Texas A&M became the first SEC football program to receive a $50,000 fine from the conference Tuesday for violating its policy on players faking injuries in games.
Texas A&M was found in violation of the NCAA playing rules governing feigning injuries for a play in the fourth quarter of the Aggies' 45-42 win at Arkansas on Saturday, in which defensive back Tyreek Chappell sat down on the field to stop play after the ball had already been spotted.
Steve Shaw, the national coordinator of football officials, reviewed video of the situation submitted by the SEC which occurred with 12:36 remaining and Texas A&M leading 38-27. Prior to Chappell going down, a Texas A&M staff member can be seen on video standing near the 25-yard line signaling to Chappell and pointing to the ground.
Chappell had no contact during the previous play and showed no signs of injury until he sat down and pointed to his right leg. Texas A&M was flagged and charged a timeout because Chappell presented as injured after the ball was spotted.
The senior cornerback returned to the game on the second play of Arkansas' next offensive drive.
"As determined by the National Coordinator, the action by player, especially with the concurrent action by the coach in the team area, is a clear attempt to gain an unmerited advantage by stopping the game to be awarded an injury time out," the conference said in its release. "The action violates the spirit of the injury timeout and fair play and was conducted in a manner that appears to attempt to circumvent the NCAA's injury time out rule to avoid the team being charged a time out."
The conference also issued a public reprimand to Texas A&M coach Mike Elko for the feigned injury violation. A second feigned injury would result in another reprimand and a $100,000 fine. Any further violations of the policy would result in Elko receiving a one-game suspension.
The SEC said further violations will result in additional fines and potentially the suspension of coaches, assistants or players.
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey attempted to crack down on feigned injuries last November in a memo to his athletic directors and head coaches, ordering them to "stop any and all activity related to faking injuries to create timeouts" and calling the practice "disrespectful to the game of football."
The conference's policy on feigning injuries was first established in 2022.
Last month, the ACC issued a $25,000 fine and a public reprimand to Syracuse for faking an injury during its 34-21 win over Clemson.
