Hicks Apologizes for Role in Parking Scam

Skip Hicks, in training camp with the Washington Redskins, apologized Friday for his participation in the scandal involving the use of handicapped parking permits by UCLA football players. Hicks denied allegations that he was a key figure who falsified parking applications and taught others how to do so.

“I wasn’t the ringleader,” said Hicks, who played for the Bruins between 1993 and ’97. “As far as having a placard, I was young. You do things you regret when you’re young. I never parked in a handicap spot. I shouldn’t have had it. I used it to get into lots.”

UCLA linebacker Ali Abdul Azziz reportedly told police that he had learned to falsify parking applications from Hicks.

“I got mine through a friend,” Hicks said. “It’s no excuse. It’s one of those things I have to live with. All I can do is say I’m sorry.”

Police reportedly are investigating only those players with current placards.

“Hopefully [the investigation] won’t interfere” with training-camp preparations, Hicks said. “If I have to leave, I’ll have to go deal with the consequences and then come back and do the best I can on the football field.”