Notre Dame athletes cleared of violations

Thursday, August 24, 2006 SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — The NCAA won't penalize Notre Dame football and basketball players who participated in promotional spots for a sports talk show on a local television station. While the NCAA found that the athletes had made an improper "implied endorsement," there was no indication the violations were intentional, John Heisler, Notre Dame's senior associate athletic director, said Wednesday. "As best as anyone can tell this was completely inadvertent all around," he said. Notre Dame reviewed the actions of the athletes after questions were raised about the promotional spots last week. The school turned its findings over to the NCAA Tuesday, Heisler said. "There are no penalties involved and no eligibility implications as far as the three student-athletes are concerned," he said. The second-ranked Fighting Irish open their season Sept. 2 against Georgia Tech. Last year, USC quarterback Matt Leinart had his eligibility temporarily revoked after appearing in a promotional segment on ESPN. Leinart was reinstated without missing a game after Southern California petitioned the NCAA. The NCAA said Leinart's actions were "unintentional and inadvertent." Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.