JD PicKell: Maason Smith suspension is lacking common sense

LSU was dealt a blow by the NCAA when the governing body ruled that star defensive tackle Maason Smith must sit out a game after receiving an impermissible benefit stemming from an autograph signing in the summer of 2021, just days or weeks before NIL legislation took effect.

It means Smith will miss a highly anticipated season opener against Florida State, a preseason top-10 matchup.

“This, to me, I don’t understand it,” On3’s JD PicKell said. “I don’t understand it. I think it is lacking common sense. I think we’re thinking about this the wrong way and I wish we would just think a little bit less hard about things like this.

“If you want to punish him some other way, sure. Let’s figure that out. Make him give that money to a charity of his choice. That feels a little more common sense. But we’re suspending him for one of the biggest games of the season for LSU because he signed autographs before the season when everybody and their mama in college football is able to sign autographs and profit from it (now)? Let’s use common sense here, y’all.”

PicKell opened up on the topic of the Maason Smith suspension, defending the LSU player and criticizing the NCAA’s decision to go through with enforcement of the punishment for the impermissible benefit.

Smith reportedly took part in an autograph signing with receiver Kayshon Boutte shortly before the NIL rules went into effect. And while Boutte served his one-game suspension last year, Smith was lost for the season in the opener and thus couldn’t serve it.

“So for Maason Smith, big loss for LSU because of what he could have done for the game,” PicKell said. “Impermissible benefit in NIL? Let’s figure it out a little bit here. Don’t like it.

“Common sense is a beautiful thing. Common sense allows us to adapt to our circumstances. The circumstances here have changed, we should adapt accordingly to them, in my humble opinion right now. Also this is not something where it’s like a recruiting violation. It wasn’t like Maason Smith was thinking about maybe coming to LSU and some guy met him in the back alley and said, ‘Maason, you come sign these autographs, we’ll get you paid, maybe you think about coming to LSU.’ He was already a player at LSU.

“This isn’t like a competitive advantage. He wasn’t trading autographs for game tape on Florida State. This doesn’t give LSU any better of a chance or worse of a chance if he signs autographs. Right? Also nobody got hurt. There’s no physical harm being done to anybody.”

PicKell provided a hypothetical example for his viewers to further illustrate the absurdity of the Maason Smith suspension.

“Here’s my situation I want to lay out for y’all. Let’s say I jaywalk. Against the rules,” he said. “I jaywalk and On3 says, ‘JD, we’re going to suspend you for a week.’ Say, ‘OK, I broke the rules, that’s fair.’ Couple days later there is a law passed that says jaywalking is 100% fair game, everybody can jaywalk. You can jaywalk, you can jaywalk, you can jaywalk. Look under your chair, you can jaywalk.

“And not just at On3, everybody within the professional world is now jaywalking. How should we handle my suspension? Should we say, ‘Hey, sorry, you’re still suspended.’ Or should we say, ‘Actually, this is a normal thing now. Everybody does this now. Come on back to work.’ What makes the most sense there?”