Ex-agent claims he paid dozens of college football players

In an outstanding piece that will appear in the Oct. 18 issue of Sports Illustrated but has been placed online at SI.com today, ex-contract agent Josh Luchs exposes both himself and his former profession for what most have thought "those people" to be: "pimps" willing to pay thousands and thousands of dollars in cash and prizes to college football players on the off-chance they will sign with them once their collegiate careers come to an end.

Or, in the case of Ryan Leaf, sign an undated contract before the collegiate career has ended. In a hotel bathroom. Allegedly.

Luchs claims to have paid dozens of college football players while they were still in school, some of them with a lump sum, others with a monthly stipend of $500 or more, in an attempt to gain their signature on a post-eligibility representation contract. The list of schools whose players were allegedly on the receiving end of Luchs' or another agent's financial generosity is rather extensive: Ohio State, Washington State, UCLA, Tennessee, Illinois, Michigan State, Colorado, USC and Arizona among others.

The statute of limitations as far as the NCAA is concerned is four years, and all of the players allegedly paid by Luchs have been out of college for far longer than four years, so none of the schools listed appear to be in any danger of repercussions by the NCAA.