NCAA Reaffirms McGwire Eligibility

SAN DIEGO —  The NCAA confirmed Sunday that, as reported in Saturday’s Times, it has not ruled former San Diego State quarterback Dan McGwire ineligible for the East-West Shrine Game on Jan. 27 at Stanford University.

United Press International re-wrote an erroneous story from the San Diego Union over the weekend that said McGwire had been declared ineligible because of a Dec. 21 press conference during which he announced he had retained attorney Leigh Steinberg to represent him in his NFL career. The story claimed East-West game officials, having decided to play McGwire, risked NCAA de-certification by disobeying the organization.

It is against NCAA rules for a college athlete to reach an oral or written agreement with an agent. However, McGwire has exhausted his eligibility at SDSU and was graduated from the university in December.

While the NCAA looked over the matter, it never declared McGwire ineligible. Jim Marchiony, NCAA director of communications, issued a statement confirming this.

“The NCAA has not declared Dan McGwire ineligible and the Shrine Game is not at risk in playing him,” Marchiony said in the statement. “The legislative services division took another look at the case and found that McGwire announcing he had chosen the person he wanted to be his agent doesn’t affect his eligibility to play in the East-West game or the Shrine game’s certification. As far as we’re concerned, the case is closed.”

Gary Cavalli, public relations director for the East-West game, said Sunday that game officials have asked the NCAA to study the rules relating to postseason all-star games and re-examine whether an athlete may hire an agent before the games.

“A sensible compromise might be not even having certification of postseason all-star games,” Cavalli said.

Under current rules, if a postseason all-star game is held on college campus, it must be certified by the NCAA. To meet certification qualifications, the game must be conducted within NCAA rules--including those relating to amateurism.

McGwire, SDSU’s second all-time leading passer, is scheduled to play in the East-West Shrine game and the Jan. 19 Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala. The Senior Bowl is run by the NFL and is not a certified NCAA event.