A.J. Green was suspended four games for selling one of his jerseys to someone who would qualify as an agent. Not an agent exactly. Just someone who could act as an agent. While Green is suspended the University of Georgia can sell his No. 8 jersey, the proceeds of which Green will never see a dime of. Yes, Green is getting a free education and money for room and board, in addition to three free meals a day as a football player. But aside from that, he has no income. While most students could work part-time in the bookstore or at a bar, Green does not have a chance at outside income.
Tim Tebow launched his website this week. His brother Robby and another friend launched XV Enterprises, which is a marketing company created exclusively for Tim Tebow. Robby Tebow said,
"We interviewed the top 15 marketing agencies in the world and went through their dog and pony show," said Robby, Tebow's older brother. "They were big and smooth and wore three-piece suits and some of them are very good at what they do. But one thing we realized is that they were talking about the things for Timmy that we were already thinking about. And when it came to negotiating we could do the job as good as they could and we weren't necessarily worrying about that 20 percent cut."
It is clear that Tebow's family planned out Tebow's post-college career, while Green has no one to do that for him. Now that we realize the same ugly shirt Tebow wore after the Ole Miss game is the same logo used for his brother's company, we get that the Tebow Inc. stuff lately (the autograph signings, the documentary) was set in motion a long time ago. If Tebow didn't make money off of it while he was in school, or his family didn't make money off of it, it should be ok by NCAA standards.
But it is enough to make some question what was going on while Tebow was in school. I personally think that Tebow wearing XV shirts and that becoming the name of his brother's company would be legit because of how diligent the Tebow family has been in using Tim's fame. The family consulted with Florida's compliance department and the NCAA before sending Tim to fundraising speeches for Bob Tebow Evangelistic Association. The fear was that UF boosters or agents could donate to Bob Tebow to get in good graces with Tim Tebow. There was also a concern that Tim would get a cut of donations as payment. But UF and the NCAA cleared it. If the Tebow family thought enough of consulting with lawyers before that happened, I would think they did that before Tim started wearing the logo of his brother's future marketing company.
Of course, Tim Tebow had the advantage of a family that charted his course while he just worried about playing football. A.J. Green does not have that advantage. While Tebow made money as soon as he lost collegiate eligibility, Green might be in a position where he could not wait for that. For a game worn jersey of one of UGA's best players in the last 20 years, $500 might be a decent price, and something most college athletes would jump on. For that he gets a four game suspension. Tebow wearing the logo of his brother's marketing company gets them good business.