NCAA Fielded 'Violent Threats' for Unsealing USC Docs in Todd McNair's Lawsuit

In recent court filings in Todd McNair's lawsuit against them, the NCAA said Infractions Committee members have received "violent threats" in the wake of certain documents from their Reggie Bush investigation becoming unsealed.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the NCAA on Friday filed a seven-page opposition to McNair's motion to dismiss the appeal against him. Neither the NCAA nor the committee members affected disclosed the nature of the threats, but the organization made the claim in a footnote in their motion.

"As a result of filing these documents, some Committee on Infractions members received violent threats directed at them, including in their homes," read the NCAA's motion.

The recently unsealed documents come from a June 2010 lawsuit McNair filed against the NCAA. Formerly the running backs coach at the University of Southern California (USC), McNair was implicated in the NCAA's investigation of impermissible benefits Bush received while at the school.

The NCAA fought the California's 2nd Court of Appeal on filing the documents sealed, but lost in Feb. McNair's motion to dismiss then came after the NCAA apparently held 200 pages of documents out of their court filings.

Within the 500 pages of unsealed documents were infractions committee members' disparaging and mocking remarks about USC and McNair, which had prompted his 2010 defamation lawsuit. One staffer called the coach a "lying, morally bankrupt criminal."

Leadership at USC and the Pac-12 athletic conference criticized the NCAA openly. USC athletic director Pat Haden said in a statement last month the documents show a blatant bias against the school that influenced the harsh sanctions in 2010, the Times reported.

Last week, Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott told the Times he too reviewed the newly public documents and echoed Haden's sentiment.

"As we've maintained from the beginning, the USC case is a good example of how the current enforcement system is not fair and consistent across the board," he said. "The punishments on USC were too harsh and after an initial review of the documents released recently, we share USC's serious concern regarding the process undergone by the NCAA and its Committee on Infractions, as well as the substance of their actions in the case."