Players don't get paid, so what happened at Ohio State will happen again and again

They weren't exactly the crimes of the century.

Terrelle Pryor and four of his Ohio State teammates were suspended Thursday by the NCAA for the first five games of next season for selling championship rings, jerseys and awards. They also received improper benefits from a tattoo parlor's owner.

"As a student-athlete, you're not allowed to use your persona to get discounted services," said OSU Athletic Director Gene Smith.

Riiiiiight. That never happens.

My guess is the NCAA catches about 0.1 percent of all such violations. A lot of players are like a lot of their fellow college classmates in that they don't have much money. But their classmates can get part-time jobs waiting tables or stocking shelves. A football player can't.

When you don't have money, your perspective on rules and life can change. Especially when you look around and see a lot of other people cashing in off your labor.

Oh, you might say, the players are getting free college educations, a valuable thing financially and otherwise. True, if that's how they view it. But a lot of football players major in football. Many prominent players on your favorite college team -- and I don't care which team -- are majoring in football. And who truly is troubled by that? Not enough people to change it, that's for sure.

Rules are rules, and if players break the rules they signed on to adhere, they should face the consequences. But when a coach gets a considerable cash bonus from his school when his team gets a bowl bid and the players just get a gift bag from the bowls, do you really fault players for wondering "Why can't I get mine right now?"

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to settle in and watch tonight's Poinsettia Bowl, San Diego State vs. Navy.  San Diego State Coach Brady Hoke just got a contract extension that could be worth more than $1 million per year when the deal is finalized. Hoke got a $50,000 bonus because the Aztecs made it to a bowl game.

That's a nice thing for him.