If you don’t know what’s been happening with the Ohio State football program over the past year then you’ve been living under a rock.

If you did somehow miss the mess in Buckeye land, here’s a basic refresher.

Late last year, information surfaced that many Ohio State football players were selling and trading memorabilia such as Big Ten Championship rings, Golden Pants charms (given to Buckeye players for victories over Michigan) and autographed jerseys and pictures to a Columbus, Ohio, tattoo parlor owner in exchange for discounts on tattoos.

According to the NCAA, these actions are illegal and fall under the category of receiving improper benefits.

No one is disputing the fact that what the Buckeye players did was illegal. Rules have to be adhered to.

However, are the rules the NCAA has established on this issue contradicting the message it has been trying to send for years?

You’ve seen the “going pro in something other than sports” commercials. The NCAA has invested a lot of money to promote the view that athletes are just another group of people on a diverse college campus.

Athletes go to class, have homework and aren’t above the law, just like every other college student.

The NCAA works to persuade the general public that college athletes are regular students who are involved in an on-campus activity.

Doesn’t the implementation of rules that apply only to athletes say otherwise?

The NCAA doesn’t want athletes to have more special distinctions than they already do from the media and fans, but everyone knows that’s not the case and all these rules confirm it.

If a regular student gets a special discount from a vendor, nothing happens.

Not so for an NCAA athlete. That’s illegal.

Strange right?

Even stranger is what happened with this Ohio State situation. The rings and trophies Ohio State players exchanged for tattoos or sold are theirs. The memorabilia was given to them by the university for their accomplishments on the football field.

Yet the NCAA regulates what players do with those items. That’s like a boss telling his employees how to spend a raise that was given based on hard work.

When something is given to someone, it’s his. Personal possessions should not be subject to restrictions from someone else.

Big Ten Championship rings and Golden Pants trophies are extremely special items, but if the owner of those items doesn’t care about them, why should the NCAA mandate that he value those things?

I agree to an extent with the NCAA in that players should not be allowed to barter these items for goods and services because regular college students don’t have great bargaining chips. But they should be able to sell the items like a student could sell a TV or couch.

Isn’t the point to make sure everyone is on the same level?

I could sign a picture of myself and take it to Raising Cane’s for a free meal, but I highly doubt they would give me anything.

That doesn’t change the fact that athletes should be able to sell their possessions for money if they want.

Athletes aren’t children and the NCAA shouldn’t treat them as such.