REPORT: UK HealthCare Program under investigation for Providing Jobs to Football Players

Earlier this week the Big Blue Nation learned when Chris Rodriguez would return to the field. Saturday morning we learned why he and Jordan Wright were sidelined at the beginning of the 2022 season.

Documents obtained by the Herald-Leader’s Jon Hale reveal the University of Kentucky launched an investigation in February into members of the Kentucky football team for allegedly filing inaccurate time cards while working for UK HealthCare.

The names of the players are redacted in the open records request, citing privacy law. However, the Herald-Leader’s report notes that two players in particular were under investigation. Jordan Wright was sidelined for the season-opener and Rodriguez will miss a total of four games before he’s cleared to return to play. Mark Stoops declined to provide details on the suspension but made it clear it was out of his control.

“If I could say it I would,” Stoops said last Monday. “I’m not trying to hold anything back. I can’t be any more clear on it. I’ve been advised not to say… I think you can understand it’s out of my hands.”

The UK HealthCare Jobs for Kentucky Football Players

Kentucky football players have been working as patient transporters for UK HealthCare since 2017. The program was started by former Kentucky kicker J.J. Housley in his role as director of enterprise operations for UK HealthCare.

“Selfishly, this helps us fill positions,” Housley wrote, before suggesting the program could help the football program in its efforts to recruit players while also providing players structure during downtime and exposing players to careers in healthcare.

Housley even suggested the football staff could use the program to guarantee recruits a paid position.

“Not sure if that is allowed but it’s not lying,” Housley wrote before signing his email as the “recruiting liaison to healthcare.”

The job program did not violate NCAA rules as long as players were paid for work actually performed. That may have been the case early on, but changed before the university launched the investigation. One UK HealthCare employee shared more details:

“One week I noticed that some of them were clocking in 5 or 6 days a week,” he wrote. “Mostly 12 hour shifts, some as much as 14. When I made this realization, the next morning during our impromptu ‘morning meeting’ we usually have prior to bed meeting, I mentioned to her that I did not feel comfortable doing their time anymore. She simply nodded her head and said she would take care of them from that point on.”

For more, visit the Herald-Leader.

UPDATE: Matt Jones opened the KSR Pregame Show with the news. You can hear his, Ryan Lemond, Drew Franklin, Freddie Maggard, and Max Duffy’s reactions below.