SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has warned the league’s football coaches and athletics directors that directing players to feign injury in order to stop the clock could result in penalties including fines and suspensions, according to multiple reports.
In a memo obtained by Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger, Sankey laid out the following penalty structure if it is determined that it is “more likely than not” a fake injury has occurred: first offense — $50,000 fine; second offense — $100,000 fine; third offense — public reprimand and one-game suspension for head coach. Assistant coaches or other staff members found to be involved will receive the same penalty, while players who fake an injury will be subject to a public reprimand.
“As plainly as it can be stated: Stop any and all activity related to faking injuries to create timeouts,” Sankey wrote. “… When a game stoppage is needed, use a time-out in accordance with NCAA Football Rule 3-3-4. This is not a complicated or confusing principle.”
Determining whether or not an injury was fake will be left up to the determination of National Coordinator for Football Officiating Steve Shaw after post-game video review, Sankey wrote. In order to challenge such a ruling, teams would have to submit “clear medical information” that the injury was legitimate.
Faking injuries became common practice with the introduction of hurry-up, no-huddle offenses in the early 2010s, but has reached epidemic proportions of late. Among the bigger culprits has been Ole Miss, which is so often accused of faking injuries that the school’s athletic department released a statement on Oct. 11 that it had addressed the issue with both Shaw and the league office.
Here’s one example from a Sept. 28 game between Ole Miss and Kentucky, where Rebels running back Matt Jones looked to the sideline between plays and then suddenly was stricken by an unknown injury:
Alabama was also accused of faking an injury during its loss to Tennessee, when defensive back King Mack first ran off the field and then immediately ran back on and fell down, resulting in an injury timeout. The following Monday, Crimson Tide defensive coordinator Kane Wommack would neither confirm nor deny whether or not the injury was real.
“We tell guys, if you’re injured, if you’re hurt, if you’re pulling up with a cramp, you have to go down in that situation,” Wommack said. “We’re not able to substitute someone when a team is going fast, so if you’re injured, the protocol there is for the guy to go down. Our training room does a tremendous job. They got a guy back after however long it was.”
