Ohio State Recalls Wristbands Supporting Jim Tressel for Fear of Further NCAA Penalties

by on Fri, Aug 5, 2011 at 9:18PM

Although Jim Tressel resigned from Ohio State more than two months ago, it's clear that a number of Buckeyes still have support for their former coach.

Several freshman football players had showed this support by wearing wristbands with the letters "JT" on them, but the university confiscated the wristbands on Thursday, the Columbus Dispatch reports.

The wristbands were reportedly purchased by players from an unnamed "individual within the program," and were taken away not out of spite toward Tressel but rather because they had not been approved by the NCAA compliance board.

The Buckeyes have been hit with several penalties for NCAA violations in the past few months, and the school did not want to risk further sanctions, team spokesman Jerry Emig said.

"They were pulled back out of concern," Emig told the Dispatch, "Just being cautious."

Emig also said that the players were reimbursed the $15 they paid for the wristbands.