of other players whose autographs can be purchased. We wink when they claim that they received no money – we can’t prove that they did. Unfortunately in this case that proof existed.

The Appeal

This is the really interesting part to me. UGA says they will appeal the decision. I’m sure that’s probably done as a matter of routine, but the basis for the appeal confuses me. Georgia submitted their findings to the NCAA a week ago. Did the NCAA act on new or contradictory facts? The NCAA indicated that they requested additional information from UGA over the weekend after the University applied for reinstatement. What came out of that additional information? If Georgia’s application for reinstatement included the admission of a $3,000 improper benefit over two seasons, the appeal doesn’t seem to have much ground to stand on. And if Georgia agreed with the amount in question, why in the world would they expect a two-game suspension to suffice?

Open records should be fun reading down the road.

Georgia’s role

Here’s where it could have been much worse. Some fans are upset that Georgia and Gurley are getting hammered for their cooperation (see the Winston/Manziel complaints), but that’s exactly the opposite of what happened. These violations allegedly occurred over several seasons, involved several parties, and involved amounts well above the minimum for a four-game suspension. Georgia won’t have to vacate any games, and they’ll have their best player back for the stretch run because Gurley was honest and the school was cooperative.

Additional withholding was strongly considered because the violations occurred over multiple years with multiple individuals and the student received extensive rules education about the prohibition of receiving payment for autographs. However, the university’s due diligence in its investigation and the student’s full disclosure of his involvement in the violations were factors in not imposing a more severe withholding condition.

…if he returns

At least the uncertainty is over. The suspension is finite and known, and the team can prepare for the next two games. The question now is whether Gurley decides to return. He could avoid the repayment and community service and just walk, and his draft status won’t suffer. The Heisman is off the table now. Gurley would be returning for his teammates and their shared goals. Selfishly, I hope that’s enough to compel him to take the steps that will be required before his eligibility can be restored. Gurley’s one of the few parties that knows all of the facts, so I doubt that the ruling surprises him. That he’s continued to practice and attend class is an optimistic sign.

UPDATE: It’s about as good as you can get without a statement from Gurley. Via Anthony Dasher, Mark Richt said today that he has “no doubt” that Gurley will return to finish the season.

Richt said there's no doubt that Todd Gurley will finish with honor and is excited about finishing the season with his teammates

— Anthony Dasher (@AnthonyDasher1) October 29, 2014