The Louisville Cardinals football team, ranked No.10 in the Coaches preseason poll, will not be signing autographs during ‘Fan Day’ this week. The team sites a ‘national problem’ stemming from autographed items being sold.
This decision stems from the current investigation surrounding 2012 Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M. Manziel, who is only entering his sophomore season with the Aggies, potentially signed a variety of items for an autograph broker and was paid $7,500 for doing so. This has not been proven yet though, and can only be considered allegations thus far.
Louisville has a star player in their own right and a potential Heisman Trophy winning quarterback this season in Teddy Bridgewater. After defeating Florida in the Sugar Bowl last season Bridgewater became a household name among college football fans. He is widely perceived as the top quarterback prospect for the 2014 NFL Draft class as well.
There were items surfacing on the Internet last week sold for money that Bridgewater had signed, though he was cleared by the NCAA after a brief look into the situation.
Louisville is choosing to take no chances this week, and will not autographs items for fans, which is likely to lead to some disappointment among the base in Louisville, because of the hype surrounding the team as a top-10 squad heading into the year.
Cardinals will open up their schedule on Sunday, September 1st against Ohio.