An NCAA panel "has proposed broadening the definition of agents in a move aimed at closing the loophole that allowed Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton to keep playing despite his father's pay-for-play scheme," according to John Zenor of the AP. The NCAA yesterday announced that the Division I Amateurism Cabinet is "sponsoring legislation that would include family members and other third parties who shop an athlete's services to schools for financial gain." The Division I Leadership Council "will review the new proposal at its meeting on Aug. 2." If passed, the legislation "would cover people marketing athletes to colleges, not just professional teams, for profit." The panel's proposal "would define as agents anyone who represents or attempts to represent a current athlete or prospect in marketing them for financial gain, or seeks money or other benefit for steering a prospect to a school or from the athlete's potential earnings during a professional career." The new definition "would include certified contract advisors, financial advisors, marketing representatives, brand managers or anyone employed by or associated with such individuals." Amateurism Cabinet Chair Mike Rodgers said that the NCAA's current agent regulations "aren't inclusive enough and the new rules would stop 'an industry of individuals' out for profit from working around the rules" (AP, 7/26).
