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Sugar Bowl CEO Paul Hoolahan lobbied Ohio State University to make sure five of its football players — including star quarterback Terrelle Pryor — would not be suspended for the game against Arkansas, The Columbus Dispatch reported Wednesday.
Ohio State announced last week that Pryor, leading rusher Dan Herron, starting wide receiver DeVier Posey, starting offensive tackle Mike Adams and defensive end Solomon Thomas would be suspended for the first five games of next season for violating NCAA rules.
Pryor and his teammates sold memorabilia, including Big Ten championship rings, in exchange for tattoos at a Columbus parlor and cash.
But the players were reinstated by the NCAA for the Jan. 4 Sugar Bowl after a successful lobbying effort by OSU athletic director Gene Smith and Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany.
Hoolahan said he appealed to Smith to do everything he could to ensure the Buckeyes players could be in uniform in New Orleans.
"I made the point that anything that could be done to preserve the integrity of this year's game, we would greatly appreciate it," Hoolahan said. "That appeal did not fall on deaf ears, and I'm extremely excited about it, that the Buckeyes are coming in at full strength and with no dilution."
Many Ohio State fans believe the suspensions should start immediately.
"I appreciate and fully understand the Midwestern values and ethics behind that," Hoolahan said. "But I'm probably thinking of this from a selfish perspective."
The five players apologized for their actions Tuesday at a news conference. A sixth player, linebacker Brandon Whiting, received a one-game suspension.
