Colts’ Meyer Denies Breaking NCAA Rules

Indianapolis Colt Coach Ron Meyer said Thursday that loans to college football players by a sports agency with which he was involved did not violate any rules.

The Dallas Morning News reported that the agency headed by Meyer and two other men made loans of more than $100,000 to eight players who were still in college.

The eight former collegians, under NCAA rules, would have been ineligible to compete because they had signed deals with the agency.

The transactions came to light in lawsuits filed against players by Meyer, Steve Endicott and Sherwood Blount Jr., operating as Athletic Associates Inc. of Dallas.

Meyer also said: “I dissolved my association with that agency when I accepted the Colts’ job. So I’ve been completely out of that for some 5 1/2 years now.”

Fourteen athletes were sued by the agency for failing to honor promissory notes and repay cash advances. According to court documents, eight were paid while in college and six received money after completing their college eligibility.