Todd Gurley admits autograph fiasco was a ‘dumb mistake’

Former Georgia Bulldogs running back Todd Gurley called his role in selling autographs was a ‘dumb mistake’.

Todd Gurley had everything going his way during the fall of 2014. His Georgia Bulldogs were rolling over the competition, save for one poor goalline possession at the end of the game at South Carolina when Gurley was not given the chance to score (sound familiar?), and Gurley was the key reason.

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Then, after playing in five games and becoming the Heisman Trophy front-runner, Gurley was reported to the NCAA by the University of Georgia for his role in making money off his autograph.

At that point he was suspended indefinitely, and ended up serving a four game suspension. The Bulldogs were still effective offensively and overall had a nice season, but who knows what may have been if Gurley had remained in the lineup.

He did return in the season’s ninth game, his sixth, and tore his ACL. In six games, Gurley still nearly ran 1,000 yards, falling just 89 yards short on just 123 carries (a 7.4 yard average). He also scored nine rushing touchdowns and caught 12 passes as well.

With his torn ACL, the junior early entrant cannot work out for teams at this weekend’s NFL Combine nor Georgia’s Pro Day in March, but he is attending 24 interviews over the next few days. That does not include the interview he gave for the media on Thursday.

That’s when he was asked about his role in autograph fiasco. His response was upfront, “I made a dumb mistake, and I suffered the consequences.” He continued to say that he learned a valuable lesson and promised to learn from his mistake in the future.

Despite the scandal, subsequent suspension and torn ACL, he is still considered a potential first-round pick, and will likely not drop beyond the second round.

That is because even in a stronger running back class than has been seen in a few years, Gurley stands above the rest, literally and figuratively.

Gurley is a tall running back, 6’1″ to be exact, and bruising coming in around 236 pounds.

Gurley reportedly made $3,000 from the sale of his autograph, which he had to return in order to regain his NCAA eligibility. He will make much more than that as soon as he signs his first NFL contract.

And if his words this week are true, he will not be involved in such controversies in the future. “You definitely want to keep your eyes on a swivel and just watch who you’re around because everybody is not for you…it just makes you think about stuff in the future.”

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