Texas Players Alleged to Be Selling Tickets to Boosters

University of Texas football players are selling their complimentary tickets to boosters at prices up to $600 a ticket in violation of NCAA rules, the Dallas Morning News reported in its Sunday editions.

In a copyright story, the News reported that former players said Coach Fred Akers not only is aware of the widespread practice but also routinely cautions players to be careful not to get the school in trouble with the NCAA.

“Akers knew all about the tickets,” said Jeff Leiding, an All-America linebacker who played at Texas from 1980 to 1983. “No coach in America would tell their players not to sell their tickets.”

The News, during a two-month investigation, interviewed 28 former Longhorn football players whose Texas careers spanned from 1978 to 1986. Twenty-seven said ticket-selling is a Texas football tradition, one that continues despite the knowledge of those involved that it is a violation of NCAA rules.

Akers, who became the head coach at Texas after the 1976 season, denied knowing about the sales and said he was “a little surprised and disappointed” to learn his players had sold complimentary tickets.

“I’m not aware of this,” Akers said Friday in his Austin office. “But you don’t have to make any mistake about it--I can tell you where it’s going to be going from here on. It will be turned in (to the NCAA).”