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I screwed up.

In this space Wednesday

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, I wrote about Bears first-round draft pick Roquan Smith having some valuables stolen, including his Bears playbook iPad. The items were taken from Smith’s 2018 BMW X5 while it was parked near his apartment, and I criticized the Georgia linebacker for not only failing to protect the team-issued iPad but also perhaps contributing to the incident.

The police report said Smith might’ve accidentally unlocked his car at 2:30 a.m. when returning to the vehicle with a friend. I wrote that it was hard to wipe away the impression that the Bears’ pick was sloppy and unreliable in this episode.

That is all a prelude to explain that I, too, was sloppy and unreliable when writing this about his new car:

“At this point, you could ask how a student-athlete that the NCAA is so proud of not paying is able to afford a 2018 Beemer. But that’s not why you called.”

My point intended to reference the cesspool that is the NCAA and college sports, which fights with the International Olympic Committee, FIFA and boxing for the dirtiest sports. Because the NCAA refuses to pay the people who deserve the money most, college athletes driving new cars will always be suspicious to me because that’s how the NCAA has forced the college sports economy to work.

But I was sloppy and unreliable in reference to Smith and his new car. If I had researched the issue properly, I would’ve learned that Smith had entered into an endorsement or partnership deal with an Athens BMW dealership after he declared for the draft, as many emailers from Dawg Nation rightly pointed out.

I screwed up. I lumped Smith in with those gaining impermissible benefits. I was wrong. I apologize to Smith and the University of Georgia for that.

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