It wasn't the point-shaving scandal that Boston College had known once and feared again. But it was bad enough.
The school suspended 13 football players Wednesday for gambling, including two who bet against their school last month. Middlesex County district attorney Thomas Reilly said the two players did not influence the outcome of the game Syracuse won 45-17."They realize that there are rules. They realize that they made a mistake," Reilly said. "And they realize that there are consequences for their mistakes and they will be held accountable."
Gambling on professional or college sporting events is against NCAA rules.
Reilly did not plan to pursue illegal betting charges, but said he would not have been so understanding had the players been shaving points or throwing games.
"We have found absolutely no evidence, no indication, of any game, the outcome of any game, the score of any game, being compromised . . . in any way by players at Boston College," he said.
This incident, however, implicates more students from one team than any previously reported gambling scandal.
The suspended players include tight end Scott Dragos, a starter, and linebacker Brian Maye, who had been a starter before he dislocated his elbow against Syracuse.
Other suspended players were identified as running back Jamall Anderson, offensive lineman Marcus Bembry, defensive back Paul Cary, defensive linemen John Coleman and Dan Collins, wide receivers Chris Cosenza, Steve Everson and Brandon King, center Kyle Geiselman, linebacker Jermaine Monk, and tight end Rob Tardio.
There was no way to tell from the list of suspended players which ones bet from $25 to $1,000 on the World Series, college football or pro football, and which two placed $200 and $250 on Syracuse, giving 13 points against their own team on Oct. 26.
But in Thursday's early editions and in a late broadcast Wednesday, the Boston Globe, Boston Herald and WBZ-TV reported that Bembry and Anderson were the two who bet on their own school.