As an ethics speaker and sports ethics consultant, I am often mystified as to why sports ethics is neither taught nor reinforced.
The problem is as much vertical as it is horizontal. What I mean by that is that sports ethics should not just be taught and reinforced from “offense to defense to special teams,” or whatever the team dynamic, but from athletes to coaches to athletic directors and all support personnel.
The cost of sports ethics training is minimal when compared to the costs of a fraud scandal and/or negative publicity. Obviously, it is devastating to the careers, reputations and lives of those performing the unethical acts.
Jackson State
Jackson State football player Abdul-Malik McClain, 22, along with several other athletes cooked up a plan to defraud the government in 2020. He cooked up a scheme under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA).
This occurred while he was at USC, and perhaps he rationalized the government would never come after him at Jackson State. He bet wrong.
On Monday, December 20, 2021, he appeared in a Los Angeles court and was charged with 10 counts of mail fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft. He was freed on $20,000 bond. McClain pleaded not-guilty to all the charges. That is, of course, his prerogative under the law. Now, all he has to do is prove his innocence. With 12 charges against him, he had better lawyer-up.
Jackson State has officially terminated him from the team roster.
The Indictment
McClain, not realizing what he was getting himself into, allegedly filed documents (according to the charges) caused:
“At least three dozen fraudulent applications for relief to be submitted that sought at least $903,688 in benefits; at least $227,736 was paid out.”
He managed to rope his brother into the fraud. His brother has since been suspended by USC, and he is also facing prison time.
The participants in the scheme claimed to have a business of re-selling high-end sneakers, and that the pandemic had dried up their ability to make money.
In making the claims, Bank of America issued the fraudsters debit cards to make cash withdrawals for personal expenses. They must have thought they landed on Christmas. They used the money for gratification not to run a business. According to the Justice Department:
“McClain and his co-schemers also allegedly filed applications in their own names, in the names of other friends and associates, and in the names of identity theft victims.”
Not only did they commit fraud under their own names, they allegedly stole the identities of unsuspecting victims.
Unless a miracle occurs, McClain has an excellent chance of seeing jail time. The government is playing serious hardball with those who abused PPP funds for unlawful reasons. They chose to play a dangerous game, but had no idea as to the consequences.
Is McClain the only one who should be on trial here? In a larger sense, “no.” If an athlete is not taught ethical behavior, and the interplay between choices and consequences, from high school through college and beyond, what is the system to expect?
True, some of this should be taught in the home, but often it isn’t. The NCAA is now allowing athletes to “get paid” for their endorsements, advertising and images. If that is allowed, and we are admitting that some athletes have a business as well as an athletic value, should they be required to better safeguard that value?
This scandal is but one more example that if ethical behavior is taught and reinforced, it can be more than “information,” it can be life-saving. For no matter the outcome, Abdul-Malik McClain’s life will be changed forever.
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